WARFARE WAS COMMON IN EUROPE in the Middle Ages, and many monarchs and nobles built
castles as a form of defense. Typical medieval castles have outer walls surrounding a moat. Inside the moat is a bailey (courtyard), protected by a chemise (jacket wall). The innermost and strongest part of a medieval castle is the keep. There are two main types of keep: towers called donjons, such as the Tour de César and Coucy-le-Château, and rectangular keeps (“hall-keeps”), such as the Tower of London. Castles were often guarded by salients (projecting fortifications), like those of the Bastille. Medieval houses typically had timber cruck (tentlike) frames, wattle-and-daub walls, and pitched roofs, like those on medieval London Bridge (opposite).
