Archery's Influence Upon Architecture

segolden · Moderator

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Crak Des Chevaliers, a castle in Syria and headquarters of the Knights Hospitaller during the Crusades.

Though most of the features of castles similar to the above were borrowed from Middle Eastern and Asian sources, the fact remains that nearly everything one sees in Medieval fortifications is designed to either negate or take advantage of archery and other projectile weapons. The power of the arrow to effect the choice of building sites also comes into play, with moats, bridges, outer walls and elevated locations all used to keep projectile launchers as far away from the primary defenses as possible, and holding attackers at known distances for defending archers to pick off at will.

Towers that jut out from the walls are a major innovation, in that they provide cover for defending archers, and a means of shooting in many directions from a single position. Walls are particularly vulnerable as they limit defensive fire direction, and provide a zone of relative safety for any enemy who stands immediately below and against them. Towers allow for defensive fire along walls, eliminating these problems. Whole cities became surrounded by such interlinking defenses.

These are just a few examples of archery's influence upon civil and military architecture, and there's no doubt that many here can mention more. Until general use of gunpowder began to force changes in fortification design in the Fifteenth Century, eventually rendering static walls extinct, the arrow remained the ultimate reason for classic building techniques of the Middle Ages.

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"For I have drawn Judah taut and applied [My hand] to Ephraim as to a bow." Zech. 9:13
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