King Edward I and his castles in Wales

As history detectives, it is only natural that we would be curious about how people, places and things actually looked in long ago. For times before photography, we must rely on sketches, paintings, and other forms of artwork produced during the period we are studying. Below are two images of King Edward I, the English king who invaded Wales and strengthened his powerful hold over the country by building incredible castles and walled towns. Here are two images of Edward. The first is from a medieval manuscript created in the early 1300's, and the image is of King Edward and his queen,Eleanor of Castile. The second picture is a genealogy of Kings of Britain starting with Edward the Confessor and ending with a small picture of King Edward I. This is actually a page from a medieval manuscript produced in the 1200's. 

Above image of King Edward and Queen Eleanor of Castile from Wikipedia. The image below is from the Bodelian Library at the University of Oxford, displayed on the LUNA web site.

 

Here is a map of the castles King Edward I built in Wales. Go to this web site and find information about why Edward built these castles along the coast (hint: read the second paragraph):

 http://www.timeref.com/castedwd.htm

Stone Keep Castles

Castles Under Attack simulation!

Throughout the middle ages castle construction evolved from Motte and Baily castles made of wood to Stone Keep castles made of stone to Concentric castles which utilized thick/tall stone walls built around the stone keep. Castle builders had to come up with new materials to use, new building techniques, new types of castles, and new castle features to withstand attacks by armies that were constantly developing new methods of attack and new weapons to use against castles. Go to this web site and play the Castle Under Attack simulation game! Click here: http://www.historyonthenet.com/Lessons/attackdefendcastle/mottebailey.htm

Parts of a castle: crenellations, merlons, and arrowloops.

Castle walls were built with defense in mind. Below are pictures showing crenellations and merlons along the top wall of a castle. Note the different shapes of arrowloops. Here is a link to a web site with information about crenellations: http://www.castles.me.uk/crenellations.htm

Arrowloops were typically wider on the inside of the wall and narrower on the outside. 

Internal view of arrowloop.

External View of arrowloops.