The difference between types of castle TOWERS

What's the difference between a medieval castle's bastion, turret, donjon, keep, peel, half tower, gatehouse, tower house and flanking towers? This video will show you what is what and why.
Shadiversity on Patreon: / shadiversity
Awesome shadiversity T-shirts: teespring.com/...
Come join the discord server and have a chat: / discord

[@nikolai60]

"Rooms are very useful, because you can put stuff in them." Sage wisdom indeed.

[@gorgonzolastan]

I said this same thing before you and I didn't get a heart! 😥 😭 Shad doesn't like me 😭

[@araxiel2051]

Behold! My Stuff!

[@ryuukake]

nikolai60 as a person with a growing family I know just how sage that advice is.

[@amehak1922]

All this time, I had no idea that's what rooms are for.

[@goldenpun5592]

whodathunkit

[@Omni-kyun]

I instinctively lowered the volume every time I saw a tower with machiculations...

[@Brugar18]

MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Animaniac-vd5st]

Could you perhaps start writing the names of the castles on the screen while you are showing them? That would give us all a great starting point for further reading into details.

[@mennotimpo8746]

Good idea! Well to add my part; the castle seen ar 0:16 is the muiderslot, in muiden, near amsterdam, holland

[@michielvoetberg4634]

Or simply put it in the subtitles so people can find the names there

[@davidgerard5792]

Solid idea. I’d love to know more about so many of the pictured castles 🙂

[@arthas640]

yeah, the one at 4:34 is beautiful and looks really familiar but i have no idea what castle it is!

[@i_kill_for_zardoz]

Arthas Menethil, It's called Burg Falkenstein (Obervellach) One way to find out a castle from a pic is to hit the print screen button, then crop the image and use Google's reverse image search feature

[@mike7652]

There isn't just diversity in castle towers, there's SHADIVERSITY! I apologize and will see myself out.

[@mike7652]

@@idkwdiwh Shady Shad?

[@jasonnicholas8648]

Badum tishh😜

[@Aramis419]

*groan* 😆

[@andorfedra]

no Mike, welcome to the Dad Joke Side of Shadiversity.

[@jojannehopmans3629]

I approve of this

[@d.mat.zero6525]

*during medieval period "what part is that" points to wall "high death part" "what part is that" points to tower "higher death part" "what part is that" points to keep "that were we sleep, and death part" "ok... what part is that" points to gatehouse "if we like you it's ok, if not..." sighs "death part?" "death part" "what part is that, let me guess death part?" "No, thats MACHICOLATIONS!!"

[@manofculture467]

And machicolations wher death parts

[@Gormathius]

«What about that part?» «If there’s a river nearby, watery death part. If there isn’t one, spiky death part.»

[@marcusrauch4223]

@@manofculture467 it´s not a death part, it´s THE death part.

[@Tennouseijin]

@@Gormathius The moat? It's the shit part. It's where after you die, the inhabitants of the castle will... ekhm... do their business in a 'garderobe' conveniently located over your corpse.

[@amehak1922]

So much nerdgasm lol

[@mrfish1178]

Shad could you please do a video on how castle defences we’re overcome. Like how someone might overcome a drawbridge or a portcullis? Love your videos

[@bobbutts4402]

I like this idea

[@nasserfirelordarts6574]

They would die trying

[@GummieI]

generally, by starving out the castle

[@Ellerion2]

They sometimes also built a ramp from stone that would reach the hight of the wall so they could just rush in there over that ramp. Also, they built siege towers on wheels with the ramps, that would open up to bridge the gap between siege tower and wall. Of course the defenders were not idle in most cases, burning the base of the ramps if they were wooden, use mangonels, trebuchets and the like to break down the siege engines and shooting the builders of those devices. I think Caesar also had one such siege with defenders burning the base of the ramp, nearly collapsing it...

[@GummieI]

Not really ellerion, sure those things were used but not nearly as often as most would think, and well siege towers wont help if there is a moat or gap which would be the case of drawbridge, you cant make that long of a ramp be stable enough from a siege tower its own. In fact Shad did rather recently make a video about all this already called "Medieval castle SIEGES in depth"

[@kvjqxzz5905]

terms like 'turret' and 'keep' or 'donjon' might also have been very regional - hence the great variety and changes over time.

[@daniellezepess]

"Rooms are very useful, because you can put stuff in them." *The true history of man is his search for more storage space!* LOL ❤️❤️❤️ I love these videos! The information is fascinating, the images beautiful, and without this channel "MAAACHICOLATIOOOOONS!" would likely never have become an epic battle cry - and what a terrible loss that would be! Shad, I'm sure you've addressed this previously, so please accept my humblest apologies for not having done my homework, but I would love to know what drew you to this topic (castles/swords/weapons/LARP/etc) in the first place. Whatever the reason, I'm thrilled we get to be part of the journey! :) ❤️

[@TrueMentorGuidingMoonlight]

Castles: the perfect locations to protect your princesses, train your Witchers, and give final exams to prospective wizards.

[@pancakekraken876]

When shad talks about castles like that, I just get the urge to spend another 2 hours on minecraft stressing over what exact shape I want my fourth gatehouse

[@draxthewarlocktitan5217]

Same! After every video of Shad's that discusses castles or parts of a castle I have to play Minecraft and work on the various castles dotting my kingdom. For instance after this video I think I'll put bastion towers along the citadel wall/Pomerium of my capital city.

[@Tauntaun707]

Yah, just having just 90 degree angels makes it hard to get good coverage out of your towers and you've gotta go big to get 45s'. makes for some interesting shaped towers BUT YOU CAN MAKE MACHICOLATIONS WITH UPSIDE OWN STAIRS!!!

[@pancakekraken876]

@Exiled ExDeath I am

[@mgc7199]

Stairs ftw

[@datGuy0309]

I came here for minecraft

[@LordEvrey]

In Germany and other countries, we have the two main structures Palas and Bergfried in castles. The Palas is the main "living" building, containing the hall, kitchen, lord's chamber, etc. It is essentially a big house with strong outer walls. Most such castles are basically just a row of houses and a big back yard with a fortified garden fence, as well as at least one tower flanking the main gate. Sometimes the "garden fence" encloses a bigger ward, sometimes it just fills gaps between a ring of houses. Eltz castle drives this style up to 11. It has no towers at all, just a thin double-row of insanely high Palas. On the other hand, Coburg originally just had an L-shaped Palas and enslosed a rather big ward with its walls. The Bergfried, also back then just called "tower" or "big tower" etc., is the main defensive structure. Thickest walls (3-5m is very common), sometimes the highest point, often near the main gate but not always. It triple-functions as a bunker, a safe, and a high archer platform. Almost always, the Bergfried was only accessible from an upper floor, so you could destroy wooden stairs to cut off enemies. See stone outer stairs or a ground-level door? 99% chance that they were added much later. Its basement was used to store the most expensive goods you had. If you are very unfortunate, then this dark basement was also used as a prison, only accessible through a hole in the ceiling. Not all castles had Bergfriede, many only added them later. This is why you'll often find them somewhere in the middle of a castle's ward. In that case you'll often see a square tower extending from the Palas to flank the main gate. Good examples here are Coburg and Nürnberg. And then there are funny castles like Thurant. It has two Palas, two Bergfriede, two main gates, on opposing sides. Why? Because Thurant is two castles glued together at the butt end. *Edit:* Also worth noting is that in german castles, the gate is often just a big door in the wall. And when it isn't, it is often a gate tower, i.e. a tower which's ground level is a tunnel with doors. We do have those big impressive gate houses with flanking towers and all, but mostly as city gates. One impressive example of that would be the "Ponttor" (gate of the Pont district) of Aachen.

[@Nethan2000]

As usual, Shad "loves" the comments that stroke his ego or reference stale memes and ignores the ones that are thoughtful and informative.

[@LordEvrey]

@@Nethan2000 I give him the benefit of doubt and blame me being late for the party. Same thing on Reddit: You can write the best explanation of something in the world but get barely any attention if you are, what, 2h late or something. I mean... he "loved" my comment about the Richtschwert and its hole mystery. Which had the side effect of causing my biggest KZbin inbox spamming yet, with all responses collectively proving my point. Good responses, I should add.

[@spud4242]

some of those pictures of "stand alone "towers were what is called a folly. no one ever lived in them and they were mainly built around the 18th century. castles are much older than medieval period . those welsh castles were built by the Normans in the 1100's also check out Maiden Castle in the UK. the Romans defeated it in 79 ad but it wasnt an easy attack... then in Scotland they had Broch's built by the Picts prior to 100BC

[@ur2c8]

Maiden Castle is awesome. Google Maps lets you to walk all over it.

[@kristopherscholefield1723]

I wasn't aware of the defeat of Maiden in 79 A.D. And I thought I was quite well informed on the late Roman period (in England and the Levant) is there any data, or accounts of this?. I'm rather intrigued now. Thanks for the comment.

[@JSheepherder]

The medieval period is generally considered to have begun in the 5th century, the Norman castles are accurately described as medieval, though the ones in north and west Wales are not Norman but Edwardian. There were fortifications that predated castles, but medieval writers considered them distinct from castles. Maiden Castle is, in the eyes of medieval people as well as modern historians, not really a castle but rather a hill fort. Also, as a fun aside: King Alfred's Folly (not actually constructed by King Alfred, but meant to commemorate his victory) was damaged when a Norseman (plane) crashed into it. It was repaired with the aid of a Wessex helicopter.

[@michaelschaust1292]

The medieval period is actually considered to have begun right after the norman conquest which ended the viking era.

[@JSheepherder]

​@@michaelschaust1292 That is incorrect. More or less every historian since the invention of the term "medieval" has used the fall of Rome as the start date. Case in point: these lectures from Yale, which start at 284. kzbin.info/aero/PL77A337915A76F660

[@violatingpanda8294]

I just love this channel. I've learnt so much more about the medieval era from Shad in comparison to all my years in school, I've practically adopted Shad as my history teacher.

[@ForgottenHonor0]

The difference lies in how they fare against...DRAGONS!!!!!!!!!!

[@petrino]

*fare

[@ForgottenHonor0]

@@petrino Thank you.

[@petrino]

@@ForgottenHonor0 np live n learn

[@araknas3981]

Ask Harren the Black.

[@Dalendrion]

What is it? Dragons?

[@barrybend7189]

There are many different sub species of Matchiculations. Including anti Emu types as you got to protect your crops with a low wall with Matchiculations.

[@karliikaiser3800]

"Go to the donjon!" "You mean the keep?" "No the tower on the keep" "But you said donjon, that´s the keep!" "No that´s the tower on the keep!" "Just call it keeptower so everyone knows what you mean" "Whatever"

[@tyrssen1]

I love Shadiversity. Real education, regarding a subject I've always loved since I was a little kid.

[@Aramis419]

With the final season of Game of Thrones fast approaching, is anyone else wondering if the roof of Winterfell’s Great Tower will collapse under the weight of all that snow?

[@itchytastyurr]

Well, its called "winterfell" not "winterstand"...

[@hanzzel6086]

Oof, thanks for the nostalgia hit.

[@darkblood626]

There are those with.... Machicolations!!!!!! and those not worth mentioning because they are defective.

[@TheAnakinn]

Saw your first picture of the Marienburg/Malbork in Poland and I immediately knew this was gonna be a great video! For everyone visiting Poland, do not and I repeat DO NOT skip this wonderful castle! It lies beautifully on the river Nogat and has so much history inside, you could spend days there. A must see for every medieval nerd!

[@KodakYarr]

I just love listening to you talk about castles and their elements. It's one of my favourite things on KZbin. Please never stop sharing your knowledge and research! ❤

[@ojb48o]

Castle design and medieval living content is why I am here, great content and very informative. Thanks! Also everyone should watch the Timeline special on building Guedelon castle, it's available on KZbin.

[@EdHunter55]

Great video, very informative. One castle that comes to mind without a tower is the "burcht van leiden" It did have a small storage building/tower added and removed again sometime in the 14th or 15th century but other then that its just a round wall on top of a motte.

[@michielvoetberg4634]

It is funny that I looked that exact one up a few days ago on Google Maps and streetview.

[@andreperovano8487]

This Channel is perfect, i love medieval architeture, and more stuff in this time, seriously, perfect.

[@ProbablyAGoober]

This has genuinely been so useful for designing castles in either my art, stories, or bases in games. Keep making great content!

[@ROKU-zj8vv]

6:42 thats my hometown castle Slovakia - Trenčín :D You made me sooo happy :D

[@michielvoetberg4634]

I'll be around there in August, I already have some places I plan to visit.

[@kolonkacity001]

Do we have more castles here in this video? :)

[@lassim3111]

Wow i live in finland and there is barely 10 castles in whole country

[@ronalddavies1091]

That was awesome! Not just the information but all the pix of castles & such. Well done. 👍👏✌️

[@yevheniishyshko7961]

Shad: *tries showing historically accurate castles* Also Shad: *shows Disney castle*

[@kkgc5760]

i'm currently making a game about castles, i'm super grateful for you to make these really interesting and informative videos and they has been extremely helpful! Ill make sure to send you a copy if it releases XD

[@DeadsTBD]

After watching a lots of the video about castle, i started playing medieval engineers again and currently working on a castle/city with mods... so far (a little more than 1 week in) i've only put the castle wall (there is no building yet as i need to move older crafting stuff out to plan the rest), the port defensive area, and the windmill area with civilian stockage (empty just got the building) Still need to wall off the other 2 easy to access water area and make the whole city after... And i agree the informations about castle are VERY interesting and i've learned a lots!

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

13:00 AHA! THAT explains a lot. So many times have I seen those arches in the middle of a castle wall for no apparent reason, in movies or games. Usually with small shops or guard stations. they weren't "arches in the middle of a wall", they were "the lower section of a tower" of which I couldn't see the top!

[@karemare6426]

Shad, I love ya, mate! This man never fails to surprise me with some interesting topic. Opening up youtube, seeing a new vid is out, instant happiness. I've been supporting you on Patreon for a long time now, which is the least I can do!

[@shadiversity]

Thanks so much mate, means a lot ^_^

[@akernis3193]

Great video as usual. Also - congratulations on the shoutout on the newest episode of Writing Excuses ^^

[@captaint.tearex9279]

As long as a tower can comfortably hold a dragon, who cares what type it is!

[@captaint.tearex9279]

@TheHobbitMonster Nonsense! Any good tower worth its salt should be able to provide a good roost for a dragon regardless of gambersons nor frighteningly impressive denture!

[@proudpapaprick]

If only these castles had devised pommel launchers, not even dragons would be safe.

[@Abrogator91]

King: I want to build a huge cage to hold a fire breathing dragon. Architect: Very good sir. I'll begin arranging for the stone to be delivered. King: Stone? Foolish peasant, it will be made of wood! Guess the kings name

[@zophielm2362]

This was great! I'd picked up some of this from years of reading history and fantasy, but it's great to have it all laid out while looking at a amazing architecture. Thank you!!!

[@jcskyknight2222]

Just wanted to say a belated thank you for getting me through my work day. Dunno why I'm even posting this, I just felt miserable today but watching this video during my lunch break cheered me up...

[@inexister7371]

I have a request and I hope I'm not too late for Shad to see it. When showing pictures of these beautiful castles would it be possible to add the castle name and location in text somewhere on screen? I suppose it might take more time to edit but I think we would all love to know what/where they are! Love your castle vids!

[@graywolfdracon]

This was mentioned in another comment that he hearted so here's hoping.

[@8Mad8Hatter8Prime8]

Shad my dude! a quick question here: in the fantasy context, does floating cities/ castles even need walls at all? i mean they are floating and almost inaccesible to regular enemies so, what do you think must be the actual shape of a fantasy castle that is floating over the clouds or in a manner similar to the Ganon´s castle in the ocarina of time from n64? hope you read this and make a video answering this, and of course dont forget to put some MACHICOLATIONS! on!

[@shadiversity]

It's on the list ^_^

[@spinnirack3645]

@@shadiversity awesome as all ways

[@UGNAvalon]

“Fantasy Re-Fortified: Laputa Edition” ;D

[@juanpablogonzalez8528]

@@UGNAvalon "Fantasy Re-fortified" sounds like a cool series in wich shad could redesign videogame/movie/wathever castles to make them functional and as hard to take as possible taking the setting in wich these castles are found into consideration

[@mgc7199]

A very solid floor with murder holes on which rests a castle encompassing dome with a gate tower on top. All windows must be smaller than what a child can fit through and many torches will be needed to light the place. You could say there is something aesthetically pleasing about the general shape if the gate tower is well proportioned. Even more so if there was two sky-'castles' with a little distance between them.

[@Tommy-dz3do]

your videos are always amazingly interesting seriously your in my to 15 favorite channels at this point 👌🏻 Great work I appreciate the feast here you do into this kind of stuff dude

[@bigDbigDbigD]

loved this presentation Shad! As I was watching I was again wishing someone would do art work of what every castle looked like when it was built and used.

[@Praecantetia]

YESSS castle designn I love these videos Machicculations are really one of my favourite desing elements that I wouldn't have know about if it wasn't for you shad

[@horstkevin1799]

BTW shad you should really visit Southern Germany and the neighboring areas, we have so many castles, basically every smaller city has atleast a few castles in about 30 km range

[@Ateraler]

Palatine Forest

[@chaoswarriorbr]

Well, when you have a shit ton of silly princes in silly little kingdoms, you have a shit ton of small castles. Germany is a big invention of the 19th century by uptight centralizers of Prussia with no sense of humor.

[@glorialiedtke8931]

If follow the Rhine you see a castle like every 3 km

[@mxkinist]

italy too

[@dothedewinme]

once again shad you've done it. I love and watch and re-watch all of your videos

[@Anabriella]

I wish my history teachers were so engaging! 👏

[@gabriellawrence6598]

Thanks so much for those videos, bro. Such great quality and in-depth research. You're really a life-saver for us medievalists.

[@JFGraham26]

You should do a video on what weapons some creature with claws would use

[@rewrose2838]

I'd love to hear your views on Medieval traps and how they're represented in media... (and what kinda traps would actually work realistically speaking)

[@kleinjahr]

Murder holes, architectural and landscape features that funnel attackers into kill zones. Maybe some dead falls or spiked pits. Not the Indy Jones types of booby traps which sit for hundreds of years and then work perfectly.

[@JeromeSkavenSlayer]

@@kleinjahr Don't forget the ones that reload themselves. Those are the best.

[@thomashalsted1888]

You didn't _shout_ "Machicolatioooooonsah!" Still, I learned some things. Can't wait to build a somewhat realistic Castle in Minecraft.

[@wbrennan2253]

Try to build machiculations in Minecraft. My daughter has not succeeded with functioning ones yet.

[@thomashalsted1888]

William Brennan Perhaps she could try something a little different with her walls? I'll probably post a video to show the castle, inside and out.

[@wbrennan2253]

She attempted to prevent falling through with a fence underneath. Could not shoot through this. Leave the fence off, but risk a drop.

[@leholen381]

@@wbrennan2253 they updated it. You can make functional machicolations with stone walls (what used to be called stone fence) they can be tricky to shoot through if you’re not lined up right but you can shoot through them.

[@StutleyConstable]

14:09 Line of fire is one reason the Alamo in Texas was overrun. The walls were very thick and could resist cannon, but once the Mexican infantry got close to the walls the defending Texians had to lean way out to shoot down on them or push ladders away. Line of fire was also one of the reasons star forts were developed. Many castles were modified by adding elements of star fort architecture, which ruined their classic lines, but kept them viable as defensive structures.

[@thomaswalsh4552]

The bailey would, in the majority of cases, be taken before towers. Having an open inner side of the tower would be far more likely to weaken the tower to attackers with little to no advantage for defenders.

[@gorgonzolastan]

Rooms are very useful. Because you can put stuff in them! Revolutionary insight! 😇

[@shadiversity]

I have much deeper insights regarding rooms in the video about castle roofs ^_^

[@gorgonzolastan]

@@shadiversity 😄 you do have good insight, that was just a funny line there

[@nealsterling8151]

I love these in depth videos about all sorts of medieval topics.

In Polish we call the fortified tower (i.e. the one that is attached to the wall, and is used to actively defend the part of curtain wall it is attached to) "baszta", and there is a term "basteja" which is tower that is intermediate stage between fortified tower and bastion.

[@vedymin1]

Jędrek approves :)

[@Nethan2000]

One thing to note is that I think "basteja" is really what he calls a bastion. In our nomenclature, bastions are 5-sided fortifications designed to deflect cannon fire and provide positions for cannons (also called bastions in English). The tower attached to the wall ("baszta") is called a mural tower in English.

[@michaelt6413]

Taking notes and screenshots for minecraft purposes. My kids are addicted to it and I build castles while they play. Then they fight/ play hide and seek in the castles

[@ZachBlackforest]

Many thanks for these videos Shad, been trying to design a castle of my own, and your videos have been a great help!

[@michielvoetberg4634]

I imagine there is this folder on the PC of Shad filled to the brim with pictures of different castles. Many subfolders for different time prediods, locations, build styles. I am curious if Shad would be interested in 'sharing' it with the community. Some sort of mini database for castles.

[@shadiversity]

I've been tempted but I could run into copyright issues if I distribute it in that way. Use of the images in videos works fine because it's transformative in nature and doesn't prevent the copyright holders form making a profit from the images so it falls under fair use. But yes I have a rather large database by now ^_^

[@michielvoetberg4634]

@@shadiversity Good point on the copyright. Is there some way viewers can help you get photos? Privately made photos shouldn't get copyright issues. Would you like to receive photos? PS it is amazing that you do take time to read all comments. Great work!

[@amehak1922]

Love the detail, very educational!

[@DinnerForkTongue]

This kind of video is easily my favourite. Now, if I were to ask, it'd be extra neat to understand how and why changes in warfare made castles obsolete.

[@Gormathius]

Dinner-fork tongue cannons I’d imagine would be the short of it. Cannons, mortars - anything along those lines I imagine are just too destructive for a medieval castle to withstand for any significant amount of time.

[@DinnerForkTongue]

@@Gormathius I know that, but this is just the outline. I want the juicy juicy details, such as when the castles' weakness to direct gunpowder bombartment was demonstrated in full.

[@exlibrisas]

I always love visiting castles. Great halls and metal chandeliers with candles, small windows and coolness in hot summer. I miss this, I wanna visit a castle again.

[@jaikumargurubaran2153]

Really great job explaining the purpose of towers inside the castle! Learned a lot! Thanks!

[@thrufirefirst2156]

Always enjoyable to learn more about castles. Thanks Shad!

[@livrasyt166]

YEEEES, a new video! Love it already. Nice topic, lad!

[@JustGrowingUp84]

Damn, so many beautiful castle pictures in this video... Thank you for sharing them with us.

[@cojin01]

finally, content that really interests me... don't get me wrong, you're a neat youtuber, i still watch your videos just cause of the quality and cause the moah knowledge the better... cheers :D

[@crimsonguy8696]

This video really reminded me of when I study cultural naming conventions and language degradation/corruption to help me research genealogy. Really interesting stuff!

[@erikgranqvist3680]

In Sweden, castle often lacked a keep as such. They were often in the shape of a house of sorts. Extremley fortified, off course, but still in the form of something looking vagluey as a house. Later, off course, they evolved with huge earthworks when cannons made the classical walls somewhat outdated. Oh... in midievial Swedish, they were called "hus" (Örebros was Örebro castle), wish is exactly what we call houses today: hus.

[@EricoDeCastro]

Its here! After that tease of yours! I will finaly find all about towers! 😄

[@retroanim]

Interesting. In French, we only have the word "Donjon". We sometimes use the word "shell-keep" but only to speak of a very specific kind of dungeon that was borrowed from the English.

[@sovietdominion]

In dutch Donjon is also still used to describe the keep

[@bizarreworld2510]

Great work as always Shad!! Now tell us about the room placement in a keep and tower keep, most importantly the kitchen. Because based on the type of food cooked the tower/keep will need a chimney but it will also need a chimney that can be cleaned up pretty easily and cleaning won't be costlier either as vapors from food will be very sticky and clog the chimney more often.

[@bluesunrise2323]

i love watching your videos when im building a castle in survival games like valheim or minecraft i get so many good ideas from them

[@Sleepless_Sam]

I enjoy these mellow videos with no shouting.

[@joserene-t5z]

Great video as always shad. Can I request for an analysis of what materials should a castle be made of to withstand a Pommel-breathing dragon.

[@ArcanisUrriah]

Craigievar Castle at 16:51, if anyone wants it identified. 57°10'26.8"N 2°43'05.4"W

[@JosvanGe]

Good,solid information with the right feel to it. Love it.

[@Kevin192291]

I absolutely love these videos on castles

[@aleriaproductions2869]

You are my favorite and one of the more underated youtubers

[@KrillixKai]

I still love this episode till today, Shad. Castles!

[@Zigg33]

Another awesome video SHAD! :D

[@robertyoung1317]

Greeting Shad. Great video full of informative facts brother thanks!

[@sebastianwagner7334]

Oh, i was actually hoping for this video. On one of your castle videos i wondered why exactly towers were the shape they are, because in my opinion other shapes would work yust as good and maybe better, but with their own shortcomings. I will just watch the video and maybe edit afterwards. Thanks, Shad :)

[@Spare_Time_G]

Hmmm for long time i thought round crosssection is the best design for the towers: 1. The least material for the same volume of the building 2. Strongest design without weakspots (as sides for rectangular towers) 3. Better viewpoint and easier access to all sides 4. Looks better IMO

[@Nerobyrne]

all true but I think round towers are harder to build. Not sure though never built one.

[@Spare_Time_G]

@@Nerobyrne good point. If the material is wood, rectangular is much easier but have no idea about stones.

[@Nerobyrne]

@@Spare_Time_G it's probably easier since stones tend to be much shorter than logs, but I think you need much better planning to build something round. With a square wall you just have to stack on top of other stones, and you can even use wooden boards to make sure it's perfectly straight. Like I said though, just speculation.

[@henrymiller1820]

I was told that round towers resist trebuchet fire better. Thus square was used when you didn't fear an enemy having the ability to knock your walls down. Once/where that was a real worry you built round towers. Many of the pictures shad showed had both with the square towers being in the older section.

[@elmospasco5558]

I like that you name some of the castles as you're going along. Naming each one would interrupt your flow and editing in cations or something would be just as bad. Could you list the castles in the extended description. I enjoy your work immensely. Informative as always, thank you so much.

[@P3x310]

It's nice to see some of the castles in my country shown in your slideshows. Makes me want to go on a castle tour again. It sucks that you don't have historic castles in Australia...

[@MalloonTarka]

Hey Shad, I an idea for future videos. I've been building castles in Minecraft and have been coming back to your videos to find elements I can include to make them more useful as fortifications. I've especially tried to include MACHICOLATIONS on every wall and tower facing outside, and they've actually been very useful, namely to clear out mobs before I go outside the walls myself. What I've been struggling with is, however, the inside layout, aka. where stairs/ladders go, where to put armouries, how to separate access to the keep's roof from the lord's chambers, etc.

[@nasserfirelordarts6574]

*BEAUTIFUL, I SWEAR, JUST BEAUTIFUL*

[@aghaabbas6845]

Please never stop making videos on castles

[@tastyloaf5487]

"Rooms are very useful." So many castle secrets I have yet to learn!

[@nasserfirelordarts6574]

The real difference is that 1 kind have Machicolations and the others don't *FIGHT ME CASUL*

[@oneofmanyparadoxfans5447]

MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNSSSS!!!

[@the7045]

While not specifically medieval, I would enjoy a video on Roman camps/forts. From what I've heard is that the longer a camp was in one spot the more fortified it would become. Ditches would be dug, wood walls become stone, tents become barracks, etc.. While it would be a lot of work you could do something similar to what rooms a castle would have, where you could show what would be done to fortify the camp over time. Of course I'm not certain how much interest you have on the topic, but I just thought it might make a good video idea.

[@NickLongFilmmaking]

I feel proud that you mentioned a lot of Welsh castles here.. also for pronunciation, Conwy is pronounced like "conwee" not conway :) Also, you should do a video on Caerphilly castle, its history is super interesting, but the way it's designed is really smart, it has a sort of double moat to it! You actually had a photo of one of Caerphilly Castle's gatehouses in this video! :P

[@geranarthy2309]

Just out of curiosity, is Caerphilly pronounced "carefully"? or some other way. Apologies for the dumb question. I just find Welsh fascinating, and can never figure out how to pronounce it when reading it translated in written form.

[@NickLongFilmmaking]

@@geranarthy2309 actually not far from that! its pronounced as "cer-filly" the R is rolled ^_^ also a good pointer with the Welsh language as well, a single F is a V sound and FF is an F sound, if that makes sense.. :P well, thats how you pronounce it in Welsh, in English, it would be pronounced more as "Kuh-filly"

[@geranarthy2309]

@@NickLongFilmmaking Cool, I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Thanks.

[@Ulfrik12]

Could you do a video clarifying what a citadel is?

[@natelenz8595]

Thank you, sir. Now I have to re-watch with my notebook handy so I can continue my story.

[@magnustherad1516]

Always great to wake up to a new Shadiversity video! Love your work so much! Say, would you consider an analysis of the Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies? I'd love to see your take on it!

[@alexc891]

17:04 wasn’t expecting to see Peel Tower in this video. You can see my house from that picture.

[@Tounushi]

3:00 Thinking back to Turku castle on this. The main structure is basically two towers and thick-walled buildings connecting them, leaving a courtyard inside. Later additions followed the same plan, but aren't as massively built. Actually, it'd be a really cool thing if you'd look at Finnish castles.

[@TheWampam]

Further Information about gatehouses and flanking-towers: A Tower above the gate is good when you want to throw things down on the attackers, the higher the better. When you are more advanced and want to shoot something flanking towers are better.

[@andrewjones1615]

It's great to hear your nearest two castles being mentioned (Conwy and Caernarfon) and learn abit more about them. Better yet Shad, your pronounciation of the names is better then most of my English friends

[@draketungsten74]

Let's just KEEP calling it a castle.

[@nasserfirelordarts6574]

Now, I've seen EVERYTHING

[@bakadominus5668]

I used to love making castles in minecraft, now I know what to call the things I made. great video

[@nesa1126]

National/civilisational differences between castles? Love your videos

[@jackchristensen7168]

Hello Shad, I'am personally having an issue finding any type of research on the larger headed Warhammers. I'm not sure if they are just from pop culture or historically actually used, If there was anyway you could cover this topic I would be forever grateful.

[@gorgonzolastan]

All the historical examples I've ever seen have been not a whole lot bigger than a regular modern nail-driving hammer. Usually they do have a long spike on the back and often on the top, and the handle can be as long as on a halberd to just a little bit longer than a tool hammer. A really big sledgehammer size hammer just isn't necessary because the regular size ones will really knock the bejesus out of somebody anyway.

[@mgc7199]

small heads pierce skulls more easily.

[@fitzwaren]

They’re mainly from pop culture, when you read about “enormous warhammer” it more often than not refer to a warhammer with a long... “handle” (don’t quite know the English technical words), not a big head. The bigger the head, the most cumbersome and unrealistic it become.