Castle Quest - Reply to Topic

Forum:	Medieval Life And Culture
Topic:	Populations

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T O P I C R E V I E W
Thomas I am wondering about army sizes and population numbers inside various size castles. How many people did it take to run a castle (various sizes)? I know, it's kind of a broad question but I am not sure how else to phrase it. Thanx all.
Fox Atreides Well, most of the castles were fairly small, especially here in holland, and probably housed an army of around 20 men, bigger armies were only forged in times of war.
About the people necesarry to run the castle, i dunno.
grtz
------------------
-Mattun-
The world can be as you want, when you are as the world wants you.
Peter About right there Fox.
We are always given the number of men in a castle (even a large castle might only have a dozen or so men in time of peace). Many of these would have wifes or 'followers', along with any children.
So that 12\20 might go up to 40 + without any trouble.
But don't forget, these people might not live 'in' the castle. Only the custodian might live in the gatehouse. The rest in lean-to buildings around the walls.
Thomas Thanx guys. Now how about at the extreme end of the scale ... in wartime ... large castle ... being seiged ...
me and my questions
Basically, I want to write of a large castle, and a walled city such as Ashkelon, but I'm not sure what to write in as an army size or for that matter, castle size. But I want it to at least be realistic. This is a large kingdom and this is the King's Castle. I think Ashkelon itself was about 15,000 people. These are my thinkings.
Thanx again all for answering. I appreciate it.
Erik Schmidt 15,000 sounds about right for a "city" of the MA, but the number of permanent soldiers would be small as stated above.
Now in times of war, the armies were sometimes very large, often much too large to fit within the walls of a city. As an army captured a castle, a small number would be left behind to garrison it against being taken back, while the rest of the army would continue on. Large armies were generally not used to defend castles, but rather to lift the seige from the outside.
In the case where they are severely outnumbered by the attackers, you could expect several hundred up to a few thousand troops to defend from inside, any more and they'd be forced out by lack of food within a short period.
You should read Froissart's Cronicles. He gives some figures as to the size of armies, town populations and defending forces. I can't remember the numbers and don't have the time to look for them, sorry. It makes for a great read though!
Erik