How was the castle defended?
In times of peace the lord only needed a few knights and men-at-arms to guard the castle. But if he was expecting an attack, the lord would hire knights who could fight with swords, lances, axes and maces. There were also mounted men-at-arms who, like knights, could fight on horseback, but who were lower in rank and were paid only about half of what a knight was paid. If the lord was not in residence, which was often the case as great lords had several castles, a constable would be in charge. The lord’s tenants – the people who farmed his land – had to do guard duty every year for a specified time as part of their rent. They could pay the lord to hire someone else to do this duty for them, so the lord often hired professional soldiers, called mercenaries. Bowmen, who used either longbows or crossbows, were important for picking off attackers from a distance. Arrow slits at Goodrich Castle (that is the openings in the wall through which archers could shoot their arrows) were either sing
