Why solitary medieval WATCHTOWERS were so rare

[@salamut2202]

Everyone knows that the primary purpose of fortified, tower structures were for the residence and practice of wizardry.

[@shadiversity]

Indeed because everyone knows this is why I didn't mention it in the video ^_^

[@cookiecutter4431]

I'm going to bet that they practiced alchemy & spell-spilling there...

[@strider04]

Yes

[@keiichimorisato98]

I HIGHLY recommend the Spelmomger book series.

[@Bluecho4]

Given how expensive _being_ a wizard is - alchemical reagents aren't cheap, nor are books prior to the printing press - I imagine it's common for most wizards in medieval times to also being wealthy, land-owning nobles. Your average peasant doesn't have either the wealth or free time needed to study magic and hone their Art.

[@Xentillus]

As a northern Englishman, I decided to look into Peel Towers, and found that Darnick Tower was for sale as a 3 bedroom house in 2016. The descendents of the builders had lived in it for almost 600 years before finally selling it, proving that these were indubitably suitable for living, even to a modern standard.

[@lorddiethorn]

I would not sell it I rent it out then you would be a proper lord with tenants and vassal who would never fight for you:)

[@Fankas2000]

Meh It looks like a standard home with a tower, in other words nothing special.

[@hafor2846]

If you want to live in a real tower, come to Passau in Southern Germany. regiowiki.pnp.de/wiki/Peichterturm_(Passau) Not for sale, though.

[@lenon3579ify]

I would never sell one of those things!!

[@drewpamon]

@@lenon3579ify you would if you needed money more than a stone tower.

[@harleyokeefe5193]

Watch towers give you the high ground and I respect that

[@proudpapaprick]

Obi-Wan Kenobi You underestimate Shad's power.

[@harleyokeefe5193]

Jacob Lyon don’t try it

[@_Muzolf]

From my point of view you have the lava ground!

[@danielclark-hughes692]

Obi-Wan Kenobi - still master of trolling

[@darkrite9000]

And then Shad uses his power MACHICOLATIONS!!!!!!

[@bigbadseed7665]

13:49 "It's not actually the size of a castle that matters, it is the function and what role it is serving." You heard it here, folks. It's not size that matters, it's how you use it!

[@marleymorningstar3671]

Keep telling yourself that.

[@elias_xp95]

If you got any less than 5 your gonna have a bad time.

[@biohazardlnfS]

I get the feeling we have left the topic of the video car a stray

[@arthas640]

True, some of the toughest fortresses and castles were pretty small, like Masada, Alamut, and countless other hill top structures.

[@seetaami5810]

Also, it's clearly a merit to have one that stays erect for centuries. Future generations will surely appreciate it, and the proof is in the pudding once your time has cum.

[@jerden3285]

"This was in response to the dangers of invasion from the Martians" I'm going to assume I misheard "marshes" there, although a 1400s Martian alien invasion would be incredible.

[@Bluecho4]

There is a legitimate adventure film to be had from the idea of an isolated medieval village - with maybe a half dozen proper soldiers - having to defend themselves from a small group of martian invaders.

[@theangryaustralian7624]

Well...I just got my new screenplay idea cheers

[@Flammifleure]

Y'all should look up The High Crusade by Poul Anderson.

[@pjnoonan1423]

War of the Worlds, 1400. I would watch the h*ck out of that, excuse my language.

[@romanlegions]

@@pjnoonan1423 you can swear in the internet. Gosh darn it to heck.

[@Demonskunk]

But if there were no watch towers, how did they defeat fog of war and see invisible units? This theory has too many holes.

[@marksmith8079]

You miss the key word solitary. They had watch towers which were manned by many soldiers.

[@sohambanerjee6343]

Sentinels, shades, mortar flare, wards...

[@rickau]

Min Lungelow clearly sent their speedy king to explore and utilised town watch 😊

[@DinnerForkTongue]

Spyglasses, my boy.

[@MrAstrojensen]

@@DinnerForkTongue I'm not entirely sure if you said it in jest or not, but spyglasses weren't invented until around 1608 and certainly not in common use before.

[@beasyboi_b7069]

Here in Germany many towns have or had watchtowers, for example my home city of Dortmund. They built these watchtowers, due to the many feuds that occurred between them and their rather quarrelsome neighbors, as you certainly know, Germany was more a patchwork than a true medieval kingdom, fractured in countless free-cities, petty kingdoms, duchys and church owned archdioceses. I think they build five of them well ahead of the actual walls to secure the vital trading routs and to see invading forces as early as possible. The Steinerner Turm was even besieged for some time and as far as i know ,after my internet research, the tower was of course manned, but they did not live there full time. Great video, really appreciate your content, keep it up. Your Boi

[@RESOPO1]

Just wanted to say, that the tower is beautiful :) And soon I will go past it every day on my way to work :)

[@mrmadness2699]

BeasyBoi_B, What about the famous "Robber Barons" in Germany? Weren't their castles little towers where they could force people to pay tolls? The shell of the tower was all that was left in my Oma's home town of Cleeburg in Hesse.

[@ironvader502]

MrMadness That depends. Some of them had only small outposts, others (like Götz von Berlichingen) did have a normal-sized castle that just happened to be near a important Traceroute. It largely depends on how they got in the robber-business. If they got into it because they were just completely broke and needed Money, probably not, or if they we're just peasents that decided robbing people is easier than farmwork, they probably didn't have a fixed Base at all. But a large Number Simply saw it as a Way to easily get Money, and with some reinterpretations of the Rights they had it was even practically legal, and Lots of Castles had been built to overlook traderouts anyway.

[@beasyboi_b7069]

Ironvader has summed it pretty much up. Interesting fact, these Raubritter also often used old abandoned castles, due to their good locations and, as already mentioned, often robbed people out of necessity, so I could imagine that they simply lacked the money to totally renovate their new homes, so they spend all the money on the main building of a castle, the keep, although this is just one theory.

[@shadiversity]

+BeasyBoi_B Thanks mate, especially for the references to those dedicated watchtowers. Saying that medieval watchtowers didn't exist was simply a way for me to Juxtapose people's assumptions because of course dedicated watchtowers did exist in the medieval period as I say at, 13:28 and at 14:41 The main point of the video is that in most cases where you would put a watchtower in medieval times people simply built a very small castle and that there were hundreds of castles that were much smaller than people assume and which served the primary role of a watchtower.

[@moromillas]

But Shad, I built thousands of them in Age of Empires. How can they not exist? Clearly they do.

[@jintsuubest9331]

Moromillas Radec one pommel is all I need to rekr them.

[@Floris_VI]

Me too!!🤔🤔🤔

[@GnarledStaff]

Brian Lock Hey! What hell man!? That was my laptop!

[@nivlac_dj6327]

Well you see they would be useless because a katana could slice the entire thing down and release a energy blade the would home in on the enemys

[@James-ir7om]

And kill any type of other long sword because katana

[@BeJosie]

My text alert is Shad shouting "MACHICOLATIONS" and when my phone went off in my history class, my professor just stopped what he was saying, looked at me for a moment and just nodded and said "machicolations. Good stuff" before continuing his lecture.

[@shadiversity]

That's so awesome!

[@andrewplck]

This is too good to be true. Please, promise me this is truth, I wanna live in the Universe where this happened.

[@TheLostArchangel666]

RubberKidney - same. Same so much.

[@BeJosie]

RubberKidney - It is true. I promise. That prof is always commenting on people's ringtones/alerts when they go off in class. And he loves European castles and history. So yes, you live in the universe where this happened.

[@thehackingburger3002]

Bethany E That is literally AMAZING! "Good stuff" LOL!

[@exohead1]

I'm a simple woman. I hear machicolations, I click like.

[@water9892]

Damn, you aint lying about the simple part

[@jeremyleyland1047]

Shad Fact: A rejected series was Sandcastle design review. This was rejected because he felt it would give too much of an advantage to the crab people. The crab people are widely known for having killed off his first DnD character.

[@shadiversity]

HOW DO YOU KNOW THESE THINGS?!?!!?!?

[@darkrite9000]

Sounds like a newbies first run on Dark Souls 3, death by crabs.

[@nickkohlmann]

@@darkrite9000 It is a fact that literally everything in the Dark Souls series is well able to instantly rip you to shreds

[@darkrite9000]

@@nickkohlmann Yes, but some note that the worst enemy to deal with that's not a boss, is the giant crabs. But yes just about everything has to ability the brutally end your existence. Unless you're secretly a dragon, a ninja, or a jedi, in which case you have the advantage.

[@MrShadow12622]

That was the most beautiful opening I've ever seen. I applaud you sir

[@tyrellnelson5405]

Thanks Shad! Your videos continue to help me bring realism and life to my fantasy rpg settings. I've always wanted to find a way to put my players in a smaller fortified setting against bands of raiders, and this video game me allot of ways to do that.

[@COctagons]

Difference between a watchtower and a castle: It's not the size, it's how you use it...!

[@sauron99s]

But if you just have a hut, well your out of luck.

[@JonatasAdoM]

+flypaper flipper You call that motte a castle? My watchtower is the size of London's tower.

[@nickkohlmann]

@@sauron99s you're

[@nickkohlmann]

@@JonatasAdoM I heard Big Ben was out of order

[@Win94ae]

Evidently, peel towers are where you keep your eyes peeled.

[@sannylad9204]

I swear, I could watch a whole movie dubbed by Shad

[@sirreginaldfishingtonxvii6149]

^Get to it Shad^

[@darkrite9000]

There'd be a lot of Machicolations battle cries, and a whole lot of you know what's interesting?

[@ArturdeSousaRocha]

Warning: May contain impressive castles. :)

[@firefox5926]

4:11 you can easily sort imagine some on going "hey guys if we put a wall around this it would be even better and some one else going yeah oh and lets put it on a hill or a mound cose you all know what its like having to fight up hill right its a pain in the ares" and some one else going hey you kno if this were a bit bigger ...

[@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

"Alright, who's going to cut and haul the stone and then lay it out. And who's going to engineer the whole thing?" "I will if you pay me." "I've got a sword though, so my payment is you get to live." "Dammit, I forgot this was the middle ages."

[@firefox5926]

...sigh... dude ... what do you think serfs are for... :P

[@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

"We haven't got da skill m'lord. We're jess farmers." "But I'm waving my sword at you super hard. Go do it!" "Your castle will look splendid I'm sure, m'lord."

[@toalutoriangaming]

I think shad is trying to start a machiculatuon cult guys.

[@madao7865]

I think he already did and it's out of control! Just look at the comment section. It even started spreading to other channels.

[@DanCooper404]

I'm in.

[@connorgolden4]

Machiculatuons for the machiculatuon god!

[@aysseralwan]

Small Castles are still Castles #sizedontmatter

[@TheHylden]

A man's home is his castle! (Maybe where that saying comes from, castle-size envy)

[@TheLordArion]

Castelettes? 😁

[@marcopohl4875]

wait! are we still talking castles, or something else...?

Yeah, that's what I thought. Then I visited Portland 'Castle' and realised that my own house is bigger and better fortified to boot.

[@bionizard5480]

unless in bed

[@im8015]

I clicked on "Like" as soon as I started watching, and I knew that I would not regret it. There are not many channels that I do that on, but this is one of them.

[@shadiversity]

I'm truly honored sir!

[@Floris_VI]

I have the exact same thing, he never dissapoints!

[@bruderpastaklo4314]

@@Floris_VI One could say though that this is a very bad thing and higly contraproductive for the author as well. Apart from the usual "judge a book by its content and not its name", me (if i ever were to be a producer or author) would be uhm .....i wanna know if my videos are good or bad, so i can improve future content, which is why i value proper critics

[@crackthi55ucker96]

Hey, thanks for doing long format videos. I enjoy the depth in such a fast paced world.

[@ryann7640]

THANK YOU SHAD I remember leaving a comment saying you should do a watchtower video like 5 months ago, and now IT'S FINALLY HERE! Love your content man, keep it up!

[@jamcalx]

You know what's as awesome as MACHICOLATIONS? *BALISTRARIA!!!!!*

[@ghostbirdofprey]

But what about dragons?

[@draxthemsklonst]

Balistraria? Good point.

[@TorvusVae]

It's not the size of the castle, it's how you use it ;)

[@christosvoskresye]

He came really close to saying that --- so close I assume he intentionally veered away at the last second.

[@scobra6652]

Destructive Criticism That's what she said....

[@davejacob5208]

best intro ever

[@christopherkomer2982]

Your enthusiasm for making your ads for shirts makes me want to buy them

[@joewalker369]

Your videos always flow beautifully, I could listen for hours

[@sohambanerjee6343]

All your machicolations are belong to us.

[@matthewmuir8884]

Great video Shad. Thanks for mentioning Tower Houses and Peel Towers. I was trying to research Scottish Architecture in the 14-15th Centuries, and I found articles online about these about a week ago. Maybe you could please make a separate video about them? Speaking of Scotland, perhaps you could make a video talking about ways in which castle designs may have varied in different parts of Medieval Europe, and features that were unique to particular kingdoms?

[@MerlijnSB]

Matthew St. Cyr this idea is perfect!

[@matthewmuir8884]

Merlijn Thanks, but which one? The one for a separate video on Peel Towers and Tower Houses, or the one about regional differences in castle designs?

[@lucasriley874]

Well, if Shad starts with Britan, peel towers and tower houses would be two of the main regional differences so he could do both (for Britan at least) in the one vid.

[@matthewmuir8884]

Lucas Riley Good point.

[@MidnightSvn]

Shad, you're my favorite medieval youtuber. You rock keep up the great work!!

[@ivepesusic8792]

Shadiversity some kind of watchtowers were quite popular in todays croatia(dalmatian part) they were like rly small castels for protection of local village AND/OR to have small garrison to protect road or border....and there were....like...huge amount of them.....o.O. just local example

[@MrGabol100]

Adding to this, in the Northwestern region of spain, there are a lot of already mentioned "torres" which are the remains of extremely small castles on the hilltops and overlooking villages. Look into the Andrade Lineage for example, with their 2 towers in Pontedeume.

[@Jayako12]

@@MrGabol100 Go to Jaén, look on top of any hill. If there isn't a tower then it was demolished.

[@mackan072]

"It's not the size, it's how you use it" - Shadiversity

[@InventorZahran]

My German longsword fits well in her sheath...

[@sarahfisher5719]

That was completely out of context!

[@barryscannell]

Hmmm. In Ireland we learn in first grade that the round towers were defensive structures built in monasteries which were used to hide away from Viking raids.

[@darkrite9000]

Reinforcements are needed, to assist in trying to contain Shad's memes. A lone soldier in a watch tower looks out into the night sky "Looks like it'll be a calm night." Just then "MACHICOLATIONS!!!!!!!" "Oh damn it all, time to light the signal fires, it's gonna be a long night."

[@PvtSchnuerschuh]

There are actual Watchtowers in the alps. I personally know some in switzerland, one is near my fathers in conjunction with a customs point. These towers are mostly build higher up on the mountainside and overlooked traderoutes. I believe, that these mainly exist because of the terrain is hard to see in from the garison near the traderoute. But i agree, that this is mainly a regional necessity.

[@roriksavant]

You should see if you could work with a history documentary, the industry could use some of your passion!

[@Beardshire]

And correct information. The history channel is comedy these days. However to the novice it presents false information people pass on and that's not good.

[@ThisIsAnOutraaage]

That'd probably do more harm to Shad's reputation and reputability than good for his career

[@darkbringer1440]

Or he could work on fantasy media and fix all the problems they consistently make if they would hire him

[@Gary-uy2mr]

Great video, loved it! Liked and subbed. There's quite alot of Pele towers where I live and a Viking brough too

[@apigeonunapaloma6379]

Robot Turtle I like your profile picture man

[@Gary-uy2mr]

Thanks, it is pretty awesome

[@markschmitz5038]

Oh yeah?! Here in Canada people used to find arrowheads ...enjoy your castles sir.

[@nicholaskingsley580]

Love the Video as always! Helps me teach my students!

[@xander1052]

MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sorry I might have gotten a bit carried away...

[@xander1052]

Also I could see a watchtower could still be used as an early warning system for a larger castle or fortified town of an army approaching, but a solitary tower would be pretty pointless, seeing as they would probably be useless against siege weaponry without being expensive.

[@Stettafire]

I have a function key on my keyboard that allows me to press fn+mute, so as soon as I hear the m- I can save my eardrums. Either way love it, nonetheless. Wouldn't mute if I didn't have a migraine xD

[@xander1052]

Understandable, but if I met shad in real life, I would do the battle cry!

[@c.nasser12]

Ha.

[@8Mad8Hatter8Prime8]

yeh, but. what about dragons?

[@rickykeim2005]

you should sell scabbards or something Shad. I love the shirts but I don't have much room in my closet. I feel I must thank you Shad for constantly making me question what I thought I knew and always teaching me something new.

[@kjartanberg6483]

Ricky Keim you would have more space in the closet if you came out

[@GnarledStaff]

Kjartan Berg Trolls! In the dunjon!

[@SporeMurph]

Good video and I entirely agree with your definition of castles/watchtowers. A castle is any fortification which was owned and lived in by a (usually) noble family. Irish Round Towers were buildings specifically built by monasteries (or other ecclesiastical organisations). They served at least two purposes (and perhaps a third). One was simply as a bell tower; they were by far the tallest buildings constructed in pre-Norman Ireland (pre-12th century) and were the obvious best place to ring a bell from (to be heard widely, as some monasteries were quite large), in order to mark the hours of the days and prayer times for the monks (time-keeping was very important to ecclesiastics). The second use that they served was as a temporary retreat from attacks upon the monastery. Because monasteries were very wealthy institutions, but mostly relied on local secular lords/kings for their defence, they were often the target of raiding attacks (mostly by the Vikings, but also by rival Irish petty-kingdoms, on occasion). The Round Towers could act as an emergency "bolthole" for the most important members of the monastery (the Abbot and other high-ups) and a place to keep safe the many valuable goods the monastery possessed (gold and silver chalices, illuminated manuscripts, saint's relics, etc). The Towers were probably not intended for long-term siege-warfare, but were useful in hiding for short amounts of time against a raiding foe (who cannot stay very long to conduct a siege and must move on to the next target before the local military forces catch up to them). And the third probable reason for their construction was simply prestige. They were higher and more impressive than any other buildings in the country at the time and they showed off the wealth and power of the Church. They were certainly not watchtowers though. I mean maybe, on occasion... a monk who was up there to ring the bell might have seen an approaching enemy army, but that was not their intended purpose.

[@NiceLord]

I love that machicolations opening :D

[@calvintorgerson9686]

I was wondering if you would ever consider doing a video on Asian castles? Partially castles that were built during the feudal age in Japan. I understand you are more interested in feudal Europe so it might not be your cup of tea, however, I think it would be interesting.

[@fortinjack77]

Absolutely and brilliantly awesome video.:D

[@danielpoirier5598]

Scot's yelling MACHICULATIOOOOOOOOOOONSSSSSSS! as a battle cry is new. Hmm...did they have MACHICULATIOOOOOOOOONSSSSSSS!? Hmm... BUT WHAT ABOUT WATCH TOWERS ON DRAGOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ohauss]

Shad, I think a lot of this video is essentially a byproduct of English terms, and as such might be of limited use for an actual description of the situation in the Middle Ages. As someone pointed out, watchtowers for cities existed in Germany. Especially the Free Imperial Cities controlled a substantial area of their surroundings and secured it with watchtowers which could signal the approach of enemies. But your comment about lords making such structures their homes and thus making them castles also falls short when looking at the German situation. The situation is way more complicated than that, since the occupants in Germany were often not lords at all, but sometimes even unfree bondsmen/serfs who ran the place for the actual lord. Over time, a shift in the importance of their charge in some cases gave these people quasi-nobility or quasi-knighthood, so in fact, it was a matter of the structure making the occupant a lordling, not the lordling making the structure a castle. But that was a gradual development over several centuries, when some of these people could even control several castles and hundreds of men at arms - but still, not in their own name. The decentralization of power you mention thus goes several levels further than you suggest - beyond the level where an individual lord could take charge of all these structures himself. Instead, they are staffed very much by professionals, but professionals who didn't pick that line of work but where told at some point "You, go there, garrison that building for me, because I, your Lord, decree so!".

[@shadiversity]

Agreed. The main point of the video is that in most cases where in other times you would put a watchtower medieval people simply built a very small castle and that there were hundreds of castles that were much smaller than people assume and served the primary role of a watchtower.

[@ohauss]

Well, that depends on one's specific definition of "castle" vs. "watchtower" ;) Which is already a huge can of worms when crossing language barriers, since while the literal translation of "castle" into German is "Burg", a lot of things that are called "castle" in English are called "Schloss" in German, which is more of a kind of palace with primarily representational and residential character rather than military. At the same time, the Romans used "burgus" for watchtowers and small fortifications - and the Greek πύργος supposedly also references a tower. On the other hand, the Germanic use seems to refer more to the fact that it is a fortified high position on top of a hill, including whole settlements (hence many cities called -burg or burgh). So a modern German would say "See, this is a 'Burg', it's a dedicated fortification with a military role. That there is a 'city'. It has fortifications, too, but is primarily residential." To which a Visigoth would possibly say: "Walled position, up on a hill, everything else is semantics": So it's dangerous to work with fixed definitions here when meaning varies through time and region considerably...

[@haffelbaffel123]

That opening. Amazing! I have a video idea for your series on best medieval weapons for [insert fantasy creature here] How about a video on Satyrs. I think that that would be really interesting. Anyways, great video! Keep doing what you do

[@Seogwynn]

Great material man,I never imagined the definition of a castle could be so broad. Subscribed!

[@rorydonaldson2794]

What a beautiful intro* :') gets me every time

[@ProfessorChops]

Rory Donaldson into what?

[@oneofmanyparadoxfans5447]

It was pure genius. I laughed for almost three minutes.

[@KevBotM]

He's done a video on who made that music for him. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaCumqCmeKmBsMk

[@KevBotM]

Oh what an idiot I am you mean the Braveheart thing. Yeah that's pretty awesome.

[@TheAsvarduilProject]

I'd watch that movie.

[@patrickcoyle515]

Brilliant video shad keep up the great work

[@TamsinJones]

11:33 Newcastle Castle - it wasn't built as a freestanding peel tower, but used to have outer walls too. The gatehouse is still extant. It was cool to see one of my "local" castles in your show!

[@A_Collector_of_Fine_Things]

Loved the clip before the intro XD

[@JackRackam]

Hey, I've been to that castle at 11:15! I'm not sure if it counts as a watchtower castle on its own since it's actually within the walls of a larger fortress, the image probably came up under results for "Peel tower" or "Peel castle" because the castle it's attached to (Peel Castle) is named after the town of Peel. That said, apparently it was attached to a monastery before the Vikings came and constructed the castle, so perhaps it could have been a castle on its own, in conjunction with the monastery? Though on the other hand the tower is much too small for anyone to live in, and it appears it had battlements added to it at some point after the construction of the castle. In any case, it's a minor detail and the video is nevertheless excellent, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about a little Manx history.

[@magnuschristianssen8999]

Jack Rackam The Castle really wasn't invented until after the Viking era had ended.

[@allanthomson4488]

Jack Rackam the one at Peel is a monastic refuge similar to those found in Ireland and not a fortification in the truest sense as it's meant for hiding in and not sallying out. it also lacks many functionary features such as arrow slits on different plains. so deffinately not an offensive but purely defensive passive structure...

[@allanthomson4488]

Jack Rackam also the vikings werw not the first people to fortify St Patrick's Island there were fortified settlements for generations before that and most of the structures you see now are much later than the viking period...

[@jbaidley]

I notice that the tower you show around 2:29 has a modern lightning rod installed on it. This got me wondering: how did medieval builders protect castles, and other tall towers, from lightning? I understand the lightning rod wasn't invented until the 18th century.

[@DesolatorMagic]

OMG this entire video I was basically watching pics of towers. I was the watch-tower the entire time! That's a pretty good twist, bro.

[@CBZ-vk9bz]

Atalayas(watchtowers) are quite common in the mediterranean coast of Spain and in its southern portion of the Atlantic(gulf of Cordoba). Basically to alert nerby populations of pirate raids . They worked as a network, as when one would start a fire on its top, the next would notice(usually the distance between them allowed to be seen at first sight from one another) and then do the same so it became a cycle.

[@Plankensen]

They need watchtowers to watch for wild herds of MACHICULATIOOOOOOOONS

[@k-la-k6828]

They were so rare because they didn’t have MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOOOONS

[@pionosphere]

The main thing I took away from this is: why build a watch tower when you can promote a vassal and have him build the castle equivalent on his own dime?

[@Areanyusernamesleft]

pionosphere when there's a lack of centralized, effective, large-scale, administration this does make sense. However, once the national leadership can afford to have a seasonal or permanent standing army, along with more centralized administration, it becomes more of a drawback than a benefit (i.e. why empower so many potential political rivals?).

[@siegehub8388]

nobody: defenetly nobody: Shad: Machicolatioooons!

[@NeverDry999]

13:50 it's not the size of the castle that matters, it's how you use it.

[@shadiversity]

Precisely ^_^

[@ronanlyons5525]

Unreal you covered everything I would have wanted to say or ask

[@Fuzzycat16]

MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOOONS!!!!!!

[@chaossin7425]

Machicolations is reaching meme status here.

[@bloodfrog8657]

But what about Dragons?

[@thomaslevy7249]

Some of the Watchtowers in the pics you provided lack, MACHICOLATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@maxdunkel7707]

Shad you should totally make a Europe tour where you go from castle to castle and have meet and greets

[@thehyperionjanitor747]

Shad you are such an amazing KZbinr I've never known another KZbinr heart all of the comments in the comments section!!

[@SpikeyNorman47]

This is undoubtedly one of your best videos Shad. Keep up the great work! I've always loved your videos :D

[@massaweed420]

Is it just me, or does Mel sound even more badass in this intro then in the movie? Hmm... ... Must be because the machicolations.

[@geoh7777]

His voice was dubbed by James Earl Jones.

[@GhostCroc]

This is my new favorite series in all of KZbin. 😊 I hope to keep finding new videos from you about castles and other medieval structures!

[@devincombs4509]

at this point, Shad, you need to design a castle made entirely out of nothing but machicolations. do it for the meme daddy

[@elias_xp95]

8:25 - Irish Round Towers... Could be a form of storage for expensive goods. Most expensive at the top, protected by guards at the bottom. A theif would need to get past the guards and then climb the tower, find the goods and them descend the tower again which would allow time for reinforcements to arrive from the main complex and catch the guy as he emerges. That's my theory anyway.

[@generalgage4780]

this was a good video as usual

[@jilllogan1288]

Thanks Shad. It seems each time I watch one of your videos I come up with a hundred more questions. Little bit of info will often trigger some long forgotten thing I had heard but not really understood. I love learning about the medieval time period more than any other time(maybe because I half remember a previous life!). Thanks for all you do.

[@MauroDraco]

Awesome complementary video to the castle's one! Thanx!

[@MauroDraco]

Machicolatioooooonnsss!!!!!

[@dakilla123]

I'm not gonna lie, I'd live in a watch tower if given the chance. Tall mini castle with a great view, hell yeah.

[@allamasadi7970]

The magic of MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOOONS!!

[@4evabonjovi]

Magicolations?

[@Dracadin]

In slovakia, there were a lot of these solitary watchtowers (local name ´vartovka´, from old german ´wartēn´ or ward if you want). These were primarily build above towns (mostly mining / rich towns) on the hill above the town... so not incorporated as integral part of town walls. They were build in 16th century when otoman empire threatened rich (mining) parts of hungarian empire. In fact there was whole line of them through southern slovakia. They functioned as early warning and could warn the next one, that one the next one etc... They had slightly different function as castles (warning opposed to guarding / protection functions of castles). Sometimes they were build few hundred meters next to the castles (better view) on higher places (Viglas, Cabrad, etc.) I can expand slightly if someone would be interested :)

[@svenskogheim8445]

I only watch this channel for the memes now I came for the education

[@thequintanahomestead3820]

Hunt deer from the ground, then from a tree stand and you’ll see exactly why watchtowers were so useful. You can see movement much easier from a higher angle then from ground level. Thanks for the video

[@SchwartzBOSS]

Great video and fantastic intro!

[@Freef_01]

Thank you so much! Earlier I was reading the Old Testament, and when I read again some troops retreated into towers on fields I was pretty confused. Like, is that really safe? And why are there towers there in the first place? Even though this video is about the medieval times, I think it makes sense to also apply most of it's logic to the OT / ancient times. Great video dude, I'm so gonna re-install The Guild 2 now!

[@es2139]

Hey Shad, could you please make a video about the Teutonic Knights. Since they had one of the few states with an organized military and built many castles with the wealth they accumulated through the hansa trade, I think it would be an interesting topic.

[@_chew_]

*MA* *CHI* *CO* *LAAAAAAAATIOOOOOOOOOOONSSSAH!*

[@CatholicismRules]

Shad, I think I speak for everyone when I say the intros are awesome! xD EDIT: You know how much you've influenced me?? I find myself going over the Shadiversity theme music in my head almost daily (that's unhealthy, probably). Whenever I hear the word "But," all I think of is "BUT WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS?" I swear, the memes on this channel are like diseases, the way they spread... Good diseases, that is.

[@WheediesManchild]

Watching the Castle series from the beginning I love how your definition of castle has evolved and broadened.

[@professormetal4411]

MACHICULATIIIOOOOOOOOONNNNNSS

[@qwerty687687]

15:35 "It's not the size that matters, it's the function" That's very encouraging.

[@grahamturner2640]

Where are the machicolations on those watchtowers? Also, would watchtowers be useful against dragons?

[@grahamturner2640]

The good, dedicated ones

[@grahamturner2640]

Any of them in any era

[@Noone-rc9wf]

Graham Turner Well as hyper realistic Skyrim taught us, no, it would not.

[@GnarledStaff]

Graham Turner Depends, are you filling them with treasure? Might make a decent trap or appeasement but is anything good against flying flame breath death lizards of doom?

[@RoboterHund87]

HelpElsaCancer Hold on, wasn't the watchtower already in ruins before the dragon arrived *and* still useful as a defensive feature? (Dragonborn assistance doesn't count, you can idle during the whole battle)

[@Pijetlo91]

I lost it at the beginning.

[@jenniferbrewer5370]

Two questions. One, why aren't you a technical adviser for Game of Thrones? And two (as required by law), WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS???

[@Uryendel]

Because that video is full of bullshit? "they're no watchtower, everything that everyone qualify as watchtower that only serve to watch surrounding is a castle!"

[@nickkohlmann]

@@Uryendel Well, what's your antithesis?

[@Uryendel]

@@nickkohlmann That you need someone in the watchtower for it to work so obviously if you put a watchtower far from habitation you need to have people living inside. A castle on the other place is either a fortified place with wall, towers, moat, etc... or the home of the local lord

[@nielsdanielbuch9022]

if one is looking to something which fills the functions of a watchtower in the medieval period, but which isn't a castle, beacon hills are probably the closest comparison, a hill, natural or artificial, with only a signal fire, usually the highest point in the landscape

[@DAshby139]

Machicolations!!! Just got back from Europe and every tower I saw I loudly judged on if it had or didn't have machicolations! And of course I had to yell MACHICOLATIONS!! for every tower that had them lolol

[@Maniac3020]

It's so entertaining hearing Shad get so worked up about this stuff. I like the passion. Reminds me of how passionate I get about certain stuff. For me, Science, and Science fiction are my biggest interests. That said, learning about how stuff worked in medieval times is also fascinating. I like serious, in depth material over fluff. On that note: "But what about DRAGONS?"

[@constantinediomedes6277]

this was a very educational village, you are a very well read professor? Teacher? Military Genius? xD anyway thank you for posting this, you make great content :)

[@PaladinMthe13th]

Shadiversity, your videos are always so educational and entertaining. Please keep them coming. :)

[@billysinge8977]

Machiculatiooooooons!!!

[@AtomBomb420]

I am watching this 3 years later as it has popped up in my recommended, and now I want a machicolation button that screams machicolation for no reason than to have it, my goals are beyond your understanding

[@arv_is]

Another great video m8 keep up the work!