The staircases aided the defenders in medieval times, most of the people were right handed and the handrail was on the left, so defenders could hold on to the rail with their left hand and fight with their right hand. Attackers would have nothing to hold on to and have t fight with their left hand, as their was no room for them to use their right hand – there was not much room as the staircases were very narrow.
The doorway to the keep was high up and not on ground level and was at the side of the keep. This was a defensive feature as battering rams were unable to get up the stairs to the main door. The steps leading up to door turned, so defenders could see who was coming and be prepared without the enemy seeing them. Once up the stairs there was a gap to get to the front door. This was because you needed to cross the drawbridge, which would have already been pulled down up by the time the enemies got to this stage. Once through the main doors there was a 90° angle where guards could be standing. Attackers wouldn’t be able to see what was around the corner. However, the main door was wooden and could easily be set alight.
Rochester castle may seem like one of the best-defended castles ever, however, it did have weaknesses. It was very easy to siege, as the Bailey was circular. This problem was overcome by building a well and a basement. The well went through every floor so each floor had enough water in a siege without having to leave the keep. The basement was used for food storage, which would have been very useful if the castle was under siege - but the castle did not have its own food supply, so they would have had to leave the keep for food.
Why was the Castle under attack in 1215?
Rochester Castle was under attack in 1215 because of ‘Bad’ King John. At this point in English history, not many people liked King John and he was very unpopular with most people in England. Some say he was a wicked King, others say he was just plain unlucky. John became King of England in 1199 and he owned nearly as much land in France as in England. By 1204 John had lost most of his French territory, including Normandy. However, this was not entirely John’s fault – as Richard the Lionheart (who was the King before John) made the Nobles in France angry because he took so much money of them and many of them were tired being ruled by an English King. Some of the Nobles thought that ‘Arthur of Brittany’ would be a better ruler for them than John. So, France went to war with John and just as things were going well for John in his struggle he captured many enemies, including Arthur of Brittany. As John was such an evil King he left Arthur in a tower for a long time and then tied a rock to Arthur’s hand and threw him in the river. After Arthur’s death, the war went from bad to worst for John and by 1204 he abandoned Normandy and fled back to England. King John never really got over the loss of Normandy, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get his land back. But the more he tried, the more the Barons and ‘great nobles’ grew annoyed back in England. John was so greedy and wanted more money from the Barons so he could keep fighting, and he wanted them to come over from England to help him personally in his wars. So in 1205 John met with his Barons and was still constantly asking them to come and help him in winning his lands back. After eventually losing
Normandy, John couldn’t feel he could trust his Barons and
gave more of the important jobs in England to the poor
foreigners because he thought they would be grateful to him.
This made the Barons even less happy with John.
John spent a lot of time arguing with the church leaders. It was
unfortunate for John that the Pope at that time was very strong
minded as well. So when the Arch Bishop of Canterbury died in
1205, both John and the Pope argued who should get the job next. Neither men would compromise; and after three years of angry disagreeing the Pope took action and that year all the clergymen in England stopped working. From 1208 – 1213 the church strike lasted bearing in mind this was a very long time for people back then, because everyone was very religious and believed in Christianity. John gave in, in hope that the Pope would help him in his fight with the Barons.
Still trying to get more money from the Barons and trying to get his lands back in France all through his life; John decided he should take another approach to this and he tried to get as much money out of England as possible. He charged heavy taxes, if he didn’t like a Baron he would fine him, even if the Baron had not broken any laws. When a Baron took over from his father he had to pay a special tax, called a “relief”. As a result of this Barons were in debt.
The custody of Rochester Castle once more became a political issue when King John refused to accept the Pope’s nomination of Simon Langton as Archbishop. Eventually the King had to give in and Langton was appointed and it was believed that he took custody of Rochester Castle. The Barons still unhappy about John made an agreement that all Kings had to sign in the future. So they captured John and made him sign the treaty this was called ‘The Magna Carta’.
When John ignored Magna Carta (he wrote to the Pope to get it torn up), he triggered a full-scale civil war. Both the king and the rebel barons were waiting for troops to arrive from France, and so control of the rivers and roads in Kent became essential. Thinking quickly, a group of barons rushed to Rochester and seized control of the castle. Two days later, John was outside, determined to take the castle by force. The result was one of the biggest and most spectacular sieges in English history.
The king used every means at his disposal to try and break into
the keep, including a ceaseless barrage of missiles from his five
great trebuchets (catapults). The mighty tower, however, held
out, even though hunger had reduced the men inside to
eating their own horses.
Eventually, John ended the siege by digging a mine shaft under the keep and collapsing it by burning the pit-props (which held the tunnel up) using the fat from 40 pigs. The collapse of the tunnel caused a quarter of the keep to come crashing down, and the siege was soon ended.
Rochester was so important to have because at the time it was
one of the best Castles in England and the most powerful man
had to have it; this is why there was so many battles for it.
In what ways did Rochester Castle change after 1215?
After the Siege of 1215, some changes were made to
Rochester Castle. After John’s death in 1216, nine-year-old
Henry III took control over Rochester Castle. During the next
half century it was repaired and refurbished. £680 was spent on
the castle, of which £530 was spent on repairing the damage
done to the keep. During 1221 the curtain wall was repaired
and the South – west tower was rebuilt. The tower was rebuilt in
a round design, newer, stronger and with no vunerable corners
– this took a very long time for the reason that the whole tower
had been destroyed and needed to be fully rebuilt. £12.12.6d
was spent on constructing a wall that divided the Bailey in two
wards and tightened the defensive ring around the keep. The
South - west tower stopped undermining being rounded
because it was rounded there were no corners for the tower to
collapse, as there was no corner to damage the walls. The
tower was also designed to defect missiles. All these changes
made the castle a more defended castle. The ditch was still an
important part of the defensive system of the castle; and when
the curtain wall as built it made it even harder for attackers to
get in to the Bailey or near the keep. After the Siege of 1215,
Rochester Castle also became more of a residential castle
rather than a defending or attacking castle to survive in. More
people started to live in it and it was more comfortable for
people to live in. For example, the cellar under the King’s
chamber and his wardrobe and were wainscoted, this
retained the heat and therefore made it far more comfortable to live in. Earlier on, it appears that a new chapel and chamber had been built in the Bailey and in the hall, buttery and dispensary had been repaired. The Chapel made it easier for religious people to stay in the Castle because they wouldn’t have to leave the keep to go to church. In 1237 his stable and tow gates were repaired and in 1239 the chapel was whitewashed and a ‘Christ in Majesty’ mural repainted. This made the castle more decorative and more residential. In 1254, an external flight of stairs was ordered, so that access to the chapel need not be through the King’s own apartments.
The roof of the Castle was more comfortable and it was stronger and less flammable than the wood, so therefore this was another defensive feature. However, as it was made of lead it would retain heat. Around the 1300’s the castle declined being so comfortable and residential, and it was just not comfortable for the people to live in. This was because it was cold and it was too big to keep all the rooms heated. This therefore suggests that the changes to the comfort of the castle were not altogether successful because they did not help to make the castle more of a residential feature. The Inner and outer bailey were both defensive features and were used as a double defense against the keep. The defenders could take their animals into the inner bailey, when they were being attacked, this would give them a little more time and therefore they would have a greater supply of food in times of siege. Attackers would not know this and during a siege, they would be the first to get hungry and thirsty, as they were the ones without emergency food.
