🏰Medieval warfare in western Europe centered around fortified castles and wall towns.
⚔️Sieges were a common method of attacking and capturing medieval fortresses.
🛡️Hasty assaults were risky but potentially rewarding strategies for quickly taking a town.
🏞️Natural features such as cliffs and ditches provided additional protection for fortresses.
🔒Defenders used sorties and barricades to repel attackers and protect their fortifications.
What were the main features of a medieval fortress?
—Medieval fortresses typically had sturdy walls, gates, towers, and sometimes additional defensive outworks.
How did besieging armies lay siege to a fortress?
—Besieging armies used tactics such as hasty assaults, setting up fortified camps, and defending against sorties.
What were sorties?
—Sorties were sudden counter-attacks launched by the defenders against the besiegers, aimed at destroying siege engines or tunnels.
What were the risks of a hasty assault?
—Hasty assaults were risky and often involved high losses, but offered the opportunity to quickly take a town if the defenders were ill-prepared.
How did natural features impact sieges?
—Natural features such as cliffs and ditches provided additional protection for fortresses and made assaults more difficult.
00:03Throughout the Middle Ages, warfare in western Europe revolved around fortified castles and wall towns.
01:20Hasty assaults, in which an attacking force quickly stormed a town, were a risky but potentially rewarding strategy.
05:59Sorties, sudden counter-attacks launched by defenders, were a powerful tool to distract besieging armies.
07:26Medieval fortresses often had natural features such as cliffs and ditches to provide additional protection.
09:53Building a well-fortified camp was crucial to the security of the besieging army during a siege.
