Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/462

 392 Outlines of European History for it could not withstand the force of cannon balls. The accompanying pictures give an idea of the stone castles built from about iioo to 1450 or 1500. They also show how a stone-throwing machine, such as was used before the invention of cannon, was constructed (Fig. 153). As we have no remains or good pictures of the early wooden castles on a mound, we must get our notions of the arrangement of a castle from the later stone fortresses, many of which can still be found in Europe. When the castle was not on a steep rocky hill, which made it very hard to approach, a deep ditch was con- structed outside the walls, called the 7?ioat. This was filled with water and crossed by a bridge, which could be drawn up when the castle was attacked, leaving no way of getting across. The doorway was further protected by a grating of heavy planks, called the portadlis^ which could be quickly dropped down to close the entrance (Fig. 157). Inside the castle walls was the great donjon, or chief tower, which had several stories, although one would not suspect it from its plain exterior. There was sometimes also a fine hall, as at Coucy (Fig. 1 58), and handsome rooms for the use of the lord and his family, but sometimes they lived in the donjon. There were buildings for storing supplies and arms, and usually a chapel. Fig. 157. Fortified Gate of a Medieval Castle Here one can see the way in which the entrance to a castle was protected : the moat {A) ; the drawbridge {B) ; the port- cullis [C)