Crete Castle Tour

A Crete castle tour means a visit to the castles and fortresses of Crete, the largest Greek island. It is one of the Greece tours on this site. The notes below look at the castle through its parts, its people and its tools: the castle itself, the motte-and-bailey, feudalism, heraldry, chain mail, plate armour, the crossbow, the catapult, the trebuchet, the portcullis, the drawbridge, the arrowslit, the barbican, the casemate, the palisade, the dungeon and the bastion fort, then four wall terms. Each term is explained in plain words, and the facts come from reference articles.

What does a Crete castle tour mean?

A Crete castle tour means a visit to the castles and fortresses of Crete, the largest Greek island. Castle is sometimes used as a catch-all term for fortifications of every kind. Simple fortifications were called ringworks. A ringwork is a simple earth and timber fort.

Caerphilly Castle in Wales covers over 30 acres, and its water defences rank among Western Europe’s largest. Maiden Castle, despite its name, is a hill fort from the Iron Age. A hill fort is a fort built on a hill. An acre is a measure of land.

A toll castle beside a frequently used road or river let a lord collect toll money from merchants. Castles were located near Roman roads, which stayed important transport routes in the Middle Ages. On a Crete castle tour, a toll is a fee for passing. Roman roads were long paved routes built by the Romans.

Arrowslits became common in Europe only in the 13th century, for fear of weakening walls. Hoardings were wooden structures that jutted past a wall, letting defenders shoot at attackers below. A siege tower is a tall wooden frame pushed against a wall. Mining here means digging under a wall.

Japanese shiro were predominantly timber buildings into the 16th century. A motte was commonly reached by a flying bridge over its ditch. On a Crete castle tour, a shiro is a Japanese castle. A motte is a mound that carries a tower. Predominantly means mainly.

• Urban: Urban castles were used to control local people and important travel routes.
• Moat: A moat was able to stop siege towers from reaching walls and make mining harder.
• Fish ponds: Fish ponds were a status symbol because they were costly to build and maintain.

A Crete castle tour starts with the word castle and its different kinds of fortification. Ringworks, hill forts, shiro and toll castles all share the idea of a strong place. The next section turns from the general idea to the mound castle.

On a Crete castle tour, what does the motte-and-bailey bring?

A Crete castle tour brings up the motte-and-bailey, a mound castle with a courtyard beside it. Mottes ranged from 3 to 30 metres in height. Mottes were built by hand, using wooden shovels and hand-barrows. A bailey is a walled courtyard.

Stone keeps of the period took up to ten years to build. A keep is the strongest tower of a castle. A man-day is one person’s work for one day. Mottes were built from earth heaped into a mound. On a Crete castle tour, earth means soil and dirt.

Brattices were small balconies on upper floors, letting defenders cover the base of the keep wall. Wooden structures on mottes were sometimes protected by skins and hides during a siege. The bailey held a hall, kitchens, a chapel, barracks, stores, stables, and forges or workshops. Barracks are buildings where soldiers live.

Mottes were built on low ground and on deeper clay and alluvial soils. Clay soils supported a steeper motte, while soils with more sand needed a gentler slope. A palisade is a fence of strong stakes. Alluvial soil is soil left by flowing water. A slope is a surface that leans.

Duke William banned building castles without his consent under the Consuetudines et Justicie. After the 1066 invasion by William, around 80% of castles in England were motte-and-bailey. An invasion is an armed entry into a land. On a Crete castle tour, a duke is a high-ranking noble.

• Ringwork: A popular alternative was the ringwork castle, a palisade on a raised earth rampart.
• Lincoln: Records suggest 166 houses in Lincoln were destroyed to build Lincoln Castle.
• Estimates: Estimates put the largest English mottes, such as Thetford Castle, at up to 24,000 man-days.

The motte-and-bailey adds an earth-and-timber castle to a Crete castle tour as an idea. It rose on a heaped mound beside a courtyard. A courtyard is an open space inside walls. The next section turns from the mound to the lord who ordered it.

On a Crete castle tour, what does feudalism add?

A Crete castle tour brings up feudalism. A vassal was a person granted possession of land by a lord. Before granting land, a lord had to make that person a vassal. A lord is a noble who owns land.

A commendation ceremony combined homage with an oath of fealty. At homage, the vassal promised to fight for the lord when commanded. In return, the lord agreed to protect the vassal from external forces. Homage is a public act of respect. Fealty means faithful loyalty. Oath means a solemn promise.

The vassal’s main duty was to provide aid or military service. Aid means help. Possession means holding something as owned. Military service means serving as a soldier. Hereditary means passed down in a family. Decentralization means spreading power away from one centre. On a Crete castle tour, service means work done for another.

Feudalism began to yield and eventually disappeared as monarchies re-established central power. Partly, the military shifted from noble armies to professional fighters, reducing noble power. A monarchy is government by a king or queen. Noble means of high birth. For a Crete castle tour, professional means paid to do a job.

Vestiges of the feudal system lingered in France until the French Revolution of the 1790s. On 4 August 1789, France abolished the long-lasting remnants of the feudal order. A vestige is a small trace left behind. To abolish means to end by law. Remnants are small parts left over.

• Sark: The last feudal regime, on the island of Sark, was abolished in December 2008.
• Empire: Feudalism emerged from the decentralization of an empire, such as the Carolingian Empire.
• Horsemen: Mounted soldiers began to secure hereditary rule over the land allocated to them.

Feudalism adds a web of duty to a Crete castle tour: land from lords, service from vassals. It ended in France in 1789 and on Sark in 2008. The next section turns from law and land to shields and signs.

On a Crete castle tour, what does heraldry bring?

A Crete castle tour brings up heraldry, the discipline of designing, displaying, studying and passing on armorial bearings. Heraldic designs are formally described in a blazon. The shield is the one indispensable element of a coat of arms. Armorial means about coats of arms.

The diamond-shaped lozenge displayed women’s arms, because shields as implements of war were inappropriate for them. To the observer, the dexter side of a heraldic shield is on the left. A lozenge is a diamond shape. An implement is a tool. Dexter is the heraldic word for right-hand.

The two metals are or and argent, meaning gold and silver. Metals are never placed on metals, nor colours on colours, for contrast. Or is the French word for gold, and argent is the French word for silver. On a Crete castle tour, colours here are the shades used on a shield.

Bartolus de Saxoferrato, a law professor at Padua, wrote the earliest known work on heraldic law around 1350. In 1419 Henry V barred anyone who had not borne arms at Agincourt from taking arms. Padua is a city in Italy. Borne arms means used a coat of arms.

From Henry VIII’s reign, English Kings of Arms toured the country recording arms borne with proper authority. On a Crete castle tour, a herald is an officer who handles coats of arms. A visitation was a tour to check claims to arms. A reign is the time a king or queen rules.

• Chief: The upper edge and top third of a shield are called the chief.
• Visitations: English visitations ran from the first in 1530 to the last in 1700.
• College of Arms: In 1484 the crown’s heralds were combined into England’s College of Arms.

Heraldry adds a language of shields to a Crete castle tour, from the chief to the blazon. Its rules cover metals, colours and who bore arms. Each sign has a fixed name. The next section turns from shields to rings of metal mail.

On a Crete castle tour, what does chain mail add?

A Crete castle tour brings up chain mail. Chain mail is armour made of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. Chain mail was widely used in European militaries from the 3rd century BC to the 16th century AD.

The earliest surviving chain mail came from a burial in Slovakia, dated to the 3rd century BC. Mail rings measure 1.0 to 1.6 mm in diameter, or 18 to 14 gauge wire. European mail rings were riveted closed to reduce splitting under a thrust or an arrow. Riveted means pinned shut.

The 4-to-1 pattern links each ring with four others. Mail was commonly made of wrought iron, and later pieces used heat-treated steel. A pattern is a set shape that repeats. Heat-treated means made harder by heating. On a Crete castle tour, a mesh is a net of linked parts.

Riveted mail was open only to well-placed thrusts from certain spears or swords like the estoc. Mail was a poor defence against head trauma. An estoc is a long thrusting sword. Trauma means a serious injury. A thrust is a forward stab. Defence means protection. A skull is the bony frame of the head.

In Japan, chain mail is called kusari, which means chain. Japan is an island country of East Asia. On a Crete castle tour, a ring is a small circle of metal. A chain is a row of linked rings. Mail means armour of linked rings.

• Visby: A majority of skeletons from the battle of Visby, Gotland, had wounds on less protected legs.
• Persians: The Sassanid Persians adopted mail starting in the 3rd century AD.
• Asia: Asian mail was sometimes just as heavy as European mail.

Chain mail adds a woven shirt of rings to a Crete castle tour as a topic. Rings, rivets and patterns turned wire into cover. Each ring links with four others. Mail is also called chain armour. The next section turns from rings to plates.

On a Crete castle tour, what does plate armour bring?

A Crete castle tour brings up plate armour, personal body armour made from bronze, iron or steel plates. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages. In Europe, full plate armour reached its peak in the 15th and 16th centuries.

By about 1420, complete suits of plate armour had been developed in Europe. A complete suit of well-tempered steel plate armour weighed around 15 to 25 kilograms. A gorget guards the throat, and spaulders guard the shoulders. On a Crete castle tour, a kilogram is a unit of weight.

The wearer was able to jump and run, because the armour’s weight was spread evenly over the body. Jousting was a sport of mounted riders charging at each other. Jousting armour is armour made for that sport. Evenly means in equal parts. Weight means how heavy something is.

Reduced plate armour, including a breastplate and gauntlets, became popular among 16th-century mercenaries. Full plate armour was expensive to produce and stayed restricted to the upper strata of society. A mercenary is a soldier hired for pay. On a Crete castle tour, infantrymen are soldiers who fight on foot.

Powerful firearms made heavy armour obsolete, except the finest and heaviest pieces. Iron plate cuirasses and helmets were being made in Japan during the Kofun period. Obsolete means no longer useful. A cuirass is armour for the chest and back. On a Crete castle tour, the Kofun period means an early age of Japan.

• Suit: A full suit of plate armour had a helmet, a gorget and spaulders.
• Jousting: Jousting armour from the late 15th to 16th century weighed up to 50 kilograms.
• Munition: Historical references show munition armour ordered for infantrymen at a fraction of full plate’s cost.

Plate armour adds a shell of steel to a Crete castle tour, from the helmet to the gauntlet. Firearms ended its long age. The next section turns from armour to bows that fire from a frame.

On a Crete castle tour, what does the crossbow add?

A Crete castle tour brings up the crossbow. A crossbow is a ranged weapon with a bow-like prod mounted horizontally on a main frame. Crossbows shoot arrow-like projectiles called bolts or quarrels. A projectile is an object that is thrown or shot.

The lock is the release mechanism, including the string, sears, trigger lever and housing. Crossbows have trigger-released cocking mechanisms that keep the string tensioned once spanned. Crossbows are spanned using levers, belt hooks, pulleys, windlasses and cranequins. Spanned means drawn back and set to fire. A prod is the bow part of a crossbow.

The earliest known crossbows were invented in ancient China in the first millennium BCE. Handheld crossbows with complex bronze triggers have been found with the Terracotta Army. A millennium is a thousand years. For a Crete castle tour, terracotta means baked clay. Bronze is a mix of copper and tin.

Crossbows were eventually replaced in warfare by gunpowder weapons. Gunpowder is a powder that burns fast and drives a shot. A dynasty is a line of rulers from one family. A pace is one step. Warfare means the making of war. Eventually means after a long time.

Medieval European crossbows had a shorter draw length than bows, so they needed a higher draw weight. A crossbow can hold its tension indefinitely, while a longbowman can only hold for a short time. On a Crete castle tour, draw length means how far the string is pulled back.

• Hastings: Crossbows were used at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
• Song dynasty: Song dynasty crossbows were able to pierce a tree at 140 paces in 1068.
• Sport: Crossbows remain widely used for competitive shooting sports, hunting and relatively silent shooting.

The crossbow adds a frame-held bow to a Crete castle tour, from China to the Battle of Hastings. Its lock keeps the string tensioned. Each part carries a short name. The next section turns from the bow to the throwing machine.

On a Crete castle tour, what does the catapult bring?

A Crete castle tour brings up the catapult. A catapult is a ballistic device that launches a projectile far without gunpowder. A catapult releases stored potential energy suddenly to propel its payload. Ballistic means flying freely once launched.

Energy can be stored in springs, bows, twisted rope or elastic before a catapult releases it. The earliest catapults date to at least the 7th century BC. King Uzziah of Judah equipped Jerusalem’s walls with machines that shot great stones. Elastic is a stretchy material that returns to its shape.

The mangonel appeared in ancient China in the 5th century BC. Torsion catapults, which were more powerful than crossbows, came to dominate Greek and Roman artillery. Torsion means twisting force. Ancient means very old. On a Crete castle tour, a mangonel is a stone-throwing machine. Artillery means large machines that throw missiles.

The mangonel threw heavy projectiles from a bowl-shaped bucket at the end of its arm. A bucket is an open container. Bowl-shaped means round and hollow. A missile is an object that is thrown. An arm is the long beam of the machine. Heavy means weighing a lot. Size means how large something is.

In 1304, King Edward’s army built a giant trebuchet called Warwolf at Stirling Castle. Trebuchets came in two designs: traction, powered by people, and counterpoise, using a counterweight. On a Crete castle tour, a trebuchet is a large throwing machine with a long arm. Counterpoise means balanced by a weight.

• Diodorus: Diodorus Siculus described the invention of a mechanical arrow-firing catapult in 399 BC.
• Philo: In Philo of Byzantium’s theory, catapult parts were proportional to the size of the torsion springs.
• Range: Mangonels were able to hurl missiles up to 400 metres at fortresses, castles and cities.

The catapult adds a stored-energy thrower to a Crete castle tour, from Judah’s walls to Warwolf. Torsion, springs and counterweights all power its throw. Each design stores energy before the throw. The next section turns from the catapult to its giant cousin.

On a Crete castle tour, what does the trebuchet add?

A Crete castle tour brings up the trebuchet. A trebuchet is a catapult with a hinged arm and a sling that launches a projectile. Trebuchets were a common, powerful siege engine until gunpowder arrived. A trebuchet beam reached up to 15 metres, about 50 feet.

A counterweight trebuchet uses gravity, with a heavy box of stones, sand or lead on the short end. A traction trebuchet uses human power, as people pull ropes on the short end of the beam. Gravity is the pull that draws things down. Lead is a heavy soft metal. Traction means pulling.

Changing the sling’s release point is the main way to fine-tune a trebuchet’s range. A sling is a strap that holds and flings the load. Range means how far a shot flies. Release point means the moment the load leaves. Fine-tune means adjust by small steps.

Mohists are thought to have used traction trebuchets in China as early as the 4th century BC. The counterweight trebuchet appeared in Christian and Muslim lands around the Mediterranean in the 12th century. Mohists were followers of the thinker Mozi. On a Crete castle tour, the Mediterranean means the sea between Europe, Africa and Asia.

Traction trebuchets worked best against people, used in support alongside archers and slingers. Accounts describe traction trebuchets as light artillery, while breaches came from mining or siege towers. On a Crete castle tour, a breach is a gap broken in a wall. Archers shoot arrows, and slingers throw stones with a sling.

• Arm: After release, the arm keeps turning and slows smoothly on its own until it stops.
• Beam: The projectile end of the beam is much longer than the end where force is applied.
• Stone: Dense stone or metal, worked round and smooth, gives the best range and predictability.

The trebuchet adds a giant lever to a Crete castle tour, from China’s early beams to Mediterranean counterweights. Its throw depends on its beam, its sling and its weight. The next section turns from the throwing machine to the gate.

On a Crete castle tour, what does the portcullis bring?

A Crete castle tour brings up the portcullis. The name portcullis comes from Old French for sliding gate. Its grille slides down grooves inset within each jamb of the gateway. Every portcullis was mounted in vertical grooves in the castle walls.

A portcullis was raised or lowered quickly by chains or ropes on an internal winch. A winch is a drum that winds a rope. A grille is a grid of bars. Internal means on the inside. Raised means lifted up, and lowered means let down. Chains are rows of linked metal rings.

Burning wood or fire-heated sand was dropped on trapped attackers from murder holes or the roof. Arrowslits in the walls let archers and crossbowmen fire on the trapped attackers. A murder hole is an opening in a ceiling above a passage. On a Crete castle tour, trapped means held in a closed space.

In England, working portcullises survive at the Tower of London and Monk Bar in York. In Scotland, a working portcullis is at Edinburgh Castle. A working portcullis is one that can still be raised and lowered. On a Crete castle tour, survive means remain in existence.

The portcullis was the heraldic badge of the House of Beaufort. Henry VII adapted the portcullis and the Tudor rose into royal badges. A badge is a mark that shows a family or person. Heraldic means about coats of arms. A Tudor rose is a flower emblem of the Tudor kings.

• Symbol: The portcullis has become the primary symbol of the British Parliament.
• Guard: One guard was able to close a portcullis immediately in a crisis.
• Order: The inner of two portcullises was closed first, then the outer one.

The portcullis adds a sliding gate to a Crete castle tour, from grooves to badge. It ties a castle gate to coats of arms and to Parliament. The next section turns from the gate to the bridge before it.

On a Crete castle tour, what does the drawbridge bring?

A Crete castle tour brings up the drawbridge. Medieval castles were defended by a ditch or moat, crossed by a wooden bridge. In early castles, the bridge was designed to be destroyed or removed in an attack. Drawbridges became very common on castles.

The drawbridge was a wooden deck with one edge hinged or pivoting at the gatehouse threshold. The bridge extended into the gate-passage over a pit where its inner part swung. A deck is a flat floor of planks. A threshold is the sill of a doorway. A pit is a deep hole.

Access to the bridge was resisted with missiles from machicolations above or arrow slits in flanking towers. At Alnwick, a portcullis supplied the weight that raised the bridge. A machicolation is a gap in an upper floor above a gate. For a Crete castle tour, Alnwick is a castle in England.

The turning bridge was a clumsy arrangement. On a turning bridge, counterweights let the inner end sink into a pit. A counterweight is a weight that balances another. Clumsy means awkward. An arrangement is a way things are set up. Sink means go down. Inner end means the end nearer the castle.

For a working set drawbridge, one solution is steel and concrete hidden behind wood and plaster. A set is a place built for a film. Concrete is a hard building material. Plaster is a coating for walls. On a Crete castle tour, a solution is a way to solve a problem.

• France: Working drawbridges survive in France, including at the Château du Plessis-Bourré.
• Helmingham: Two working drawbridges remain in regular use at Helmingham Hall, in England.
• Films: Drawbridges have appeared in films as part of castle sets.

The drawbridge adds a movable deck to a Crete castle tour, from hinged edge to counterweight pit. Its use stretches from real gates to film sets. The next section turns from the bridge to the narrow window in the wall.

On a Crete castle tour, what does the arrowslit bring?

A Crete castle tour brings up the arrowslit. Longbowmen’s openings tended to be tall and high, so they were able to shoot standing up. Crossbowmen’s openings tended to be lower, since kneeling made shooting easier. A longbow is a tall bow drawn by hand.

At Corfe Castle, lockers nearby stored spare arrows and bolts. Early arrowslits guarded particular stretches of the wall, not every side of the castle. An embrasure is an opening in a wall for a weapon. A locker is a small store box. On a Crete castle tour, spare means kept in reserve.

The arrowslit’s attribution to Archimedes dates to the siege of Syracuse, 214–212 BC. Defenders shot bows and scorpions, an ancient siege engine, from within the city walls. Attribution means naming who made a thing. A scorpion was a large bolt-firing machine. Syracuse was a city of ancient Sicily.

Arrowslits came to be linked with high social standing and authority. After gunpowder arrived, the loophole for firearms succeeded the arrowslit. A loophole is a small opening in a wall for a gun. Authority means the right to command. Standing here means rank. Succeeded means took the place of.

Slit width set the field of fire, and horizontal openings improved the field of vision. Offset slits, called displaced traverse slots, are shown in the remains of White Castle in Wales. Field of fire means the area a weapon can hit. On a Crete castle tour, a slit is a long narrow opening.

• Dover: At Dover Castle, defenders from three embrasures can shoot through one arrowslit.
• Egypt: Archaeological evidence supports arrowslits in Egyptian Middle Kingdom forts around 1860 BC.
• Return: Arrowslits returned to military building with Dover and Framlingham in England and Château Gaillard in France.

The arrowslit adds a narrow window to a Crete castle tour, from Egyptian forts to Welsh walls. Its height, width and place all changed with the weapon. The next section turns from the slit to the outer gate tower.

On a Crete castle tour, what does the barbican add?

A Crete castle tour brings up the barbican. A barbican is a fortified outpost or gateway on the outer defenses of a city or castle. The word barbican comes from the Old French barbacane. An outpost is a post set apart from the main force.

Medieval Europeans built barbicans outside, or at the edge of, a main line of defenses. A walled road called the neck connected the barbican to the defensive walls. Barbicans controlled the entrance to a city or castle at its choke point. A choke point is a narrow place that is easy to guard.

From the 15th century, barbicans lost importance as siege tactics and artillery developed. Artillery means large guns and throwing machines. Importance means how much something matters. Siege tactics means ways of attacking a fortress. On a Crete castle tour, a century means a hundred years.

Portuguese fortification terms use barbican for any wall outside and lower than the main wall. The narrower term gate barbican refers to structures that protect gates. Narrower means with a tighter meaning. Portuguese means from Portugal. On a Crete castle tour, a term is a word that has a fixed meaning. Outside means beyond.

South Asian fortifications used barbicans to stop war elephants from ramming the main gate. The English word barbican is thought to come from Persian or Arabic. Ramming means striking hard. South Asia is the region of India and nearby lands. Persian is the language of Iran.

• Tower: A barbican can also be any tower built over a gate or bridge for defence.
• Sixteenth century: New barbicans were still built well into the 16th century.
• Gatehouses: Fortified or mock-fortified gatehouses stayed a feature of ambitious French and English residences into the 17th century.

The barbican adds an outer gate work to a Crete castle tour, with its neck and tower. It guarded the way in. Each name comes from old words. The next section turns from the gate work to the casemate.

On a Crete castle tour, what does the casemate bring?

A Crete castle tour brings up the casemate. A casemate is a fortified gun position or armoured structure used for firing guns. Originally, in early modern times, a casemate was a vaulted chamber inside a fort. A vaulted chamber is a room with an arched roof.

The vaulted chamber was meant to be impenetrable and was able to shelter troops or stores. Adding an embrasure through the scarp face let the chamber serve as a protected gun position. Impenetrable means impossible to break through. A scarp is the steep face of a wall or bank.

In the late 18th century, Marc René de Montalembert experimented with ventilation to clear casemate smoke. In 1778 Montalembert was commissioned to build a fort on the Île-d’Aix to defend Rochefort’s port. Ventilation means moving fresh air through a space. On a Crete castle tour, a port is a harbour town.

In antiquity, a casemate wall was a double city wall divided into chambers. Three types of casemate wall have been identified: freestanding, integrated, and filled. A naval casemate held a 6-inch gun behind a 4-to-6-inch front plate. Antiquity means the ancient world. A chamber is a room.

Casemate vehicles mount the main gun inside the hull and lack a rotating turret. A hull is the main shell of a vehicle. A turret is a rotating tower that holds a gun. On a Crete castle tour, rotating means turning around a centre.

• Haxo: Baron Haxo designed a free-standing casemate on top of the rampart against high-angle mortar and howitzer fire.
• Kronstadt: In the Crimean War, Royal Navy attempts to subdue the casemated Russian forts at Kronstadt failed.
• Malakoff: At Sevastopol, the casemated Malakoff Tower was captured only by a surprise French infantry attack.

The casemate adds a vaulted gun room to a Crete castle tour, from antique walls to naval guns. Its chambers sheltered troops, stores and cannon. Each type fits a different age. The next section turns from the gun room to the stake fence.

On a Crete castle tour, what does the palisade add?

A Crete castle tour brings up the palisade. A palisade is a row of closely placed vertical stakes, used as a fence or defensive wall. A palisade can form a stockade. Palisade trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top and driven into the ground.

A palisade’s height ranged from around one metre to as high as three to four metres. Being wooden, palisades were also vulnerable to fire and siege weapons. A stake is a strong pointed post. Vulnerable means open to harm. A metre measures length. Hastily means in a hurry.

A palisade stood around a castle as a temporary wall until a permanent stone wall was erected. Ancient Greeks and Romans both built palisades to protect their military camps. Temporary means for a short time. Inferior means lower in quality. On a Crete castle tour, permanent means lasting.

At Cahokia, a wooden stockade three kilometres long enclosed Monk’s Mound and the Grand Plaza. Māori fortified villages called pā used wooden palisades paired with ditches. A kilometre is a thousand metres. Pā means fortified village in the Māori language. On a Crete castle tour, a ditch is a long trench.

The City of Johannesburg promotes palisade fencing over opaque walls, as criminals cannot hide as easily behind it. Opaque means not able to be seen through. Fencing means a barrier of posts. Johannesburg is a large city in South Africa. Promotes means supports or speaks in favour of.

• Small forts: Palisades were an excellent option for small forts and hastily built fortifications.
• Livy: Roman historian Livy judged the Greek palisade method inferior during the Second Macedonian War.
• Jamestown: The English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, began as a fortification surrounded by palisades.

The palisade adds a plain wall of stakes to a Crete castle tour, from camps to castles. Its wood was quick to raise but weak against fire. The next section turns from the fence to the cell below.

On a Crete castle tour, what does the dungeon bring?

A Crete castle tour brings up the dungeon. A dungeon is a type of prison, such as an underground room or cell where prisoners are held. Dungeons are linked with medieval castles. A prisoner is a person held against their will.

The sense of dungeon as a castle prison is first found in writing in 13th century Anglo-Norman. Castle dungeons held prisoners only until a personal dispute or ransom was settled. A ransom is money paid to free a prisoner. Anglo-Norman was the French spoken by the Normans in England.

Real dungeons can be simply a single plain room with a heavy door. A number of chambers called dungeons or oubliettes were in fact water-cisterns or latrines. An oubliette is a small cell reached by a trapdoor. On a Crete castle tour, a cistern is a tank for water.

Imprisonment was not a usual punishment in the Middle Ages. Noble prisoners tended to live in castle apartments, not in dungeons. A noble is a person born into a high rank. An apartment is a set of rooms. On a Crete castle tour, imprisonment means being held in a prison.

A cell in the dungeon of Warwick Castle’s Caesar’s Tower is popularly termed an oubliette. Dungeon now broadly describes any labyrinthine complex, such as a castle or cave system. A labyrinth is a maze with twisting ways. Termed means named. A cave system is a set of linked caves.

• Tourists: The number of true dungeons in castles is exaggerated to interest tourists.
• Gatehouse: Dungeons were located close to the guardrooms or the main gatehouse.
• Richard: Pontefract Castle held Richard II as a prisoner in 1400.

The dungeon adds a cell below ground to a Crete castle tour, from old words to an oubliette. Its fame is larger than its number. Each claim here comes from a reference article. The next section turns from the cell to the star-shaped fort.

On a Crete castle tour, what does the bastion fort add?

A Crete castle tour brings up the bastion fort. Defenders on a bastion’s flank were able to fire at enemies who tried to scale the next wall. The ditch was widened so attacking infantry stayed exposed to fire from a higher elevation.

Cannons were sheltered in indentations at the base of each point on the star. Firing positions were open towards the inside, which let smoke from defending cannon dissipate. A bastion is the angled corner tower of a fort wall. Dissipate means spread out and fade.

The design spread out of Italy in the 1530s and 1540s. Architects Menno van Coehoorn and Vauban are considered to have taken the form to its logical extreme. Employed means used. An architect is a designer of buildings. Logical extreme means the furthest point of an idea. Italy is a country of southern Europe.

Fort Saint Elmo held out against heavy bombardment for over a month during the Ottoman siege of 1565. The defence of Pisa in 1500 was the first major battle to show the bastion design’s effectiveness. Bombardment means a long attack with heavy guns. For a Crete castle tour, effectiveness means how well something works.

At Padua, besiegers’ cannon fire made little impression on the low ramparts. Geoffrey Parker suggests wars became a series of protracted, or long, sieges. On a Crete castle tour, a besieger is a person who attacks a fortress. Impression means effect. Low means not high.

• Depth: Compared with medieval fortifications, forts became lower and larger in area, giving defence in depth.
• Centuries: The design was employed heavily throughout Europe for the following three centuries.
• Earth: Earth dug from the ditch was piled behind the walls to make a solid structure.

The bastion fort adds a star-shaped fort to a Crete castle tour, from Pisa to Saint Elmo. Its angles, ditch and low walls answered the cannon. The next section turns from forts to four short questions.

What do people ask before a Crete castle tour starts?

A Crete castle tour raises four plain questions about walls. A moat is a ditch, and a curtain wall joins the towers. A battlement is a notched top, and a glacis is a slope. Each answer draws on a reference article.

On a Crete castle tour, which water-filled ditch guards a wall?

A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building or garrisoned town. A moat can be dry or filled with water. Early evidence of moats comes from ancient Egyptian fortresses. A garrisoned town is a town held by soldiers.

Which long wall joins the towers behind a Crete castle tour?

The curtain wall is the defensive wall between fortified towers or bastions of a castle, fortress or town. In medieval castles, the area enclosed by a curtain wall is known as the bailey. Curtain walls were built across Europe during the Roman Empire.

Which notched top lets defenders shoot behind a Crete castle tour?

A battlement is a parapet with gaps that let arrows be launched from within the defences. The gaps in a battlement are called embrasures, crenels or crenelles. The solid widths between the crenels are called merlons. A parapet is a low wall along a roof edge.

Which slope runs up to the wall behind a Crete castle tour?

A glacis is an artificial slope that forms part of a medieval castle or an early modern fortress. The French word glacis suggests a slope made dangerous with ice. Hillforts in Britain started to incorporate a glacis around 350 BC.