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| Top 10 Castle Facts Fit For A King Posted: 07 Feb 2013 09:00 PM PST A castle is a large strong building, built in the past by a ruler or important person to protect the people from being attack. The purpose was to serve as both a home and a fortress. In other words, castles were predominately developed as a defensive structures rather than grand homes for kings and queens. The first castles began to appear in the early 10th century. Feudal lords built castles as strongholds and a way to protect the surrounding villages. As the centuries passed, castles became the center for local governments, with both towns and cities growing up around them. By the 16th century, castles had lost their strategic importance as new weaponry began to negate their impenetrable status. This article examines top 10 biggest castle facts that you should know, if you don’t already know. These facts are useful and should be further researched for the keen historians who love learning about warfare history.
1. Oldest Occupied Castle
Windsor Castle is the Oldest Occupied European Castle. At approximately 900 years old, Windsor is occupied by Queen Elizabeth II. Originally, it was a wooden motte-and-bailey-type castle built by William I. It was then renovated with stones and was given a few additions by way of outer walls and a round tower that was constructed by Henry II. This is very similar to how the newly elected U.S. President added their own unique feature to the White House whenever they move in. Obama decided to add a basketball court when he first moved in. On November 20, 1992, Windsor Castle was ravaged by a fire. The castle suffered severe damage, which destroyed many historic parts of the castle. It took £36.5 million to repair the castle.
2. A castle was once built on top of a volcano
Edinburgh Castle was built on top of a 700 million year old, now extinct, volcano called Castle Rock. Castle Rock is located in the city of Edinburgh. Castle Rock has been inhabited by the people since the Bronze Age and the castle has stood there since at least the 12th century. Through the years, the castle has been used as a royal residence, as a prison, and an army garrison. It is one of the most important castle in Scotland and has been at the center of numerous wars, having been attacked and besieged several times. Now it stands as a national monument, museum and a tourist attraction. St Margaret's Chapel is the oldest building on the site and also the oldest building in all of Scotland. It was constructed in the early 12th century in memory of Queen Margaret. It is believed that Queen Margaret died of a broken heart after receiving news of her husband’s, King Malcolm III’s death.
3. Food & Feasts Hunting was a popular pastime for lords as well as those of lower status during the Middle Ages’ Feudal Era. Castles kept hunting falcons and dogs for this purpose. At time when there was plenty of meat, the lord might held a feast in the great hall with a large variety of meats and other food.
4. Towers The towers is one of two key features of any castle. Also called the keep, towers were hollowed out structures that’s purpose was living quarters. Caernarfon Castle in Wales had one of the largest towers in Europe, measuring 68 feet in diameter. The earliest castle keeps were rectangular or polygonal in shape. The shape changed to rounded walls in order to get rid of defensive blind spots. France was the first to construct rounded towers.
5. Materials Used Castles were initially constructed of wood, stone and mortar. Workers created a flat-topped hill that was edged with a wooden fence – known as the bailey. Within the fence was the castle itself and various outbuildings. With time, the wooden bailey was scrapped and replaced with a stone structure called the curtain wall, and the outbuildings were combined into the main castle structure. Most of the stones that were used came from local quarries.
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| Posted: 07 Feb 2013 09:00 PM PST There are several modern adventurers who have made their mark in several activities such as trekking, cycling, snorkeling and others. Given below are the top 10 modern adventurers.
1. Sir Ranulph Fiennes
2. Mike Horn
3. Bertrand Piccard
4. Ed Viesturs
5. John Goddard
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Horn, a South African modern adventurer started out on his expedition without the use of motor vehicles in 1999. Horn crossed South America on foot and traversed Africa by bike. He has also climbed 2 peaks of 8000 meters and reached the North Pole on foot. The Pangaea Expedition is a 4 year expedition led by him currently to foster the conservation of natural resources and protection o environment.
Piccard is a great adventurer and a scientist. He and his friend became famous for their balloon ride all over the world in 1999. This ride later came to be known as the "the last great adventure of the 20th century." He is thinking of going around the world in 2011 in his own solar powered light weight plane whose development is under process.
Ed Viesturs is a cautious climber and a high-altitude mountaineer who was almost successful in climbing the climb Mount Everest, falling short just by 300 feet. He was adjudged the first American to have climbed all fourteen of the world's 8000 meter peaks in 2005.
He is a great adventurer who is known for various pursuits such as riding an ostrich, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and starring in a Tarzan film. He also has to his credit many world records as a civilian jet pilot. This modern adventurer has also retraced the steps of Alexander the Great and Marco Polo and has explored the Congo and Nile river beds.| You are subscribed to email updates from top 10 (10pm) To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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