What were the Strengths and Advantages of Concentric Castles?
The strengths and advantages of concentric castles were as follows: • Round or Polygonal shaped Keeps or Towers were introduced eliminating the weak corners of the square keeps • The Square Keeps caused real problems at the corners of the structure: • It was easy to mine underneath a corner • The attackers would dig a tunnel underneath one of the corners using timber props (this process was called sapping). The tunnel would be packed with brush wood. The brush wood would be set on fire and the corner would collapse! • The structure of the castle would be weakened and the weight of the castle would bring the walls caving in and the whole castle would collapse • Round buildings eliminated defensive blind spots – men could dodge around corners to avoid a direct line of fire which limited attacks from only one direction • The Concentric Castles were big – allowing a greater number of defendants to be housed in the castle complex • Moats were added which surrounded the whole Concentric Cast
