| Forum: | Castles In General & Medieval History |
| Topic: | Castles of the Beowulf Era |
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------------------joshmo I was wondering what castles looked like during the Beowulf Era, which is during the 6th-8th century. I would appreciate feedback.
Thanks,
Josh
Philip Davis As I understand the period there were no castles. Lords had a band of warriors with them continually and if they were attacked they fought the attackers on the open field. Other than this the lord and his warriors rode around their territory, stopping for a few weeks, at wooden halls before moving on. These halls may have been surrounded by a fence but this was mainly to keep animals in or out. It is unlikely that these halls had a pallisade large enough for a guard to walk along (A good definition of a castle is a home with a wall thick enough to be patrolled-it doesn't have to be a stone wall). In France in the 9th and 10th centuries the hall fences were strengthed with earth embankments and, in some places, with larger mounds of earth (mottes).
Having said this it is not improbable that 6th century warriors would have used old Romen or Iron age hill forts as defensive refuges but these were not residences and therefore not castles. (The Normans in Britain often reused Romen forts but they built permanent halls within the old walls, making them castles)
Neurotics build castles in the air, psychotics live in them,
Psychiatrists charge the rent, art therapists do the interior design
and nurses clean out the garderobes!
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