Medieval Information

As did the Western World, the Eastern World had Dark Ages too. The most notorious example is that of Japan in which dozens of gigantic strongholds were built.




The story of most of these go back hundreds of years during the time of the Shoguns and, mainly; civil wars.

Additionally, castles were also built in order to defend the Japanese interests from foreign invaders - most notorious the Mongols who kept trying to invade them throughout their history. Nevertheless, the time in which the most amount of Japanese castles were built, was during the Shogun times, as mentioned above, in which many internal battles took place.

Japanese castles were very similar to European because they were both stormed in the same way. Ultimately, Japanese castles could usually withstand a siege much longer as they were very disciplined and in some extreme cases they could last up to a year or more defending themselves.



As it can be noted in the image above, Japanese castles featured a complete different architecture from European castles. Their decorations were totally different and so where the ways to defend them.

Additionally, in Japan, honor played an even greater role when defending castles as the defenders would hold on to the last moment instead of giving up. This was rarely the case as many times relief arrived before, but when it didn't mostly the samurais defending would commit seppuku or hara-kiri in order to kill themselves.

This practice, hara-kiri, was very common during Feudal Japan and it continued throughout the centuries and it still happens even today! In terms of medieval Japan, it frequently happened and it was common to never surrender even if it was clear that a battle was to be lost.

This Italian castle features an octagonal layout as it can be noted in the image below:



The interiors are also octagonally shaped. In every exterior corner of the castle, there is a tower which was used for defensive purposes.

Even though this castle wasn't really designed for battle, it could still resist a siege if commanded properly by the defenders. It was a very solid fortification capable of withstanding a few months of attack, nevertheless; it wasn't really involved in any major battle and was instead more of a luxurious mansion for wealthy nobles during the Middle Ages.

The Castel del Monte was probably built by Frederic the Second as a hunting residence. The castle was slowly improved by future generations.

The Old Wick Keep is probably one of Scotland's older castles. It dates back to the early XII century when its construction began. It took the castle many years to be fully built - and even today we don't know the true size it once acquired, but it is believed that it was good-sized and it contained, not only the main tower of stone, but also many other outer fortifications and walls made of timber and earth (which was common at the time as it can be noted in the Medieval Timeline).

During the XIV century, the castle was acquired by lord Sinclair after an 8 day siege in which the defenders ran out of supplies and surrendered. The castle then changed ownership several times until its ruins in the late XVII century.

The true reason about the castle's destruction is unknown. As it can be seen in the picture above, the castle was not suitable for a comfortable life (evident in the windows) but was made as a military headquarter.



This castle can still be visited today, and even though it doesn't feature much for the eye, the remains of some outer fortifications can still be seen if looked upon closely.

Most Irish castles date back from the 1100's during the Norman invasions to Ireland.

Most of these strongholds were used as administrative headquarters for the invading lords who would make many decisions in a safer environment which was a castle.



Today, many of this castles are still standing and they are used as museums, hotels or for weddings.

Nevertheless, most Irish castles were destroyed during the Dark Ages which leave us with plenty of speculation to do.

This castle is located in Tuscany, Italy. The towers features within the castle are enormous - and they would have been even bigger if the law had permitted it.

Gimignano castle was originally built during the Dark Ages by the nobles who had constant struggles between each other. These were separated by families which explains the constant change of the castle's ownership.

The castle's walls are connected by bridges which are very big in most situations.

Even though the walls and towers were very strongly built, miners still managed to demolish some of these when the castle was besieged.

Today, this castle still stands.

This is Corgarff Castle in Scotland. It was built in the XI century during the Dark Ages.

This castle is host to a lot of folklore.

Pfalzgrafenstein was built in a rock situated in the middle of the Rhine river. This castle was built by Ludwig for the purpose of collecting custom duties from the boats passing through the river.

This castle's architecture ressembles a ship as it was a "floating stronghold" so Ludwig wanted it to look pretty much like a ship.

This medieval castle was built in France because the pope was exiled to France.



Avignon Castle was very luxurious. It also features an assymetrical style in which buildings were arranged in an ordered way.

Many gargoyles can be seen in the exterior of the castle's walls. Additionally, Avignon castle is a combination of French and Italian style which made it a very strong fortification.

This medieval castle is located in the Holy Island. It can be seen from many kilometers around and it was mainly built to inspire power - and against Viking invasions.

At first, monks built an abbey in the Holy Island. Nevertheless, continous Viking invasions forced the monks to flee the abbey. Years later, builders used the stone from the abbey to build the castle that we can now see today.

This castle is in ruins at the moment. Nevertheless, it is now owned by the National Trust.

A picture of the lindisfarne castle:



Two things are conspicuous:

1) The castle can be only accessed during low tide as it has water all around it.

2) The castle was built in a very strategic position next to the sea from which defending against the Vikings was a seemingly easy task.

Many people consider this castle to be very romantic - but it is too damaged to even have an objective comparison.

This ancient fortification is located in Dover. This castle used a concentric style in which many walls protected each other as you can see in the Medieval Timeline.

This castle was a real fortress as it was made over many centuries. You can view where it is located in the following map:



As you can see, it featured an strategic position in England. At first, it worked against French invasions, but later on; during World War Two, it was used as a command post for the allies.