Medieval Information

Most castles had an enormous set of traps ready for when an invading army drew nearer.

The most common way to cause fear on an enemy army was to place a vast quantity of dry grass many yards away from the castle. Some oil was then spread over the grass to make it easy to burn - when an enemy army marched toward the castle, the defenders simply set the grass on fire with a fire arrow killing as many enemies as possible.

Caged animals were sometimes placed outside of the castle's walls. These contained an enormous rope from the cage itself to the castle so the defenders could uncage them easily without exposing themselves. When the invaders came in range, all the animals were uncaged and sometimes they spread diseases to the invaders.

When these traps failed, there were yet many more traps designed to kill as many invaders as possible. Gatehouses were especially designed to prevent enemies from coming in, but sometimes they would be made weaker for the sole purpose of letting the enemies in the gatehouse.

A secret door would then shut leaving many attackers trapped inside. Following resulted a massacre inside as the defenders placed many small holes in the gatehouse's entry from which they could easily kill any attacker with a spear without suffering any damage themselves. The gatehouse would be then repaired as soon as possible.

When the invaders opted to climb a castle's wall instead, the defenders threw them anything they could get their hands on. Oil was very commonly thrown at the invaders, but sometimes even boiling water could be as efficient. Of course the defenders imagination was enormous and they discovered that sand (yes sand) was even better as it would make many fall, it made the enemy's armor itchy, it was easy to keep; and even a kid could throw it at the invaders.

Inside a castle itself, traps were not as common mainly because they could be dangerous for the inhabitants themselves. However, when an army was about to breach the outer wall; the defender army had to make a brave stance because they didn't have any traps anymore.

For more information, read the following articles:

-Castle Defenses

- Castle Attackers

-List of Castles

-Medieval Warfare