posted 04-07-2002 06:25 AM            

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The functions varied.
Most castles were the home of a local lord, from which he controlled the land around the castle. Some were royal castles, while others simply held a garrison.
Castles were built to control newly conquered land, important routes or defend the local lord against rivals. Another function of most castles was to defend against the local population of peasants, who periodically rebelled against repressive lords, their taxes and duties expected.
From the castle, the inhabitants were protected against all but the more determined enemies, and could use it as a base to control the local population, defend the land against an enemy or levy taxes on an important trade route.

The castle was often made more important by it's function as a centre of trade and commerce as well as food storage, and laws were sometimes passed making the castle's mill the only one allowed to be used. Many castles also had a bakery which served the local population, possibly due to the castles role as mill and grain storage.

All times are PT (US)