Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

Medieval Castles were more than just large fortresses with massive stone walls. They were ingeniously designed fortifications that used many brilliant and creative ways to protect their inhabitants from attacking enemies.

A lot of thought, ingenuity, and planning went into the design of Medieval Castles. Everything from the outer walls to the shapes and location of stairwells were very carefully planned to provide maximum protection to the inhabitants. Here are some of the unique and lesser-known secrets of medieval castle designs.

The Moat – A moat, which is a body of water that surrounds a castle, is often thought of as a water obstacle that had to be crossed; but this wasn’t the primary function of a moat. One of the biggest concerns of the inhabitants of a medieval castle or fortress was the fear that an invading army would dig tunnels under the fortification. This tunneling could either provide access to the castle or cause a collapse of the castle walls. A moat prevented this because any tunnel under the moat would collapse and fill with water. It was a very effective deterrent against tunneling. Often times the moat wasn’t even on the outside of the castle. It was on the inside between the outer wall and the inner wall.

Concentric Circles of Defense – This was an extremely effective method of defense for the inhabitants of a Medieval Castle. It was a series of obstacles that started on the outside of the castle and worked their way in. It was usually a progression like a cleared field, an outer wall, a moat, an inner wall, a keep and then a strong hold tower. An attacking army would have to overcome each of these obstacles one at a time. And this took a lot of time and effort to do.

The Main Gate as a Death Trap – The main gate of a castle was often the most dangerous place in the castle because it was also a deadly trap. It often opened into a small courtyard that had another main gate at the far end. The forward main gate often had an iron portcullis that was held in the open position and if the main gate was broken through and attackers made it into the small courtyard the portcullis was brought down and the attackers were trapped in the small courtyard. The walls of the courtyard had small holes called death holes where the defenders could fire arrows and other projectiles at the trapped attackers.

The hidden secrets of Stairwells – Stairwells were often very carefully designed in Medieval Castles. Stairwells that curved up to towers often curved very narrowly and in a clockwise direction. This meant that any attackers coming up the stairs had their sword hands (right hand) against the interior curve of the wall and this made it very difficult for them to swing their swords. Defenders had their sword hands on the outside wall, which meant they had more room to swing. Another ingenious design of stairs was that they were designed with very uneven steps. Some steps were tall and other steps were short. The inhabitants, being familiar with the uneven pattern of the stair heights could move quickly up and down the stairs but attackers, in a dimly lit stairwell, would easily fall and get bogged down in the stairwells. This made them vulnerable to attacks and slowed their attacks down significantly.

Secret Passages – What Medieval Castle would be complete without secret passages? Many castles had secret passages and they served a variety of purposes. Some passages were designed to open up a distance from the castle so inhabitants could escape during an attack or get supplies in and out during a siege. Secret passages also led to secret chambers where people could hide, supplies could be kept or a well for water was dug.

A medieval castle was more than just a large glamourous palace with massive stone walls around it. A medieval castle was a structure that was totally designed right down to the last detail with the protection of its inhabitants in mind. If you ever visit a medieval castle and you notice that the stairs are very uneven you will know that it wasn’t because the builders couldn’t measure out steps evenly. It was just that this is a little secret of the builders of the castle.

If you want to learn more about Medieval Castles visit my website at:

The Medieval Castle Website

Popularity: 4% [?]

The genre of childrens fantasy is a long and fabulous one. We have been treated to many many wonderful childrens books that run the absolute gamut of fantasy with magic, wizards, strange lands, dragons and everything the imagination can possibly create. . And although many of these books are for children to read they are often wonderful stories for adults to read too. A good example of this would be The Hobbit.

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien - This is a wonderful introductory work to the genre of childrens fantasy books. And it is also an engrossing novel for adults to read - with the added bonus of being able to move on to the Lord of the Rings books when done.

A Little About the History of the Genre of Childrens Fantasy books

Five Children and It (Puffin Classics - the Essential Collection) The genre of Child Fantasy is generally credited with being created by Edith Nesbit who wrote about forty books for children in the late 19th early 20th Century. She also collaborated on twenty more. Some of hier works have been adapted into movies and Television shows and some of her more popular works include Five Children and It where five children meet a sand fairy who is compelled to grant them one wish every day.

Some of her other Childrens Fantasy books include:

• The Story of the Treasure Seekers (1898)
• The Wouldbegoods (1899)
• The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904)
• The New Treasure Seekers (1904)
• The Story of the Amulet (1905)
• Edith Nesbit Books at Amazon.com

Many of her books are now in the public domain which means they can be had free. I have Five Children and It as a free download or as a free read in your web browser novel

• Download zip file of the novel in .txt format
• Read the novel right now in your web browser (Nothing to download)

A Boy Wizard in Children’s Fantasy

Ursula K. LeGuin Write a series of books entitled “The Earthsea Trilogy” about a boy with special powers who goes off to wizard school. This sounds very much like the theme of Harry Potter but these books are very different. They take place in another time and land called Earthsea and they are a spectaculary beautiful series of award winning books. If your child likes Harry Potter he or she will surely like these books. They were written in the 60’s but are still fresh and wonderful. The First book in the series: A Wizard of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 1)

A Wrinkle in Time - A wonderful book that is a mix of fantasy, science fiction, about three children who must rescue their father. This is an award winning childrens book.

Where the Wild Things Are

Amazon.com Review
Where the Wild Things Are is one of those truly rare books that can be enjoyed equally by a child and a grown-up. If you disagree, then it’s been too long since you’ve attended a wild rumpus. Max dons his wolf suit in pursuit of some mischief and gets sent to bed without supper. Fortuitously, a forest grows in his room, allowing his wild rampage to continue unimpaired. Sendak’s color illustrations (perhaps his finest) are beautiful, and each turn of the page brings the discovery of a new wonder.

The wild things–with their mismatched parts and giant eyes–manage somehow to be scary-looking without ever really being scary; at times they’re downright hilarious. Sendak’s defiantly run-on sentences–one of his trademarks–lend the perfect touch of stream of consciousness to the tale, which floats between the land of dreams and a child’s imagination.

Dragon Books for Children

Dealing with Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book One

Dragonsong By Anne McCaffrey The First book in the Harper Hall Trilogy of books. McCaffrey is also the author of the very famous DragonRiders of Pern Series which is aimed at an older audience.

Another Very Popular series of Childrens Fantasy Books is the Redwall Series by Brian Jacques

Redwall (Redwall, Book 1) This is the first book in the series and there are many books!

Brian Jacques books At Amazon.com ——- Or
An Amazon Guide to Redwall, listed in recommended reading order

Of Course there is the Harry Potter phenomenon. You are no doubt familiar with Harry and there is too much material for me to list but there is a whole store devoted to Harry Potter at Amazon.com
The Harry Potter Store

Popularity: 4% [?]

When You think of Medieval Armor you are probably thinking about Platemail. This is the armor shown by the knight in the picture here. This platemail was not instantly available to knights of the middle ages. It was the culmination of metalworking arts and blacksmiths knowldge and skill over a period of several centuries. The full suit of armor came from the development of individual pieces over these centuries. Eventually all these pieces were put together into one complete set. Note: If you have not yet done the lesson on how to draw the human figure you may want to do that lesson first. This lesson is an extension of that one. The Drawing I made to go along with this lesson is further down the page. 

Duke of Burgundy Suit of Armor Suits of Armor are more than just metal suits! They evoke a certain medieval feeling - a romantic heroism. And suits of armor were made for function and also for visual effect. These suits evolved and changed dramatically over the centuries of the middle ages.

The Major Parts of A Knight’s Medieval Armor:

• The helmet: This is the piece that covers the head and face. This piece developed over the centuries being first more like a hat then eventually becoming something called a Bassinet which was almost like a basket that covered all of the head yet kept the face open. Eventually the helmet became a self-contained piece with a visor that could be slid up and down.
• The gorget: This is the piece around the knight’s neck. It protected the area of the body between the helmet and the chest piece. These were made from various materials including sheets of metal or chainmail.
• The Chest Plate: This is the most impressive part of the knights armor. It was two pieces of plate molded to fit the knight’s body and it was usually in two pieces (front and back() that were buckled together.
• The Shoulder pieces: These could be very specialized with lparts that stuck out as a way to guide weapons away from the body. These shoulder pieces were also sometimes part of the arm pieces.
• Arm pieces: Covered the arms from shoulder to wrist. They had to be flexible at the elbow and were often assembled at this point with multiple sheets that could accordion over each other.
• Gauntlets: These are the gloves that protected the hands and fingers. The fingers were often made of consecutive sheets riveted together much like the shell of an armadillo.
• Leggings: Covered the legs and were jointed at the knees. Leggings were very important to a knight because when he was mounted on his horse his legs were very vulnerable to strikes from opponents on the ground.
• Foot Wear: Was also important to the knight because of its proximity to the opponent on the ground. The foot wear was often made from several sheets of plate jointed together so they could flex and fit into the stirrups.
• The Shield: This was a very important part of a knights protection and shields came in very many shapes and sizes.

This drawing is part of the Fantasy Art School - If you would like to learn how to draw using fantasy and medieval subjects visit the school, its totally free Fantasy Art School

Popularity: 6% [?]