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Medieval Society
The Feudal system concerns itself mainly with the organisation of the aristocracy; there is a difference between this and the manorial system that organises the lower classes. The manorial or seigniorial system establishes the relationship between the vassal or sub vassal and the tenants on his manor. A manor was usually a village with surrounding farm lands. The tenants on this manor were bound to the land as subjects to the lord of the manor. Each tenant had a piece of land to work on in return for a share of the produce as well as various other duties and obligations such as working on the land reserved for the lords use or repairing the walls and moat of his castle. In time of war the tenant would be obliged to act as guard or foot soldier.
The Castle
Where does the castle fit into all this? As already stated, William the Conqueror built many castles in England and was responsible for in excess of a thousand in all. The Conqueror obviously saw the importance of the castle in the use of his governing, and the maintaining of his power. The lords under the Conqueror and the successive kings had to consider their own safety as persons in authority as they would be the first target if hostilities arose in a region. One consideration was rebellion, something that was often on the lord's mind in such harsh times when life was difficult and the measures taken by a lord over his vassals and tenants could cause unrest. The very castle itself must have been a sign of domination to the common man. The castle also helped as protection in the event of a raid. Raids from the sea was a problem for coastal regions or in places bordering Scotland and Wales the concern was with raids from the wild natives of those regions. Carlisle Castle had to endure numerous attacks from the Scottish and at one point was successfully captured. Bamburgh Castle in 1333 had to resist an attack from the Scots. On the border of Wales was a similar situation concerning the English and the feuding Welsh princes but this turned from defensive into offensive. Edward I used border castles as bases from which to attack the Welsh and then attempted to suppress the region of Snowdonia in north Wales by having a string of castles built. Internal strife was another reason for a lord needing adequate defence. Division of loyalty in the realm could cause civil war and Rochester castle endured two such turmoil’s and was laid siege on both occasions. Feuds could break out between neighbouring lords over ownership of land. In 1469 Caister Castle in Norfolk, owned by the Paston family, was besieged and captured by the Duke of Norfolk because of a dispute over the ownership of the castle.
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