A castle (from Latin castellum) is a defensive structure associated with the Middle Ages, found in Europe and the Middle East. The precise meaning of "castle" is debated by scholars, but it is usually considered to be the "private fortified residence" of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a fortress, which was not a home, or a fortified town, which was a public defence. The term has been popularly applied to structures as diverse as hill fort...
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A castle (from Latin castellum) is a defensive structure associated with the Middle Ages, found in Europe and the Middle East. The precise meaning of "castle" is debated by scholars, but it is usually considered to be the "private fortified residence" of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a fortress, which was not a home, or a fortified town, which was a public defence. The term has been popularly applied to structures as diverse as hill forts and country houses. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls and arrowslits, were commonplace.
A European innovation, castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. Castles controlled the area immediately surrounding them, and were both offensive and defensive structures; they provided a base from which raids...
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