How were castles conquered?

All sieges started the same way. The attacking army would surround a castle, making sure no one inside could escape and no one outside could sneak in food. With their blockade in place, the besiegers could try these options:

Negotiation: Once it had a castle surrounded, a siege army would send its messenger to request the surrender of the besieged. Sometimes, a castle’s lord or constable would promise to give up if friendly reinforcements didn’t arrive within a month. The surrendering castle guards would be allowed to leave peacefully, although the lord and lady might be held for ransom.

Deception: The history of siege warfare is filled with tales of castles lost to cunning tricks rather than after long, bloody battles. Attackers might bribe castle guards to lower the drawbridge, for instance. Sometimes, besiegers would send men-at-arms disguised as merchants to the castle gates. When the starving defenders rushed out to buy supplies, the attacking army would change in.

Starvation: Castles were pricey pieces of property – as long as they weren’t reduced to rubble – so besiegers preferred to capture them with their walls and towers intact. If they could blockade a castle long enough, its defenders would eventually eat all their food and be forced to surrender – or starve.

Excavation: Besiegers could send special miners called sappers to dig tunnels beneath the castle walls and cause them to collapse. Castle defenders often placed pots of water around the walls to detect the vibrations of enemy mining operations. If they suspected a tunnel was in the works, they’d dig their own countermine and fight the sappers in ferocious underground battles.

Destruction: When these tactics failed, attackers had no choice but to build siege engines: devices designed to batter the castle and its defenders. Catapults hurled stones that smashed walls and the people hiding behind them. Attackers placed long ladders and rolled tall towers alongside the castle to storm the walls. The castle’s garrison of knights and soldiers, meanwhile, mounted a furious defense, raining arrows and boiling water on the attackers and shoving siege ladders away from the walls. By the time the castle fell, both sides would have suffered heavy losses.

 

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