Castle Quest - Reply to Topic

Forum:	Castles In General & Medieval History
Topic:	please help me --i need to know what the top of the castle is called where men hid to

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T O P I C R E V I E W
amanda lea i need to know what the top of the castle where when would hide behind to fight their enemies --usually it is structured like squares
duncan Battlement,the Glossary in this site is very good, it's worth reading.
Philip Davis Battlements is the general term. Crenellations is the more technical term (and the term used by the medieval castle builder). The sticky up bits (the solid projection) are called the merlons, the gaps between are called the crenels or embrasures.
J_A_C_O_B it is called "the top of the castle" room
Andrew Muller Also, the holes in the 'floor' of the battlement walk are called machiolations...These were often where the cliched 'boiling oil' would have been poured (or more generally anything else unpleasant to hand - use your imagination!).

Philip Davis Not the boiling oil myth. Even stone castles are vunerable to fire which can crack stones and cause walls to fall. Many machiolations (or murder holes as they are also called) are over gates and are mainly for pouring water to put fires out.
Things were thrown at beseigers, stones mainly, but also quick lime which is caustic and causes nasty burns (and has the advantage that it is easy to produce from limestone and as it is needed to produce morter many castles had a ready supply of it available)