Predecessors to Stone Castles: Early Medieval Fortifications

Before stone castles dominated (12th–16th centuries), Europe used earlier fortification types:

1. Motte-and-Bailey Castles (10th–13th c.)

• Motte: Artificial earth mound (5–30 m high) with wooden tower (keep) on top.
• Bailey: Enclosed courtyard at base, surrounded by palisade and ditch.
• Quick to build (weeks); timber/earth; vulnerable to fire, rot, siege engines.
• Norman conquest spread them across England, Wales, Ireland, Low Countries.

2. Ringworks (12th–14th c.)

• Circular/oval bank and ditch enclosure; no motte.
• Inner bailey (lord's hall, chapel) + outer bailey (stables, storage).
• Stronger than mottes on flat ground; less common.
• Examples: Sully (France), Castleton (England).

3. Early Stone Keeps (11th–12th c.)

• Transition: stone tower on motte (shell keep) or freestanding great tower (donjon).
• White Tower (Tower of London, 1078), Colchester, Rochester.
• Fireproof, imposing, but expensive; only wealthy lords/kings.

4. Pre-Castle Fortifications

• Hillforts (Iron Age) – Multivallate earthworks; reused in early medieval.
• Roman forts & walls – Reoccupied (e.g., Portchester).
• Viking ring fortresses (Trelleborg type) – Geometric, short-lived.
• Byzantine/Slavic strongholds – Timber/stone hybrids.

Stone castles (curtain walls, mural towers, gatehouses, concentric designs) superseded these as siege technology (trebuchets, cannon) and aristocratic display demanded more permanent, defensible, and prestigious architecture.