What does Motte mean in history?

What does Motte mean in history?

motte in British English (mɒt ) history. a natural or man-made mound on which a castle was erected.

What does Bailey mean?

Bailey as a girl’s name (also used as boy’s name Bailey), is pronounced BAY-lee. It is of Old English origin, and the meaning of Bailey is “berry clearing; bailiff; city fortification”.

What makes a Motte and Bailey castle strong?

The sides of the motte were very steep. It would have almost impossible to run up the sides of the motte, making it an excellence defence, A deep ditch was dug around the bottom of the motte for extra protection.

What are the disadvantages of Motte and Bailey castles?

At a glance: disadvantages of Motte and Bailey castles

• Timber burns easily -and attackers quickly learned that firing flaming arrows could defeat the castle.
• Timber rots, to0 – castles quickly ran into disrepair, and often became abandoned by their owners.
• Mottes often had a broad base.

What was a Motte used for?

A motte was an earth mound, forming a defensible raised platform on which a tower – a keep – could be built. The earth for the motte would be taken from around its own base, forming a deep ditch, aiding the builders’ ability to defend. The motte would be strengthened with wooden supports or clay.

Why is it called a Motte and Bailey castle?

The term motte and bailey castle comes from Norman French words for mound and enclosed land. The Normans from France, introduced the Motte and Bailey castle to England, when they invaded the country in 1066. It is believed that as many as 1000 Motte and Bailey Castles were built in England by the Normans.

What does a Motte and Bailey castle look like?

Motte and bailey castles contained a large, circular mound, usually up to 5m high, on which stood a wooden tower or keep. The mound was surrounded by a ditch and there would have been a bailey, or enclosed courtyard, attached.

What does Motte and Bailey mean?

: a medieval Norman castle consisting of two connecting ditched stockaded mounds with the higher mound surmounted by the keep and the lower one containing barracks and other buildings.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a Motte and Bailey castle?

Although the wooden structure was much more vulnerable to damage than a stone structure, a motte and bailey castle could be built quickly until the Normans had the time to build more permanent stone structures. The major weakness of the motte and bailey castle was the likelihood of the keep rotting or burning down.

What is a portcullis?

: a grating of iron hung over the gateway of a fortified place and lowered between grooves to prevent passage.

How would you defend a Motte and Bailey castle?

Fire. Fire was the best way to attack the early Motte and Bailey castles since they were made entirely of wood. The fire might be started by building a bonfire against the outer wooden fence (palisade) or, more usually, by archers shooting fire-arrows into the castle.

Why did Normans build castles?

After their victory at the Battle of Hastings, the Normans settled in England. They constructed castles all over the country in order to control their newly-won territory, and to pacify the Anglo-Saxon population. These early castles were mainly of motte and bailey type.

What are the walls around a castle called?

A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two towers (bastions) of a castle, fortress, or town.

How were moats filled with water?

Moats filled with water were usually supplied by a nearby source of water, such as a spring, lake, or river. Dams could be built that would control the level of water in the moat. While some fancy moats may have had stone sides, most moats had simple banks of earth left over from when they were dug.

Why is it called a moat?

The word moat comes from the French word motte, which means hill. Moats were first used in the Medieval period, from 1016 to 1164. Castles were built on the top of high hills. The area at the bottom of the hill was eventually called the moat.

Are Moats real?

A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In later periods, moats or water defences may be largely ornamental. They could also act as a sewer.

Can you swim in a moat?

Moats are unusual bodies of water to swim in. Their medieval origin and formerly defensive use are great fodder for tall tales.

What is the bailey of a castle?

A bailey or ward in a fortification is a courtyard enclosed by a curtain wall. In particular, an early type of European castle was known as a motte-and-bailey. Castles can have more than one bailey.

What is the difference between a Motte and a moat?

The word for the mound is the ‘motte’ which was derived from the Norman-French word for ‘turf’. Later the word ‘motte’ was changed into ‘moat’ and was originally used to describe the wet ditch.

Were Castles clean or dirty?

Castles were very difficult to keep clean. There was no running water, so even simple washing tasks meant carrying a lot of bucketfuls of water from a well or stream. Few people had the luxury of being able to bathe regularly; the community was generally more tolerant of smells and dirt.

Who bathed first in the olden days?

The less fortunate usually drew one bath for the whole family, and they all used the same water. The eldest bathed first then the next oldest and so on. From this came the saying “don’t throw the baby out with the water.” Peasants rarely submerged themselves in water rather they cleaned themselves with water and a rag.

Where did they poop in medieval times?

Loos in the Middle Ages During the Middle Ages, rich people built toilets called ‘garderobes’ jutting out of the sides of their castles. A hole in the bottom let everything just drop into a pit or the moat.

Where did Romans poop?

The Romans had a complex system of sewers covered by stones, much like modern sewers. Waste flushed from the latrines flowed through a central channel into the main sewage system and thence into a nearby river or stream.

Why is poo called Poo?

One derives from the onomatopoeic interjection “Poo,” dating from the 1600s, when it was more commonly spelled “Puh” or “Pooh,” or, as Fielding rendered it in this quote from Tom Jones: “’Pugh,’ says she, ‘you have pinked a Man in a Duel, that’s all.