Medieval and modern times : an introduction to the history of western Europe form the dissolution of the Roman empire to the present time . he missile wentsailing against the wall or over it among the defenders of the castle pour lighted pitch or melted lead dovra on their enemies if theywere so bold as to get close enough to the walls. The Romans had been accustomed to build walls around theircamps, and a walled camp was called castrum; and in suchnames as Rochester, Winchester, Gloucester, Worcester, wehave reminders of the-fact that these towns were once fort-resses. These camps, however, w

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Medieval and modern times : an introduction to the history of western Europe form the dissolution of the Roman empire to the present time . he missile wentsailing against the wall or over it among the defenders of the castle pour lighted pitch or melted lead dovra on their enemies if theywere so bold as to get close enough to the walls. The Romans had been accustomed to build walls around theircamps, and a walled camp was called castrum; and in suchnames as Rochester, Winchester, Gloucester, Worcester, wehave reminders of the-fact that these towns were once fort-resses. These camps, however, were all government fortifica-tions and did not belong to private individuals. 17ie Age of Disorder ; Feinia/is)!/ 95 But as the Roman Empire grew weaker and the disorder Early castlescaused by the incoming barbarians became greater, the variouscounts and dukes and even other large landowners began tobuild forts for themselves, usually nothing more than a greatround mound of earth surrounded by a deep ditch and a wallmade of stakes interwoven with twigs.. On the top of the moundwas a wooden fortress, surrounded by a fence or palisade, . Fig. 29. Medieval Battering-ram This is a simple kind of a battering ram which was trundled up to the walls of a besieged castle and then swung back and forth by a group of soldiers, with the hope of making a breach. The men were often protected by a covering over the ram similar to the one at the foot of the mound. This was the typeof castle that prevailed for several centuries after Charle-magnes death. There are no remains of these wooden castlesin existence, for they were not the kind of thing to last very long, and those that escaped being burned or otherwise destroyed, rotted away in time. About the year 1100 these wooden buildings began to be re- improvedplaced by great square stone towers. This was due to the fact ^^ck leadthat the methods of attacking castles had so changed that wood ° ^^ °^ ^ ° • stone towns was no longer a sufficient