Medieval Door Lock

“How will they hang the doors on the stone carved frames and can they make them lock?”  This question has been asked at the Ozark Medieval Fortress when the tour has been with the masons at work. 

The construction of what seems a simple door is actually very involved.  The door opening has to be in the just right place. With the walls 5-foot thick, you don’t give the builders a change order!  The edges of the door opening, both outside and inside, require carved stones that receive a wooden frame to hold the door.  The stones above have to be carefully placed to support incredible weight above.  The masons do this by first having a lintel stone and above that an arch with meticulously shaped and placed stones  In order to lock the door, the masons preplan and place squared and hollow holes in the wall that hold a wooden oak beam that later can be slid out of the wall behind the door.  The door itself was hung on iron hinges made by the blacksmith. 

When things are “set in stone”, it takes a lot of planning.  That is a saying that has lasted to our modern day and definitely applies to building a Medieval castle. 

Model Medieval Fortresses

“Why are there models of the wooden fortress and the stone castle along the trail at the Ozark Medieval Fortress?”  Adults as well as children enjoy seeing a model of something they are interested in, but the reason for the large models of fortresses along the trail is because we talk about the history of the wooden fortress, motte and bailey and Medieval stone castles.  The French founding partners of the Ozark Medieval Fortress call our site an “edutraction”, so a lot of effort has gone into making it easy for people to visualize Medieval history.  The castle itself is so big, sometimes it is easy to lose perspective.   I think it is especially helpful for even the smallest child to look down on the stone castle model and be able to visualize the entire project. 

I like to point out that there are four aspects of Medieval castle building visible in the stone model.  First, the transition from the early Middle Ages (Dark Ages) to the high Middle Ages (the year 1000) is not marked by a battle, but rather, the return to building with stone.  The earliest stone castle keep in Europe was built at that time in France.  Second, they used cement, but it was Roman cementorium which was water, sand and lime without modern hardeners.  That cement was porous and could “breathe”, and so control joints were not necessary to keep the wall from cracking.  Modern cement has to have these control joints or the cement will expand from the heat of the sun and crack.  The Medieval cement was not as hard and was very slow to dry but permitted them to build the wide, long castle walls.  Third, the returning Crusaders came back to Europe with a renewed appreciation for the strength of round towers.  This was not a new idea. The Romans built a fortress at Cologne, Germany to guard the Rhine crossing in 300 A.D. using round towers.  The Crusaders saw the value of these round towers and they now became the standard.  Round towers do not have a corner that can be battered and loosened.  The stones are in a naturally strong arc that resists battering.  Finally, the model shows the shift in the donjon, or keep, from the center of the bailey to the outer wall.  They realized the lord’s tower was just as defensible in the outer wall as in the center of the courtyard.   This move meant they no longer had to walk through the muck and weather to get from the sleeping quarters to the Great Hall where they ate and entertained.  It may sound simple, because we take it for granted that our rooms are all connected under one roof, but to them it made a big difference to daily life and comfort.

Beyond the educational value of these models, I like the chance to visualize the completed castle with the gate houses, battlements and towers. It’s fun to picture the knights and horses, serfs and merchants all going about their daily lives in a Medieval castle.

Medieval Castles and Cannons

A common question of guests at the Ozark Medieval Fortress is whether cannons are the reason the construction of castles came to an end.  This is almost what I would call an “urban legend” about the Middle Ages.  Not everyone agrees, but my answer is that it is not that simple.  Black powder was originally invented by the Chinese, but the Europeans didn’t know about it.  Gun powder for Europe was developed by a German monk named Berthold Schwarz in about 1315 and was quickly used for war, not fireworks.  However, the cannons used carved stones for cannon balls and were not particularly accurate or destructive.  Cannons are only part of the reason that fewer and fewer castles were built after the Medieval through the Renaissance.  If cannons are the sole reason for the end of castle building, why was Fort Sumter built in Charleston Harbor, USA (an all-brick fort)? Even in World War II several German castles held up Patton’s army.

The reasons for the dramatic decrease in castle building at the end of the Middle Ages are the three C’s: commerce, crowns and cannons.  The introduction of cannons changed the design from tall, 5-foot thick walls to lower, 20-foot thick walls with sharp angles to help deflect the cannon balls.  But some castles were still built during the Renaissance.  Some castles were destroyed by kings (the crown) who did not want them inside their growing domain as potential rebellious strongholds.  This was the time of the consolidation of many provinces into countries, especially in France and England.

The main reason that the rate of castle building plummeted was the prosperity that increased commerce introduced, which goes hand in hand with political stability.  It is revealing to look at what replaced the castles.  The people of Europe continued to be industrious: they built amazing cathedrals throughout this time.  However, they quit building so many castles and began building… palaces.  A castle is fortified, a palace is not.  It is not hard to picture the wives of the lords asking why the need to live in a cold, damp castle tower as they became more and more confident of peace.  Instead, they wanted and got beautiful homes with high windows (like the cathedrals) with light and air and comforts.  In addition, after the middle of the 1300’s, they realized a castle was no protection from something worse than an attack from enemies: the plague.  The perception was that a palace with its open, airy rooms and separation from the masses afforded better security than stone walls.

Of course, the situation varied by region.  Castles remained important on the “frontier” of the realms.  Some remarkable castles were built in the Renaissance in England, France and Germany and some, such as the one at Heidelberg, Germany went from being a Medieval fortress to a Renaissance palace.  So, the bottom line is that although cannons were a part of the demise of castle building, other factors were important. To keep it simple, remember cannons, crowns and commerce.

Finding Direction in the Middle Ages

“How did people find their way during the Middle Ages?”  “Did they have magnetic compasses back then?”  The tour at the Ozark Medieval Fortress goes through the woods, out of sight of the castle and other buildings at times, so direction questions come up.  The answer has three parts.  First, people have known about telling direction from the sun or stars from way back.  Second, in the Dark Ages (early Medieval) they did not have magnetic compasses.  Third, by the high Middle Ages magnetic compasses were well known.  The first confirmed report of magnetic compass use in Europe dates to just before 1200.  In fact, the compass made a big contribution to the important increase in commerce during the 1200’s.  Before then shipping closed down October to April from the North Sea to the Mediterranean because of cloudy skies (inability to see the stars).  By the end of the 1200’s shipping was stopped only in December and January and that was because of rough seas rather than navigational problems.  This was thanks to the compass.  A common person, however, could not afford a magnetic compass and needed to rely on woodsman skills to navigate the forest.  That remained the case into our colonial era in America.  At the Ozark Medieval Fortress all a guest needs to do to keep from getting lost is stay on the trail.

Medieval Family Names

Young girls on tour at the Ozark Medieval Fortress, when we talk about marriage and family life, often ask if they had family names (surnames) in the Middle Ages.  The answer is yes, by the time of our castle.  In the Dark Ages (early Medieval) people were generally illiterate and travel was limited, so first names were enough.  As the Middle Ages progressed and travel increased, added names came to be used.  They generally came from one of five possibilities.  The oldest tradition is your family place (Jesus of Nazareth).  Very old is a name from your father (Peterson, Johnson).  Sometimes the second name, especially for girls, was taken from the mother (Hilliard, Marriott).  Also from early times, a name was added that was descriptive (Fox for a clever person).  As the Middle Ages progressed through the high Middle Ages, many surnames were taken from the family trade (Miller, Smith, Carpenter, Potter).  During the 1200’s, surnames became predominant in all classes.  However, they were not necessarily passed on to the next generation.  My surname would have been Olafson, while my son’s name would have been Jameson. If a person changed trade, he could change his last name to reflect the change.   

In our day, with certified birth certificates, photo i.d.’s and Social Security numbers, this seems strange.  We were not always this organized.  For America, many immigrants names were changed,  intentionally or by error upon arrival.  Slaves had not been given surnames and took them when they became free.  In our Western expansion, many people changed their names to avoid their past.  We have grown from 1 billion to nearly 7 billion people in the world.  Maybe we will need to add more names (or numbers?).

Medieval Trebuchet

On tour at the Ozark Medieval Fortress, after seeing the full-sized trebuchet, guests often ask, “How far will that catapult throw a stone?”  It is really common for people to get mixed up on the Medieval war machines.  There is a big difference between a catapult and a trebuchet (and, for that matter, a ballista).  The ballista is a giant crossbow mounted on wheels and comes from the Greeks.  The catapult is a throwing machine that uses twisted ropes (like a twisted rubber band) to power the arm and comes to us mainly from the Romans.  The trebuchet is a throwing machine that uses the force of a dropping weight attached to the short end of a long arm as its power and was developed by the French.  The word “trebuchet” comes from the Old French word “trebucher”, which means “throw over”. 

The first trebuchets were used in the ancient world, but instead of a fixed weight for power, they used many men pulling on ropes to provide the thrust. This was the type the Franks used in the early Medieval, but by the high Middle Ages, they had made the change to a counterweight which gave better accuracy and power.  Large trebuchets like the one at the Ozark Medieval Fortress had arms of 40-60 feet and could throw stones of  200 pounds for up to 300 yards (three football fields).  Another aspect of the trebuchet is that it has a sling at the end of the throwing arm which adds a lot of velocity to the thrown stone. 

In the Middle Ages the trebuchet was the most feared and respected war machine.  They were accurate in hitting the target wall and consistent pounding by such large stones caused great damage.  During the Crusades the Christian armies were known to use as many as 70 trebuchets at a time.  In the 1300’s, with the coming of cannons, the trebuchet became outdated and was used less and less.  The last confirmed use in war was in the 1500’s when Cortez, lacking cannons and gunpowder, attempted to use a trebuchet against the Aztecs.  Unfortunately for the Spanish, the first stone hit the trebuchet itself and destroyed it.  The trebuchet at the Ozark Medieval Fortress presently is not fired for safety reasons.

Medieval Jewelry

“What kind of jewelry did they wear in the Middle Ages?”  When asked this on tour at the Ozark Medieval Fortress, I am tempted to give the quick answer and just say “All kinds”, and that would be very close to the complete picture of Medieval jewelry.  It is definitely wrong to think that the Dark Ages (early Medieval) were primitive in jewelry making, since jewelry goes back to the ancient world.  Like Rome before Medieval Europe, jewelry was a symbol of wealth, status and power.  The use of a ring as an emblem of rank or position was carried over into the Medieval.  With the growth of cities in the 1100’s and especially 1200’s, craftsmen had a base for safe and profitable jewelry-making which greatly helped increase the production of adornments for the upper classes. 

For the common people, the major change in jewelry was from pagan to Christian designs.  Their jewelry was easy to make, often of natural materials such as rope or clay beads and usually served a practical purpose in addition to decoration.  They also used iron, pewter and leather in their simple jewelry making.  By law they were prohibited from using gold, silver, diamonds, sapphires, rubies or emeralds.  Three major types of jewelry were the bodkin (hairpin), gimmel ring (interlocking bands that were the forerunner of engagement rings) and necklaces.  Another practical item often decorated was the cloak pin used to hold cloaks closed at the throat. 

Pictured is a Medieval-style cross necklace of iron and leather made in my blacksmith shop.  It is not copied from any particular sample of the era, but rather fashioned after the simple general style of the Medieval.