I came across some great answers by Jon Bourgetti, Patrick Ashby, Alexander Taylor, and Steve Blanchard on Quora on the subject of assaults on Medieval castles. Whether you write fantasy, historical fiction, or just love history as much as I do, I think you will enjoy learning more about castles and how they could be brought down.

The Castle’s Role

Medieval castles were indescribably dominating. One historical report describes, literally, a handful of defenders on the walls using just six oaken crossbows to slaughter an attacking force who eventually took the castle by escalade (ladders). The odds were definitely in the castle’s defenders’ favor.

They could do this because castles are mighty force multipliers.

In a field, your 1,000 men would face my 1,000 men.

In a castle, your 5,000 men would be needed to take my 500 men.

Then, there’s geography. Consider the following two…