I study castles. So this thread piqued my interest.
"Oh!" I said, "Bodiam! How exciting. Lovely castle."
But I was sad when I read, "designed to guard against French invasion". I know that nobody really knows about castles, and that Age of Empires has kind of a way of misinforming the public (myself included). But let me give a few brief reasons why Bodiam was never, ever intended for defense.
That enormous moat that looks ready and willing to drown French soldiers? Only slightly above knee-deep. On the other hand, it provides a beautiful reflection of the castle.
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The 'back door', where the modern bridge currently connects to the castle, was used as the main entrance (via a different bridge, now lost). People would approach from the far side and be forced to parade all the way around the castle. Because what better way to let them soak in the majesty of your expensive castle?
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The arrow loops in the towers point in all the wrong directions. Take this photo for example. Here, we see that the center-right tower has loops pointing directly at the tower closest to the camera. Likewise, the tower furthest to the right has loops pointing at the aforementioned central tower. They're totally useless.
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In order to build crenellations on a castle, you had to apply for a very expensive royal license. If/when your application was accepted, your name was put in a royal ledger recording which of the landed gentry possessed them. Getting your name in the book was a status thing, so when people saw that you had crenellated walls, they knew you were one of the big players in the aristocracy.
Not at all criticizing the poster of the thread. Just wanted to share some fun facts. Castles, especially the later ones, were mostly about status.
Yes Bodiam is more a decorative castle, and didnt actually look like that in the first place, as it's been "restored" several times. The original builder didnt actually get permission to build a new castle, but to fortify and crenelate his manor house. Nevertheless, the official reason he got this, was to defend against french incursions up the river, which use to be bigger back then.
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