Medieval Information

Building a medieval castle was no easy task. There were many factors that had to be taken into consideration before even attempting to begin the difficult task of creating a fortress of out pure wood and stone.

Before building a castle, many architects and engineers had to carefully study the ground to see if it was actually suitable for the castle or not. The terrain had to be as strong and dry as possible because in the opposite, the castle could sink as time passed.

Additionally, a high terrain was commonly sought for defensive purposes. Sometimes castles would be built next to the sea or lakes in order to bring more defenses to the castle, but this was unreliable as it could also bring the castle to ruins because of the water.

The perfect position for a castle was next to a mountain or huge rock as it could bring a very strong barrier against the enemies. For these reasons, the terrain had to be carefully studied and this was a very lengthy task because it was sought whether the chosen place was the best to build the castle or if it had to be built elsewhere.

After the terrain was chosen, came the hard part - flattening of the surface. This was commonly done in months, but sometimes due to the weather it took much longer. The terrain had to be strengthened with rocks or other materials to ensure safety within the castle walls and to prevent it from ever sinking or collapsing. Additionally, newer and stronger castles also took into consideration the miners who would dig under a castle's walls in order for it to collapse - they would very frequently afterwards place huge rocks beneath - or simply underground walls to prevent this and give more strength to walls.

When the land was set, tons and tons of stone had to be brought from the surroundings. This was a lengthy process which took many months and sometimes even years. Nevertheless, this could be faster depending on the time of the year and other factors such as the resource's proximity.

When everything was set, the castle's building began. Usually the building process per se would start before all the resources were accumulated in order to save time. Hundreds of builders were hired to do this job and many peasants were actually forced to speed everything up.

A castle usually took anywhere from five to fifteen years to build. Sometimes more or less - but this was pretty much the average. Nevertheless, castles were never finished and they were very frequently improved in future generations.

Today, castles can be built in less than half of the time due to massive production and cheap labor. Castles today are being built for historical purposes or simply because they are sometimes comfortable and secure to live in.