Attack was assisted by a variety of “engines” which threw missiles, usually stones, into the castle. They made use of tension, as in a bow, of torsion and of counterpoise. Most had been used in classical times. Only one engine was the invention of the Middle Ages, the trebuchet.

Today, the defences are dominated by the Half-Moon Battery and Forewall Battery, built after the Lang Siege of 1573 and subsequently modified, the last time in 1695. The Half-Moon Battery is among the best-known rounded artillery bastions in the world.

Ladders inside the Belfry allowed attackers to climb to the top under cover and get into the castle. Castle owners prevented this type of attack by piling earth up against the castle walls so that the Belfry, which was on wheels, could not be pushed near to the castle.

Medieval castles were built as homes for kings and nobility, the noble class of a country such as royalty and important public figures, to protect them from unwanted intruders. Castles were typically built in the middle of the land the king or lord of the castle was ruler over.

After the 16th century, castles declined as a mode of defense, mostly because of the invention and improvement of heavy cannons and mortars. The idea was that thick layers of dirt would absorb the impact of cannon fire. Also, these fortifications were easier and faster to build than castles.

Windsor Castle

Stone-built castles in the medieval sense were long outmoded in Europe by the time that settlement of North America began on a large scale; styles of government and war no longer required them.

Large stone-built structures of stately homes with huge moats surrounding them conjure up images of life during medieval times. From England to Ireland to Spain, castles abound in all their glory and remain a part of world history. These castles still stand today and attract a high number of tourists annually.

The tallest medieval castle tower ever built is generally considered to be the Chateau de Coucy keep, or donjon, which measured 55 m high and 35 m wide.

Castell Coch (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈkastɛɬ koːχ]; Welsh for ‘Red Castle’) is a 19th-century Gothic Revival castle built above the village of Tongwynlais in South Wales. This castle was likely destroyed in the native Welsh rebellion of 1314.