Castles and fortified towns were the center of medieval warfare, and their strong defensive walls allowed a handful of defenders to resist greater forces. Although the army sometimes walked by and ignored them, it was impossible to control the surrounding land until the castle or town was occupied, and a small number of defenders could wreak havoc in the rear of the army, so how did the besiegers take the castle?
Bombing
Stone-throwing machine. The most obvious answer to solid stone walls is to smash them. In the early centuries of the Middle Ages, catapults and catapults were used to fire stones at fortifications. With the development of siege engineering technology, the size and complexity of these ** are increasing.
In 1304, during the siege of Stirling Castle, Edward I of England refused to allow the defenders to surrender until he used his new catapult, one of the largest on record. Named "Wolf Warrior", it took five master carpenters and ten workers three months to build. It was disassembled for transportation and filled with 30 wagons that could accurately fire stones weighing up to 300 pounds.
In the 14th century, cannons became increasingly popular as siege sites. Their universality allowed for a fierce and effective bombardment - more than 1,500 bombing balls were fired at Maastricht during the seven-week siege of 1407-1408.
Trenches
Map of the Siege of Newark (March 6, 1645 – May 8, 1646), one detail shows in green a type of trench that allowed the round-headed siege cannon to get closer to Newark's fortifications than ever before.
We associate trenches with the wars of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but they played a role in the early days.
Both the attackers and the defenders fired at each other with bows and cannons during the siege, and even threw stones from the walls. This makes it very dangerous to approach the castle or town. If given the time, the Pioneers and Sappers will dig trenches towards the walls, giving the attackers a safe ** position, and eventually get close enough to attack.
Trench engineering and bombing have a symbiotic defensive relationship. It is safer to dig trenches if the defender is forced to keep their heads down during the bombardment, and the trench allows the attacker to safely ** in a shorter, more effective range.
Tunnel excavation
The best way to tear down walls other than bombing is to destroy them. Just like the trenches, it depends on the time the attacker has, but the siege rarely advances successfully.
Often the work of soldiers from the mining community, the tunnel was safely opened outside the range of the defenders' cannons. All the commonly used tools brought by the miners were used to build a tunnel that was safe enough for the attackers to use. Once the tunnel is drilled under the wall, it collapses, destroys the foundation, and creates a gap in the defenses.
Defenders will attempt to probe the tunnel by placing a bowl of water on the ground near the wall and looking for vibrations. They will even dig anti-mines, trying to intercept and deter the attackers. During the Siege of Mellen in 1420, King Henry V of England engaged in a brutal battle with the anti-miners in the siege tunnels beneath the city.
Hunger
Raiding a castle or town is a costly and brutal task, with the attackers taking precedence over the defenders. If there is time, it is almost always better to starve a defender. If the attackers succeed in preventing the entry of the food**, then the defenders will eventually have to give in, as was the case in 1401 when Owen Grindelwall besieged Hallech Castle.
A protracted siege has its drawbacks. This means keeping an army on the battlefield for a long time, but this is not always possible. Troops raised by feudal levies usually served only for a certain period of time, such as 40 days, and then returned home. The success of King Henry II of England in siege operations was due to the expensive use of mercenaries, who remained as long as they were paid.
If supplies can be brought, hunger will fail. In 1429, Joan of Arc famously lifted the siege of Orleans by carrying supplies from the French defenders across the river.
Bacteriological warfare
Disease could have been a huge problem for any medieval army. Since thousands of men lived together, without modern medicine, diseases were rampant.
Disease is especially deadly in the enclosed confines of a besieged town or castle. As the bodies piled up, the defenders couldn't shake off their illness. Without our understanding of bacteria, there is no way to solve this problem. Attackers sometimes encourage the disease by throwing dead animals or disease-ridden corpses over walls. During the Siege of Rouen in 1418-19, the English polluted the city's water supply by throwing dead animals into wells.
Illness can also be a problem for attackers. The outbreak of the siege of Acre in the Crusader camp of 1189-91 led to the death of many people and severely weakened the offensive forces.
Attack
As shocking as the raids can be, raids are often the best way for the attackers to end the siege. If time is of the essence, or if the defenders are not showing signs of running low on supplies, an all-out attack may lead to a quick victory. Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, reportedly led an attack across a flooded moat during a campaign against the British occupiers.
If the wall is damaged by bombing or sabotage, then any attack will pass through these gaps. If not, the attackers had to attack the battlements from ladders, while stones and other things fell on their heads, or approached from the rarer but safer range of siege towers.
Negotiations
Despite the various military tactics available, the most successful sieges were those that ended in talk. Hunger is a painful prospect for defenders, and offense is equally unattractive to offensive players. According to the accepted rules of war, towns captured by force can be ransacked, but surrendered towns cannot. This encouraged the agreement to surrender if the defenders were not released within the allotted time. This was not an attack, but the end of some of the most important sieges, such as Stirling in 1304 and Havle in 1415.