More on Motte and Bailey Castles

History

The motte-and-bailey castle is a particularly northern European phenomenon, most numerous in Normandy and Britain, but also seen in Denmark, Germany, Southern Italy and occasionally beyond.

European castles first emerged in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes and local territories became threatened by the Magyars and the Norse.

The first motte and Bailey Castle may have been built at Mont Glonme on the River Loire in France in 990.

Against this background, various explanations have been put forward to explain the origins and spread of the motte-and-bailey design across northern Europe; there is often a tension among the academic community between explanations that stress military and social reasons for the rise of this design.

One suggestion is that these castles were built particularly in order to protect against external attack – the Angevins, it is argued, began to build them to protect against the Viking raids, and the design spread to deal with the attacks along the Slav and Hungarian frontiers.

Another argument is that, given the links between this style of castle and the Normans, who were of Viking descent, it was in fact originally a Viking design, transported to Normandy and Angers.

There is widespread agreement that the castles were first widely adopted in Normandy and Angevin territory in the 10th and 11th centuries.

Purpose of the motte and Bailey Castles

Timber motte and bailey castles could not be viewed as permanent castles as the wood built on earth rotted quickly and they could easily be destroyed by fire.

Motte and Bailey Castles acted as a fortified post

Motte and Bailey Castles provided a base where men, provisions and horses could be housed

Motte and Bailey Castles were used to overawe and frighten the indigenous population

Motte and Bailey Castles provided a base from which the Normans could govern the surrounding district

Evolution

The first motte and bailey forts were built to defend against Viking raids and later to reinforce Norman power in Normandy, as the lords of Maine in the south, and Brittany, to the west, occasionally intruded in force.

The river Orne was the southernmost Norman boundary for much of the 10th century, and was defended by a series of mottes, usually in groups.

Many of these earliest castles would have appeared quite crude and rustic by later standards