Life Inside a Medieval Castle!

alright guys here we are in Ireland we're gonna be taking a walk through tour of this medieval castle let's check it out pronounced kare-kare castle dates back to the year 11:42 and is one of the largest and best-preserved castles in ireland as we're doing our walkthrough tour I'll be asking random quiz questions to test your knowledge of medieval castles please feel free to comment below with your answers as we make our way through the front gate does anyone know what the purpose of this small door was I'll be revealing the answer to these questions at the end of the video so here we are in the outer courtyard you'll notice that every door we pass through has some level of security if you look just above the arched door we're headed to now you'll see a slot there just above it can you guess what substance would be poured down this opening onto the encroaching enemy now we're about to pass through the main gate or portcullis as it's called this is one of the oldest functional castle gates in ireland for that reason it has been used in many films one of those films is a famous story about a Scottish warrior though it was filmed here in Ireland who led his army to defeat the British and win Scotland their independence can anyone guess the name of that film here we are now in the main courtyard the gardens ahead of us is the Great Hall a place where the residents would gather to feast and on the Left here are the Lords chambers let's start in there we visited many medieval sites and castles on this trip but I must say this was one of my favorites as you were free to stray from the tour and explore on your own as we enter here you'll notice the spiral staircase turns in a clockwise direction this was common in medieval castles does anybody know the reason why who these stairs are quite steep so here we are on the first floor wow this place is so amazing just take a look around we're headed to that small door just up ahead there in the back that will lead us to the gatekeepers chamber there we'll be able to view how the portcullis operates notice how small all of the doors and hallways are everything is so well preserved the castle itself seems almost untouched for hundreds of years here we can see the pulley mechanism for the portcullis down below does anybody know what language the word portcullis comes from this simple winch and pulley system made it easy to raise and lower the heavy gate as needed you who back up the spiral staircase all right we've now made our way up to the second floor as I'm exploring this castle I realize I haven't seen any bathrooms yet does anybody know where the toilet was located in a medieval castle up ahead from the window we'll get a great view of the town of kare-kare is a small quaint town with a population of just over 3,500 residents here we make our way up into one of the lookout towers the round towers enabled guards to have a 360 degree view surrounding the castle in early medieval times battles were fought with bow and arrow and catapults which often launched dead diseased animals over the castle wall in the 13th century came the invention of the cannon which was a much more devastating weapon though the castle walls were built thick do you know what would happen if a cannonball hit the side of a castle did it a bounce off B embed itself into the castle wall or C smash a hole through the wall again I'll be answering these questions at the end of the video it just so happens that there's evidence of a cannonball strike from the 14th century right in the side of the castle we'll take a look at that later now let's make our way back down to ground level where we can visit the Great Hall as seen from this upstairs window the Great Hall is where the castle residents would gather to feast everybody would dine in the same room however at which table you sat and what food you were served depended greatly on your status the finest cuts of meats were saved for the Royals while the servants were fed the scraps how the food was seasoned was also dependent on status can you guess which spice was saved only for those of royal status and now we're gonna be making our way up to one of the Battlement hours these towers were built to sustain great force their foundation could be as many as three meters deep and filled with stones for added strength and support as we make our way up we'll come by a couple of jail cells prisoners were kept here away from the main residence and close to the castle guards the term Battlement describes the notched hath wall that surrounds the top of the castle it is from here the medieval archers would defend the castle can you guess how many arrows per minute a well-trained Archer could fire so now we've made our way full circle back out to the front of the castle just look at all the amazing stonework medieval castles were definitely built to last remember construction on this castle dates back to the Year 1140 - so what do you guys think could you live here I know I could as long as I could have my own modern toilet that would be my only complaint anyway let's review the answer to the quiz questions and see how well you know your medieval castle facts this small door also known as a wicked gate or wicked was meant to force those who enter to be in a more vulnerable position people could only enter one at a time and must bow their head leaving them open to an attack if deemed an enemy it also served as an entrance for the castle residents who arrived late after the main gate had been closed the opening above this door was often referred to as a murder hole from which different substances would be poured onto the enemy contrary to popular belief boiling oil was rarely used as oil was an expensive commodity boiling hot water or red-hot sand was much more common due to the fact that both of these were readily available and free both water and sand could penetrate the enemy's armor or chainmail forcing them to disrobe from their protective gear although many movies have been filmed on location here the most famous would be Braveheart starring Mel Gibson have you heard of it did you know roughly 90% of humans are right-handed building a spiral staircase in the clockwise direction made it difficult for a right-handed person to use their dominant sword hand rendering them nearly defenseless the iconic front gates of medieval castles were called the portcullis which originates from the french-language portcullis aunt which translates to sliding door the flush toilet was invented in 1596 but didn't become widespread until 1851 instead castles were built with what is referred to as a guard rope which is essentially a combination of a closet and a restroom all in one the waste would exit the castle interior down into the moat below it was also believed that the smell would keep the bugs from destroying the clothes that were stored inside suddenly the Middle Ages aren't sounding so romantic are they so what do you think could these castle walls would stand the impact of a cannonball the answer is yes just in the center of this photo you will see an actual cannonball still lodged in the side of the castle from the 1300s how cool is that spices were a very important commodity in the Middle Ages however none more than salt only those of royal status and guests of great importance were offered such a luxury the mere peasants and servants were forced to go without a well-trained Archer could fire as many as twelve arrows per minute that's one every five seconds [Music] you

Channel: Schatzsucher

Views: 110,645

Keywords: metal detecting, abandoned places, medieval times facts, medieval castle facts, armor, weapons, great hall, lords chamber, torture chamber, battlement, murder hole, knight, Europe, Ireland, Irish, medieval engineers

Id: NyeH9KOLUec

Length: 10min 14sec (614 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 18 2019