How to Lay Siege to a Fortress in the High Middle Ages (1000-1300)

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Throughout the Middle Ages warfare in western Europe revolved around fortified places. Castles and walled towns controlled large parts of their surroundings. The garrisons, especially the cavalry, had a large operational range within which they could protect, enforce, attack, ravage, and forage. If an invading force was seriously looking for victory, these fortified centers of resistance needed to be dealt with first. Castles and walled towns, however, were designed not to be taken easily. So, as an attacker, how should you deal with them? While there are several ways to conquer a medieval fortress, in this video we will focus on sieges. Here is a nine-step guide on how to lay siege to a medieval Fortress.
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Chapters:
Intro: 00:00-00:49
Step 1: Be Quick 00:49-04:51
Step 2: Hasty Assault 04:51-09:17
Step 3: Secure Your Position 09:17-16:46
Step 4: Wear Them Down 16:46-24:41
Step 5: Negotiate 24:41-27:10
Step 6: Advance 27:10-31:34
Step 7: Breach 31:34-34:07
Step 8: Let Them Hunger 34:07-37:34
Step 9: Seize Your Price 37:34-40:36
Bibliography
Barker, J., Conquest. The English Kingdom of France 1417-1450, Cambridge 2012.
Bradbury, J., Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare, London/New York 2004.
DeVries, K./ Smith, R. D., Medieval Military Technology, Toronto 2012.
France, J., Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade, Cambridge 1994
McGlynn, S., s. v. “Siege Warfare” in: Clifford J. Rogers (ed), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, 2010.
Purton, P., A History of the Early Medieval Siege, C. 450-1220, Woodbridge 2009.
Purton, P., A History of the Late Medieval Siege, 1200-1500, Woodbridge 2010.
Rogers, C. J., Soldiers Soldiers’ Lives Through History. The Middle Ages, Westport 2007.
Soldevilla, F. (ed.), Les quatre grans croniques, Barcelona 1971.
Warner, Philipp, Sieges of the Middle Ages, Barnsley 2004, pp 192f.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Get a 25% discount for CuriosityStream with code sandrhoman! It's just $14,99 for one year! curiositystream.com/SandRhoman Hey all, this was quite a bit of work. Such videos require a lot of reading, research, animation, artwork etc., and - unfortunately - we can only keep producing videos like this one if they make enough clicks. So, if you liked the video, please consider leaving a like and a comment to signal to KZbin that this is a relevant video, so their algorithm shows it to other potential viewers. Besides this technical aspect, receiving comments really is quite rewarding for content creators, which sometimes gets just convoluted with us fishing for attention, I guess. But imagine having worked on this video for a few months all on your own: Beginning with an extensive planning phase, researching, and writing the script, recording the voiceover, looking through hundreds of images on various stock sites to find out what we can illustrate in which way, then photoshop everything to look medieval, hire artists to create those things we can't photoshop ourselves, animate dozens of characters, add effects and the right color to make each scene look good - and then finally you upload the video and people are enjoying it. It's a pretty rewarding thing but you only know when people leave a comment! edit: We will hang around the comment section for a bit to answer possible questions.

[@christiandauz3742]

Hire a Time-traveler who reinvents Gunpowder, Guns and other weapons Use Heavy Artillery, Napalm and Rifles

[@mrmr446]

Love the vid but feel I should point out it would be better to say 'Let them starve' and 'name your price' as chapter headings.

[@christiandauz3742]

@@mrmr446 Lest Darkness Fall + Apotheosis of Martin Padway

[@secario2135]

can you do a video about roman war dogs

[@Goblinsharkhundredsofthem]

Everytime you do a "ideal (topic)" video you should just make up the names of the towns and generals.

[@dna0303]

Was about to besiege a medieval fortress when this came into my recommendations. Very helpful!

[@SirNarax]

How is your siege going? All my soldiers got plague and I was brutally murdered because I ran out of money and food.

[@shawnk7720]

@@SirNarax Tough. I remember my first siege. Make sure you cut off the enemies grain supply and have plenty of men foraging in the opposing direction of the defender, but do get local insight on what tribes are nearby so your men don't go missing.

[@Diaryofaninja]

Liar

[@boarfaceswinejaw4516]

how did the siege go? just wondering, as winter is coming and resources will get scarcer.

[@ThatPianoNoob]

yea my neighbour has been pissing me off lately. I am constructing my first trebuchet as we speak

[@Wolf93]

I know that as a "content creator" you don't want to be pigeonholed into a single theme, but I really think your siege videos are the best.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

We thought about this as well. Most people probably associate our channel with sieges, so for this year we decided that we should put more focus on that topic. For us, it's actually one of our favorite things to cover. It's just a lot of work and we fear that it might become boring if we only upload sieges. At the end of the day, we only put out two videos a month and we need to live off that, so we kind of must consider market forces / interest of viewers. In any case, good news for you: Out of the next 4 videos, 3 will be sieges.

[@purplenurp5590]

@@SandRhomanHistory its always the best decision to think about the market factors, everyone's gotta pay bills

[@Robert-je3po]

Thanks for the content my man!

[@noanyabizniz4333]

@@SandRhomanHistory Stick to castles.

[@bigdaddystep.]

Shut up

[@michaelweir9666]

On the hot water/oil debate, what I was told from books was that the most common strategy, especially during the crusades, was to pour hot sand instead of either of the former. Sand retained heat longer than water, was far far cheaper than oil, and on top of it all was very difficult for the soldier on the receiving end to protect against, as sand would find its way into the nooks and hard to reach places of their armor and cause immense pain.

[@amargabela7018]

Yeah, I think that when Alexander the Great sieged the city of Tyre, they also used sand

[@starhalv2427]

Sand is course, rough, and get's everywhere. I love to use it against enemies.

[@josh3.064]

Are you telling me an ancient fighting force could defeat darth vader

[@___phrog___]

@@josh3.064 I mean, his stormtroopers wouldnt be able to hit any of them, so maybe

[@ObiWahnKnobi]

Considering how long after my last visit to the beach I found sand in places it didn't belong...I find the mental image disturbing.

[@MrBigCookieCrumble]

*"Use this info wisely, please, only plunder peasants if absolutely necessary"* - SandRhoman History 2022

[@maceoryan-hess9235]

does them existing count as absolutely necessary?

[@guard6069]

@@maceoryan-hess9235 yes

[@nartdarym4237]

Necessary is a must ...

[@BaronVonMott]

Defenders: "Your mothers were hamsters! And your fathers smelt of elderberries!" Attackers: * *furiously builds giant Wooden Rabbit* *

[@OnionChoppingNinja]

Glad to see I' wasn't the only one who had Monty Python come to mind when they talked about defenders and attackers taunting one another

[@maceoryan-hess9235]

how many people here understand the Monty Python reference

[@OnionChoppingNinja]

@@maceoryan-hess9235 Not enough in this day and age anymore I'm afraid

[@Brandonhayhew]

or just sit back and watch how his catapults or cannons keeps firing every hour

[@edi9892]

Something that really blew my mind about medieval castles was the logistics and costs involved. Most people think of a standard castle as a keep, and four towers and a gatehouse, plus a few other buildings. However, most castles were not much more than one tower and most parts were made of wood (we've got a massive survivor bias here). Now, let's take the stereotypical castle and consider how many men it takes to actually defend it. An archer on every tower and at least two patrolling the walls, plus a few other guards. We easily end up with 12 guards and that's hardly enough to keep an army with siege ladders at bay, and once one of the guards falls, an entire sector is unguarded! In addition, you need 3x as many to get a minimal rotation to prevent exhaustion. Then, you must consider that every guard has a family somewhere and half are likely female and 2/3rds are either too young or too old to fight. This already gives us well over 200 people that are likely to seek shelter within the castle walls! In addition, there are further civilians that work in the region protected by the castle and supply it. Just imagine how fast such a castle would get cramped in a siege! Plus, how much land it takes to supply them all with crops, and then there's the wood and pasture required for them. That's a lot of land! So, we end up with multiple villages or a town whose fate is directly linked to the castle.

[@the_embarrassed_lemon5967]

Often castles only had a couple of men constantly. An example of this was Shrewsbury castle in the late 12th and early 13th century where there was only 2 men on garrison at a time. One to watch northward and one southward. It was often quite obvious when an attack was coming and there was always someone there that could go and get more men. During as siege however I think it would get quite cramped depending on the castle size.

[@edi9892]

@@the_embarrassed_lemon5967 interesting. Two things do surprise me when it comes to European castles: 1) With high walls and towers, there are plenty of shadows where you can't see nor fight from any given position. Only a few European castles are of the terrace design with short walls, where you can see at times even 360° over the wall from the central building. 2) if you got a medium-sized castle, but expect 300 refugees, where do you put them? I've seen a lot of castles, where the owner had not much more than 50m2 for himself and even bigger castles have often few rooms, except for task-specific buildings. Thus, it seems like they had to camp in the yard unless I'm missing something... Compare this to a Japanese castle: there, a small watchtower with 3 levels above the motte has more living space than my flat, and the two flats of my parents combined... (plus, one or two floors basement with supplies)

[@morriganmhor5078]

You should read something about Harlech or Beaumaris sieges by Welsh, or a bit later, Corfe.

[@fernandorivera4719]

@@edi9892 High towers force the attacker to use dedicated siege equipment, plus you can make holes that look down the wall or pour hot oil and whatnot. There is an argument to be made there. Japanese castles do not have high walls simply because they can't, unless you want the castle to also be your tomb. If you build an european style brick of impregability on Japanese soil, it will crumble because of the constant earthquakes, hence why castles in japan have a "weaker" but more sophiticated structure. The castle must be able to resist a big shake or two before it can think of resisting an army as well.

[@TheWampam]

@@the_embarrassed_lemon5967 There is a story about a castle in Germany, where the Lord had four musketeers. One day he went to the market and took 3 of his men with him leaving one of his man on watch. Unfortunatley that guy fell asleep and the castle was taken by an enemy that seemed to just have waited for that moment. Interestingly enough some of the women servants that were also left behind wanted to close the gate but they weren't fast enough.

[@kamilszadkowski8864]

Ok, I finished watching the video and it was a treat. Nice job. Well researched too. The only small caveat I could add to the "First Step: Be Quick!", the cavalry raids were also conducted to catch informants as well as to take hostages, preferably the relatives of the besieged garrison. If lucky, that could force the garrison to surrender under a threat their children, wives and other relatives would be killed.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

You're comments are always appreciated. Be it criticism or praise, we do read them and consider the input! Thanks.

[@kamilszadkowski8864]

@@SandRhomanHistory I'm glad that I'm not annoying (yet). BTW, are you planning to make a similar video but from the perspective of the defenders? You know, more detailed video about preparations and countermeasures that could be undertaken by the besieged garrison.

[@natepatriotplaysgames9745]

@@kamilszadkowski8864 that would be really interesting

[@Holsp]

I must say I really love these siege videos. Be it this one or the fortress, it really educates me and gives insight on how the sieges went, which all tactics could be used and gives me some great ideas for worldbuilding in my own stories. Thanks SandRhoman! :D

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Glad we can be of practical use!

[@clintmoor422]

@@SandRhomanHistory your videos are simply incredible. especially considering the many mediocre internet historians on KZbin.

[@RuthlessMcToothless]

Agreed. More siege education videos plz… we can call it “Siegucation”

[@kamilszadkowski8864]

Jesus, the production value of this video is simply outstanding. Incredible job SandRhoman.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Hey, thanks! We gave it our all! For the next couple of videos there will be similar efforts. We thought our formula got a bit stale (visually speaking), so we wanted to up our game in 2022.

[@mariushunger8755]

Indeed. He gets better and better

[@gabrielvanhauten4169]

it's funny to see older artwork reused in new and creative ways. I never really understood how he did it but in this video i recognized a few pictures from previous videos but they have different characters in them and overall just look better for some reason.

[@kamilszadkowski8864]

@@SandRhomanHistory It is impressive. I don't think any other KZbin channel out there can compete with you guys right now.

[@clintmoor422]

yeah, simply brilliant. It shows dedication and passion. Other channels sometimes put out lazy content but this one never.

[@michaelt.5672]

About the "boiling oil vs. boiling water" thing: Another version I've heard was hot (possibly glowing hot) sand. Which would have been just as easily available as water or rocks, but probably wouldn't have had the issue of rapidly cooling down once dropped as a mass. Or at least, could have been heated to far higher temperatures than water. And we all know that stuff gets everywhere.

[@revon7202]

glassing 😬

[@user-rg4sn9by7w]

I think they were throwing whatever they had available. Oil was simply one of the more expensive options.

[@michaelt.5672]

@@user-rg4sn9by7w But the thing is: You wouldn't have had oil in anything resembling such quantities available back then.

[@Valchrist1313]

@@michaelt.5672 Really? What was the tanner doing with his supply when all the cows ran out?

[@Timey254]

I wonder: are there cases where a siege camp has grown so organized it basically BECAME the city itself? Grown from a temporary to a permanent location? So the besieged city more or less stopped existing and the (former) siege camp now took it's name and replaced it and incorporated whatever was left of the original settlement.

[@judsonwall8615]

I was wondering the same thing

[@mvalthegamer2450]

Maybe. But that would require a seige of many years

[@HazhMcMoor]

I wonder if that happens in Candia.

[@oliverschoneck7750]

During one of the last swedish sieges of copenhagen the swedes made an actual town / city. It was torn down by the danes when the swedes left.

[@mondaysinsanity8193]

​@@mvalthegamer2450 well decades alot of sieges lasted many years thats not that weird tbh

[@the.pandamonium]

Thank you for this very detailed and in-depth guide on how to successfully lay siege to a medieval fortress. I can now finally achieve my dream of becoming a Duke. 👍

[@SandRhomanHistory]

In case it works out, never forget who you own your allegiance!

[@mariushunger8755]

Duke Regards, Sir of Greetings

[@adcchin7314]

U could go replace prince Charles

[@MrFlatage]

@@SandRhomanHistory May get a nice apartment in Kiev out of this ...

[@KrolKaz]

Do it bro, there are many lightly guarded castles throughout Europe these days

[@b0kkeee]

What youtube was like in 1200:

[@Nog10200]

This will come in very handy when the post-modern dark age arrives!

[@clintmoor422]

The eastern bear has awoken. Fear over Europe.

[@edi9892]

It's actually an interesting question how WWIV will be fought... If we assume that 90% die, which would bring the collapse of society and pretty much throw us back into pre-industrial times, it's an interesting question how much technology could be not only preserved, but maintained. I guess that modern firearms would exist for quite a while but become rarer and crossbows and simple flintlocks would resurface. Similarly, from my personal experience in a more or less gun-free country, I can tell you that civil unrest quickly results in a swordfight, and people start crafting their own melee weapons (ranged weapons are pretty rare, if you ever tried to shoot a bow, or worse use a medieval sling, you know why...)

[@fridriechrussofobber3500]

​@@edi9892if 90 % if population dies and there's a serious technological regression, no world war would be fought at all as world wars are invention of industrial modern world.

[@fridriechrussofobber3500]

@@clintmoor422 God i hope you don´t mean Russia, because if yes, i am going to laugh my ass off. "Russian bear" is sick, fat and drug-addicted panda.

[@edi9892]

@@fridriechrussofobber3500 it was a reference to Einstein, but you're right. Violence goes down during every day life, but wars become bigger with the growth of civilisation...

[@propelent1617]

Thank you, I planned to lay siege to a medieval fortress this morning but all other guides I found were too complicated. Now with these nine easy steps I am confident in my sieging skills, I will be sure to give it a go tommorow

[@kura100]

It's been 5 months now. How did it go?

[@jackhazardous4008]

H​e must be starving them out

[@hughmungusbungusfungus4618]

Too late to get in on the plunder? I've got my trebuchet ready to go

[@lok3kobold]

This reminds me of how excellently placed the fortress in my local town is placed. Bohus fortress in (today) Sweden. Its situated on a big river that is sided by mountainous ridges of either side so it can not easily be diverted. The fortress itself is situated on a rocky island straight on top of the mountain itself and thus impossible to mine by any besieger. In the fortress there is a large pond that was used as a water supply for men and animals that would last except in the most extreme dry seasons. It was never taken during the medieval era.

[@mondaysinsanity8193]

my families ancestral castle(dunbar) was straight up fantasy bullshit before the english stole it in the 15th century(falsely accused of treason and moved to mochrum) id describe it but its best to google a picture lol

[@guzelataroach4450]

It was buildt by norway

[@mayorgeneralramirez1997]

I see that it was also adapted for modern sieges, fascinating that they rehabilitated it.

[@liamsmith4018]

@@mondaysinsanity8193 wow. The drawn reconstruction that comes up on Google looks like something from a George R.R. Martin book.

[@andreascovano7742]

10:16 famously, emperor frederick II lost his treasury when the people of Parma Sallied out and captured his war city of vittoria (victory). 35:34 that's what vittoria actually was. A siege camp that basically turned into a town. 20:00 this was the tactic frederickBarbarossa tried against alexandria. He failed there though due to disease

[@bartdr5146]

Great video! Unfortunately I have reverse of this problem as I am currently finding myself as a commander of a town under a siege. So a video about repelling one would be very usefull.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Try our video titled: “How to defend a star fortress forever”. We will do a medieval one at some point in the future as well.

[@attilanagy5369]

you still holding?

[@bartdr5146]

@@attilanagy5369 yep but barely

[@silverrain530]

@@bartdr5146 How about now?

[@hund7458]

@@silverrain530 i don't think he made it :(

[@tf-ok]

Imagine laying siege and not watching this video

[@ExperiencePlayers]

I love the length and detail of your videos, also the artstyle of the animations is perfect.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

thanks man. Appreciate the comment.

[@sleepdeprived6565]

Thank you, I’ve been stuck outside an enemy fort for months this tutorial really helped

[@Moon_Dog_]

Really love your videos! Had an idea - could you discuss starforts in North America? Many think they were only in Europe. Perhaps the story of the duelling forts of Louisboug and Citadel Hill?

[@SandRhomanHistory]

At some point yes. But if we turn out attention towards the New World we want to cover more than just forts which requires lots of new artwork and the like. Also, lots of reading to be done, so we're kinda forced to wait with these topics. This year we get done with most of our side hussles (teacher diploma and other educational stuff). Once we're done we can see ourselves cover such topics.

[@dentalworld9253]

Moon dog nice idea

[@bleekskaduwee6762]

Side hussles , great use of the phrase

[@townazier]

Videos this well researched and put together are such a joy to see. And 40minutes of it too!. Amazing work, thank you.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thank you! We appreciate the nice words!

[@clintmoor422]

The ever brilliant content creator returns to give the masses what they want. Keep the sieges coming.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

thanks mate. appreciate your comments and also you sticking around for pretty much every video!

[@seanpoore2428]

35:33 during a samurai siege during the sengoku period (I forget the siege but it was commanded by toyotomi hideyoshi) where they built a fully functioning town outside the walls of the castle they were attacking

[@nick0875]

I believe that was the Siege of Odawara in 1590 between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the Late Hojo clan.

[@Jiub_SN]

That happened fairly often suprisingly, though most were sacked after the siege by the defender if unsuccessful and most happened simply due to how long the siege took rather than intentionally.

[@edwardscott3262]

I don't remember who but I do remember one English King setup an organized town while besieging in France. It was just a common tactic because what else are you going to do while waiting?

[@thealgorerhythm9379]

I'm a history teacher that is constantly on the lookout for interesting and engaging visual content for my students. This is beautifully presented, stunningly animated and a well spoken documentary- a rare thing indeed! Thank you

[@idkok1949]

Dam it’s crazy because I skipped like probably 65% of my classes but I’m watching this outside of school wish you were my teacher man lol

[@GeneralCalculus]

About 35:00 in. Probably it's not quite realistic, but for some reason I'm imagining scenario where, for whatever reason, both sides forget that there's siege going on and besieged town and siege camp merge into one town.

[@N0noy1989]

Thanks for this guide. I'll try this out next weekend if I'm free and I can gather the boys to siege the next town over.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

give em hell

[@hephaestus1437]

Got any spare ladders?

[@nickanderson966]

I swear man your animations just get better and better. Some of the only siege videos I can watch because it’s actually entertaining

[@thomas1644]

Its pretty tough to lay any meaningful siege before the imperial age. In the castle age, your only real option for taking out castles is battering rams, and to do this you'll need at least 5 rams and an effective way of keeping enemy melee units from attacking the rams. Best way to take out a castle is to wait for imperial age, mass up at least 3 or 4 trebuchets, and then do a swift attack to your opponents castle, of course while protecting your trebs with other land units.

[@historymax5479]

Age of Empires, no? Yeah, I also do that. Britons are by far the best because longbows can take out defenders as soon as they get close to the rams while not taking fire themselves because if their insane range. I loved taking the Hayfield route in Berserker Jerker's Sabato Returns purely because I got to play with longbows so much.

[@xanpenguin754]

I honestly love your videos. They have great production value and are obviously well researched. It’s very interesting to always learn unique aspects about medieval and early modern warfare.

[@AfaqueAhmed_]

Finally I can start my conqueror debut by following these tactics . Thanks for the enlightenment SandRhoman History , you will get your share as soon as I get a castle to my name .

[@blendix6413]

Ah yes, thanks to this video my neighbours will be now helpless against me.

[@gymroid]

Laying a siege has never been easier with this guide!

[@wismsgre]

Such an amazing video. I waited so much for a medieval siege video! Thank you guys for the amazing content!

[@judsonwall8615]

Man, that was an awesome video. I shared it on the medieval subreddit. Hope it gets you guys some hits. Fantastic work 👏

[@infaereldmainard4929]

Sweet. If I find a time machine those guys are screwed.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

True, but let's hope we don't bomb our world back to the Middle Ages! In any case, you would be prepared!

[@gabrielvanhauten4169]

I think you would end up being burnt or something. They wouldn't even understand you if you arrived in the Middle Ages. You'd be like: "Hi mate" and they would just look at you and think why is this ape dressing himself so weirdly?

[@napolien1310]

40 minutes video about sieges Say no more as the cavalry is here watching.

[@mariushunger8755]

Don‘t watch, raid!

[@OddlySpecificGaming]

Really well made video with the cutaways and the consistent theme throughout and each chapter marked. Long video but very good thanks!! Will bear all these in mind when I next siege a medieval town haha

[@cheeseman6016]

Tysm! I needed this so much! Me and a few buddies were planning on laying siege to medieval fortress this weekend. Much love

[@ironteacup2569]

I love each time you do an in depth video of this stuff. I want to be able to know enough about these times so if I time traveled I could be an advisor/general 😉

[@SandRhomanHistory]

don’ forget to study old english / french and latin!

[@Maus_Indahaus]

Everyone, take up your arms and let's lay siege to our enemies! Great video. Keep up the good work

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thanks, will do!

[@AK-dw8jo]

Love your content. Best channel of its kind. Never stop mate!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thanks mate. We're trying to keep the videos coming :)

[@AK-dw8jo]

@@SandRhomanHistory oh take as much time as you need. There are channels trying to do what you guys do but no one beats your narration! Thanks again!

[@sus-rf4yw]

so like i found this, didn't check how long it was, and 40 minutes later im done watching it, very intresting and the way you present it is amazing

[@shrimpboom8]

Glad to see more medieval warfare. The early-modern siege videos were great, but the term siege will always evoke images of castles and catapults to me.

[@neonbunnies9596]

Thanks man, I'm going use this a few centuries ago

[@TheAero1221]

Im using these videos to run a more grounded DnD campaign with more realistic seige scenarios. I love this kind of content. Thank you for your attention to detail, and the sheer number of considerations and unique situations you presented. Very fun to learn about.

[@phoebehill953]

I was delighted to find several tidbits of info that were new to me. Thanks! Well written, and enjoyable animation.

[@gujjewman96]

Thanks, I was just looking for a guide and this popped up. I'll update later how it goes👍

[@mike.quiblat]

Love the video! Just a minor correction though, 18:10 the Crusaders were besieging the Saracens in 1191, not the other way around. That was 1291 when the Mamluk Sultanate was besieging the Crusaders and brought the "Victorious" and "Furious" enormous stone throwers to bombard the walls of Acre.

[@greksgfx5862]

Your videos are amazing, so well researched i can watch them on repeat!

[@TrueLifeRetelling]

This will come in handy once my Time Machine is operational again, much appreciated 👍

[@swampking7914]

Can we get a video of how to defend a medieval castle or wall town form 1200 to The early gun powder era form 1600

[@SandRhomanHistory]

possibly is a few months time

[@swampking7914]

Thank you very much always loved history this channel has saved me more than once in a history test keep doing a great job

[@kenicherothered6816]

Great video and you got a new subscriber! One thing mentioned early in the video caught my attention. "The attacking army being needed elsewhere" is something I'm interested in. If an invading force leaves a fortified position to their flank, wouldn't that drastically change the course of the war? The garrison at these locations may be small but being flanked during a battle, by any force seems like it would be extremely risky. If anything, for logistics.

[@bartimaus8738]

Thank you for this tutorial, I will try it out tomorrow. Gonna keep you updated!

[@Seppi1310]

I'm watching your channel for a long time now and I have to say: MY GOD is your artwork brilliant! Great shoutout to your artists!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Wow, thank you! much of it is done by us. many of the characters are commissioned though.

[@Seppi1310]

@@SandRhomanHistory It is? Wow, you have my respect for that, very impressive! Keep it up!

[@indurasavant1831]

Thank you, I will definitely be using this next time I'm left in charge of a medieval army with the goal of conquering rival nations

[@troo_6656]

I have a small question. With these camps becomming more like small towns and villages of their own. Were they torn down when the army captured to city or did they become part of the formaly besieged town itself? Or did they become sort of neighborning town?

[@lucwarfel]

Usually forts would be taken down as one obviously wouldn't want to leave siege infrastructure intact when they gain control of the castle or city. I'm not sure about the forts but since they were occupied by troops would likely be dismantled over the span of a week or so since otherwise they would be completely abandoned, though I would love to see a siege camp so big and developed from months of sieging that afterwards it's occupied by the camp followers, and ends up as a sister town to the fortification.

[@ctographerm3285]

I think they'd still tear down the army 'town' as it's still very much lacking many amenities an actual town or city would have. It'll still have -dirt roads and streets instead of paved ones -shelters are hastily made wood structures instead of stone -waste management is "throw everything into the ditches and hope it doesn't start a plague" -no established sources of water, like aqueducts or wells -no established guilds or shops that will provide civilian employment -ruling elite would have to put up with log cabins for awhile, instead of warm and secure castles There's just too many reasons not to just take over the town an attacker just defeated. Only reasons I can think of why they'd do otherwise are: -the defeated town is literally and undeniable cursed -or there's a raging plague within it -the town was 100% thoroughly dismantled and turned into a graveyard of rubble and corpses

[@bleekskaduwee6762]

Great work, just outstanding. You really brought this topic to life .

[@fatfurry]

thanks for the tutorial man i was planning on sieging a midieval fortress but didnt know how to do it until i saw this tutorial. 10/10 great results!

[@jad2728]

I was rewatching some of your videos earlier and hoping you’d someday make a video of exactly this topic, I’m very lucky! Thank you for your unique videos

[@SandRhomanHistory]

More similar content will come your way in the next couple of weeks!

[@mariushunger8755]

Walls can be astonishingly annoying regarding their just a pile of rocks

[@JackBenci]

Keeping this video saved when I go for my time traveling trip. Much appreciated!

[@ryannygard3661]

One of the best videos you've done so far!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

thank you, we're always happy if we manage to deliver videos that people enjoy.

[@AssassinAgent]

Heated sand could have been a good alternative to oil or water.

[@alexvanuden8302]

Have you considered making some future videos on the evolution of siegecraft to the present day? Although technology has changed many aspects on modern sieges, tried and true tactics from the past are just as viable today.

[@mauricioballesteros2839]

Thanks a lot for this. We can see you put a lot of effort. Please keep on producing these videos.

[@Eric-ng2ed]

Thank you for this! I've learned so much more on this channel than others because you talk about things that no one else ever does. Although I think your pronunciation of Bohemond was a bit off haha.

[@iivin4233]

I've been looking at diagrams of seige works from the English Civil War. It's hard to tell if they are depicting trenches or wooden walls.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

During the English Civil War probably trenches. Laying siege became very methodical in the 17th century and without trenches you could not effectively come close to a bastion fort that had lots of cannons to defend itself. However, I'm not sure how many popular the star fort design was in England during the 17th century, so it depends on what siege you're looking at.

[@14MCDLXXXVIII88]

She: I bet he's thinking about other girls He: "How to Lay Siege to a Medieval Fortress in 9 Easy Steps"

[@rasiabsgamingcorner2258]

This is a bit later then the time period you mentioned but the great seige of malta in 1565 is a great example on how to break a seige or even what not to do when seiging a fort or forts

[@robbymidgettofficial]

I love your siege and battle videos, but I think your videos about the day to day lives of soldiers and camp followers are the real gems of the channel.

[@markhohenbrink5230]

You mentioned it slightly, but how common were massive earthworks in sieges of that time. I've read about Romans creating massive earth ramps that scale the sides of walls or massive siege engines that house huge battering rams. Were there any sieges where this occurred?

[@liamsmith4018]

Not medieval but look up the siege of alesia. The Romans built fortifications encircling a city. Then when a massive relief force headed towards them they built an even larger, more extensive ring of fortifications outside of the previous ring and facing out to defend against attackers. very strange and very impressive. It worked out for them too as the gallic army was reportedly massive and they would have been caught in quite a bad situation if they hadn't acted quickly.

[@Eliktro]

POV: You now want to play stronghold cruseader

[@declan_jb139]

Thank you I was planning on laying siege to a french castle in Normandy, this really helped

[@opentile_minis8659]

Thanks for the info. I was planning on sieging Vienna next month!

[@Rollins36LP]

With your nice Artstyle and more and more Animations coming into the Videos, are you planning on developing some kind of realism inspired game of some sort? Becaus i would think, that such a game with a focus on realism, portraid by th information you present in your videos, would be a welcome sight for many historical game fans. Maybe this comment is a long shot, but that would be awesome ^^

[@SandRhomanHistory]

At some point we’d love to do it. it would probably be somewhat simple. Also, i’m not sure whether our licenses include the usage of the artwork in a game.

[@SunflowerCat592]

@@SandRhomanHistory what are you using for the art work in your videos?

[@stuartparker5396]

Absolutely love the visuals really good combination of visual and verbal information

[@SandRhomanHistory]

thanks, happy that you enjoyed it!

[@georgemellick7958]

Thanks sir very helpful. Was about to lay siege to a fortress but then you helped me find a better way

[@justapotato2932]

Just in case i get transported back in time.

[@VentiVonOsterreich]

Waiting for The Lord of Machicolations Shadiversity to respond to this

[@gabrielvanhauten4169]

let em come... he will like it.

[@aLiveanddirect]

These illustrations are amazing!

[@spacefonz949]

Thanks for the info. This is going to make my next weekend so much easier.

[@Random-hy8yl]

Damn only a few centuries too late

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Doomsday voice in my head: you never know when this will be relevant again, especially given the current political situation in Europe. But let's hope for the best.

[@hephaestus1437]

Please do the siege of constantinople

[@hephaestus1437]

And malbork!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Constantinople will be next!

[@tomg7913]

Which one?!

[@EokaBeamer69]

Excellent. Another top quality video. You are easily one of my most favorite youtube historians.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thanks for the compliment!

[@EokaBeamer69]

@@SandRhomanHistory Thanks for the increasingly great quality of your documentaries. I have seen a lot of your videos and I like pretty much all of it. The style of illustration, narration, scientific approach, choice of topic and presentation. Way better than a lot of TV productions.

[@NDAGR-]

Excellent work sir also you have very unique animations that set you apart.

[@shadhinov]

Assaulting the walls goes against every rule of siege warfare. Even basic total war players know this.

[@ryanvouche254]

And yet after empire they removed the demand surrender option ahh creative assembly.

[@moritztabor1678]

Man this video is sooo good. Im gonna come back to this for a few more times for sure!

[@royalistproductions]

This guy is very useful for role-playing in the early modern and medieval periods. Bravo!

[@nicholascole3539]

Great video! I love the examples given as many were sieges I hadn't studied in depth.

[@agustindellasala103]

One the best videos I have seen! Thanks for the bibliography too.

[@lhotakfpv4113]

I love these types of videos. Please make another video of medieval from the past please please!

[@icantthinkofagoodnameso1954]

This is a great tutorial, really helped me out.

[@bc7138]

The bird's eye view maps of the castles remind me so much of the Knights of Honor game from a while back.

[@christinahlg]

Thank you! I'm writing a siege scene tomorrow, and this is very helpful.

[@Alex-jl3el]

Love this Accurate history lessons tbh if I was a teacher I would ask to use your videos as a reference when teaching Love it keep it up

[@LaurensLordDodo]

These video's clearly take alot of time to make. Great Video!

[@vidkoprek7057]

Thx for this guide! It really helped me! Was about to besiege an English fort and now i know how to do it. Thanks man!