Castles were more than military posts; they were the centers of political
and economic power. As government headquarters they were built to impress
the local population as well as visitors and rivals. While power was
spread among great tenants-in-chief in a system of delegated government,
castles in each territory were places where local lords collected taxes, settled
disputes, and administered justice. As the thirteenth century progressed,
local lords lost some of their political power to kings and their
ministers. A growing bureaucracy to serve these emerging states required
more and different spaces; administrators needed more halls than towers.
Consequently, castles remained the headquarters buildings in their districts
but internal arrangements changed.
Greater vassals who assisted at court had to be housed in a style appropriate
to their rank; consequently, a castle had to be able to accommodate
these aristocrats and their retinues. At each level of society from
the king to the peers of the realm to the lesser nobility, each family had
its household and retainers. The size and magnificence of a lord’s retinue,
decked out in colorful livery, reinforced his importance and authority. In
fact, when the lord was in residence and holding court, the castle might
have more inhabitants than the surrounding villages.
Castles continued to be the focus of economic activity as the center
of an agricultural domain. Wealth continued to be measured in land and
its produce. The only access the lord had to his wealth was to move from
one estate to another consuming products from the harvests. Housing
and feeding a household including retainers and servants required vasts
amount of food and space for food preparation. For most of the year a
castle had only a skeleton staff, the castellan, his family, civil servants,
and a few permanent guards. The arrival of the lord meant a massive influx
of people and turned a sleepy community into a hub of activity.
A sharp contrast existed between the upper classes who constantly
moved from manor to manor and the peasants who were tied to the land
and lived in agricultural villages outside the castle walls. Yet economic
opportunities expanded for both groups. Both the nobility who wanted
more profits and the peasants who wanted more land cut down the forests,
drained the swamps, and turned them into productive land. As labor and
produce were converted to money, nobles became landlords and moved
into the emerging cities, leaving a constable in charge of the castle and
tenants on the land. Farmers produced enough food to support cities as
well as villages; however, large cities remained vulnerable to famine
caused by wars and poor harvests.
The Black Death in the fourteenth century reduced the population
and gave workers the upper hand. By the end of the Middle Ages economic
power had shifted to the cities, and rich peasants had bought their
land. These people formed a new prosperous class; however, life still had
many risks, and changes in status could move up or down from generation
to generation (Documents 57–60).
World History
