A
Concentric Castle, such as Beaumaris, would prove much harder to successfully
attack for a number of reasons. The concentric Castle was a development of the
defensive technologies employed in the construction of both the Motte and
bailey, and later the Stone keep. In essence it was a design that ironed out any
flaws in the defensive capabilities of the previous types of castle.
For
example, the Motte and bailey Castle was only a small structure, often made of
wood. The bailey itself was exposed to intruders and, as there were often few
towers built into the walls, the security of castle was undermined. Such a
Castle is susceptible to simplistic attacks. It could, for example, succumb to
fire, mining of the walls or be simply starved into submission. The construction
of a Stone Tower on the Motte may have improved the design of this form of
Castle yet, as with Stone keeps, a fatal flaw was that mining underneath the
Motte, or the corner of the Stone Keep, would render the construction useless.
The
Stone Keep was similarly weakened. It's corners were vulnerable to mining, it's
side walls to battering rams and an invading army could quite simply bypass this
form of castle. The concentric castle overcame each of these problems. It's
walls had few, if any corners, mining wasn't an option due to the often used
water defences: which also prevent the use of battering rams and other such
forms of attack.
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