Why solitary medieval WATCHTOWERS were so rare 

Everyone knows that the primary purpose of fortified, tower structures were for the residence and practice of wizardry.

Watch towers give you the high ground and I respect that

"This was in response to the dangers of invasion from the Martians" I'm going to assume I misheard "marshes" there, although a 1400s Martian alien invasion would be incredible.

13:49 "It's not actually the size of a castle that matters, it is the function and what role it is serving." You heard it here, folks. It's not size that matters, it's how you use it!

But if there were no watch towers, how did they defeat fog of war and see invisible units? This theory has too many holes.

As a northern Englishman, I decided to look into Peel Towers, and found that Darnick Tower was for sale as a 3 bedroom house in 2016. The descendents of the builders had lived in it for almost 600 years before finally selling it, proving that these were indubitably suitable for living, even to a modern standard.

But Shad, I built thousands of them in Age of Empires. How can they not exist? Clearly they do.

Here in Germany many towns have or had watchtowers, for example my home city of Dortmund. They built these watchtowers, due to the many feuds that occurred between them and their rather quarrelsome neighbors, as you certainly know, Germany was more a patchwork than a true medieval kingdom, fractured in countless free-cities, petty kingdoms, duchys and church owned archdioceses. I think they build five of them well ahead of the actual walls to secure the vital trading routs and to see invading forces as early as possible. The Steinerner Turm was even besieged for some time and as far as i know ,after my internet research, the tower was of course manned, but they did not live there full time. Great video, really appreciate your content, keep it up. Your Boi

Shad Fact: A rejected series was Sandcastle design review. This was rejected because he felt it would give too much of an advantage to the crab people. The crab people are widely known for having killed off his first DnD character.

Evidently, peel towers are where you keep your eyes peeled.

I'm a simple woman. I hear machicolations, I click like.

Difference between a watchtower and a castle: It's not the size, it's how you use it...!

My text alert is Shad shouting "MACHICOLATIONS" and when my phone went off in my history class, my professor just stopped what he was saying, looked at me for a moment and just nodded and said "machicolations. Good stuff" before continuing his lecture.

Warning: May contain impressive castles. :)

That was the most beautiful opening I've ever seen. I applaud you sir

4:11 you can easily sort imagine some on going "hey guys if we put a wall around this it would be even better and some one else going yeah oh and lets put it on a hill or a mound cose you all know what its like having to fight up hill right its a pain in the ares" and some one else going hey you kno if this were a bit bigger ...

I think shad is trying to start a machiculatuon cult guys.

I swear, I could watch a whole movie dubbed by Shad

Thanks Shad! Your videos continue to help me bring realism and life to my fantasy rpg settings. I've always wanted to find a way to put my players in a smaller fortified setting against bands of raiders, and this video game me allot of ways to do that.

It's not the size of the castle, it's how you use it ;)

Small Castles are still Castles #sizedontmatter

best intro ever

You know what's as awesome as MACHICOLATIONS? *BALISTRARIA!!!!!*

Hey, thanks for doing long format videos. I enjoy the depth in such a fast paced world.

All your machicolations are belong to us.

"It's not the size, it's how you use it" - Shadiversity

There are actual Watchtowers in the alps. I personally know some in switzerland, one is near my fathers in conjunction with a customs point. These towers are mostly build higher up on the mountainside and overlooked traderoutes. I believe, that these mainly exist because of the terrain is hard to see in from the garison near the traderoute. But i agree, that this is mainly a regional necessity.

Shadiversity some kind of watchtowers were quite popular in todays croatia(dalmatian part) they were like rly small castels for protection of local village AND/OR to have small garrison to protect road or border....and there were....like...huge amount of them.....o.O. just local example

I clicked on "Like" as soon as I started watching, and I knew that I would not regret it. There are not many channels that I do that on, but this is one of them.

THANK YOU SHAD I remember leaving a comment saying you should do a watchtower video like 5 months ago, and now IT'S FINALLY HERE! Love your content man, keep it up!

Your enthusiasm for making your ads for shirts makes me want to buy them

Scot's yelling MACHICULATIOOOOOOOOOOONSSSSSSS! as a battle cry is new. Hmm...did they have MACHICULATIOOOOOOOOONSSSSSSS!? Hmm... BUT WHAT ABOUT WATCH TOWERS ON DRAGOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was wondering if you would ever consider doing a video on Asian castles? Partially castles that were built during the feudal age in Japan. I understand you are more interested in feudal Europe so it might not be your cup of tea, however, I think it would be interesting.

I love that machicolations opening :D

it's interesting when you look at the word usage in different languages for these things. For instance, in Spanish the concept of a medieval "watch tower" doesn't really exist. In Spanish when you think of the term "torre", tower, in the medieval period, it's basically what in English you'd call a keep, either a fortress or a castle that consists of only one tower.

Great video Shad. Thanks for mentioning Tower Houses and Peel Towers. I was trying to research Scottish Architecture in the 14-15th Centuries, and I found articles online about these about a week ago. Maybe you could please make a separate video about them? Speaking of Scotland, perhaps you could make a video talking about ways in which castle designs may have varied in different parts of Medieval Europe, and features that were unique to particular kingdoms?

Some of the Watchtowers in the pics you provided lack, MACHICOLATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good video and I entirely agree with your definition of castles/watchtowers. A castle is any fortification which was owned and lived in by a (usually) noble family. Irish Round Towers were buildings specifically built by monasteries (or other ecclesiastical organisations). They served at least two purposes (and perhaps a third). One was simply as a bell tower; they were by far the tallest buildings constructed in pre-Norman Ireland (pre-12th century) and were the obvious best place to ring a bell from (to be heard widely, as some monasteries were quite large), in order to mark the hours of the days and prayer times for the monks (time-keeping was very important to ecclesiastics). The second use that they served was as a temporary retreat from attacks upon the monastery. Because monasteries were very wealthy institutions, but mostly relied on local secular lords/kings for their defence, they were often the target of raiding attacks (mostly by the Vikings, but also by rival Irish petty-kingdoms, on occasion). The Round Towers could act as an emergency "bolthole" for the most important members of the monastery (the Abbot and other high-ups) and a place to keep safe the many valuable goods the monastery possessed (gold and silver chalices, illuminated manuscripts, saint's relics, etc). The Towers were probably not intended for long-term siege-warfare, but were useful in hiding for short amounts of time against a raiding foe (who cannot stay very long to conduct a siege and must move on to the next target before the local military forces catch up to them). And the third probable reason for their construction was simply prestige. They were higher and more impressive than any other buildings in the country at the time and they showed off the wealth and power of the Church. They were certainly not watchtowers though. I mean maybe, on occasion... a monk who was up there to ring the bell might have seen an approaching enemy army, but that was not their intended purpose.

Your videos always flow beautifully, I could listen for hours

Reinforcements are needed, to assist in trying to contain Shad's memes. A lone soldier in a watch tower looks out into the night sky "Looks like it'll be a calm night." Just then "MACHICOLATIONS!!!!!!!" "Oh damn it all, time to light the signal fires, it's gonna be a long night."

you should sell scabbards or something Shad. I love the shirts but I don't have much room in my closet. I feel I must thank you Shad for constantly making me question what I thought I knew and always teaching me something new.

13:50 it's not the size of the castle that matters, it's how you use it.

You should see if you could work with a history documentary, the industry could use some of your passion!

OMG this entire video I was basically watching pics of towers. I was the watch-tower the entire time! That's a pretty good twist, bro.

Unreal you covered everything I would have wanted to say or ask

Great video, loved it! Liked and subbed. There's quite alot of Pele towers where I live and a Viking brough too

Absolutely and brilliantly awesome video.:D

Is it just me, or does Mel sound even more badass in this intro then in the movie? Hmm... ... Must be because the machicolations.

They need watchtowers to watch for wild herds of MACHICULATIOOOOOOOONS

Hey Shad, could you please make a video about the Teutonic Knights. Since they had one of the few states with an organized military and built many castles with the wealth they accumulated through the hansa trade, I think it would be an interesting topic.

They were so rare because they didn’t have MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOOOONS

That opening. Amazing! I have a video idea for your series on best medieval weapons for [insert fantasy creature here] How about a video on Satyrs. I think that that would be really interesting. Anyways, great video! Keep doing what you do

Loved the clip before the intro XD

What a beautiful intro* :') gets me every time

MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sorry I might have gotten a bit carried away...

Shad, I think a lot of this video is essentially a byproduct of English terms, and as such might be of limited use for an actual description of the situation in the Middle Ages. As someone pointed out, watchtowers for cities existed in Germany. Especially the Free Imperial Cities controlled a substantial area of their surroundings and secured it with watchtowers which could signal the approach of enemies. But your comment about lords making such structures their homes and thus making them castles also falls short when looking at the German situation. The situation is way more complicated than that, since the occupants in Germany were often not lords at all, but sometimes even unfree bondsmen/serfs who ran the place for the actual lord. Over time, a shift in the importance of their charge in some cases gave these people quasi-nobility or quasi-knighthood, so in fact, it was a matter of the structure making the occupant a lordling, not the lordling making the structure a castle. But that was a gradual development over several centuries, when some of these people could even control several castles and hundreds of men at arms - but still, not in their own name. The decentralization of power you mention thus goes several levels further than you suggest - beyond the level where an individual lord could take charge of all these structures himself. Instead, they are staffed very much by professionals, but professionals who didn't pick that line of work but where told at some point "You, go there, garrison that building for me, because I, your Lord, decree so!".

I lost it at the beginning.

Love the Video as always! Helps me teach my students!

Brilliant video shad keep up the great work

Great material man,I never imagined the definition of a castle could be so broad. Subscribed!

MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOOONS!!!!!!

Shad, you're my favorite medieval youtuber. You rock keep up the great work!!

This is undoubtedly one of your best videos Shad. Keep up the great work! I've always loved your videos :D

Thanks Shad. It seems each time I watch one of your videos I come up with a hundred more questions. Little bit of info will often trigger some long forgotten thing I had heard but not really understood. I love learning about the medieval time period more than any other time(maybe because I half remember a previous life!). Thanks for all you do.

Happy New Year to my favorite channel on RU-vid. Keep up the great work, brother. You are much appreciated and a continued source for my own books.

Another great video m8 keep up the work!

Machicolations is reaching meme status here.

This is my new favorite series in all of RU-vid. 😊 I hope to keep finding new videos from you about castles and other medieval structures!

I only watch this channel for the memes now I came for the education

I'm not gonna lie, I'd live in a watch tower if given the chance. Tall mini castle with a great view, hell yeah.

The main thing I took away from this is: why build a watch tower when you can promote a vassal and have him build the castle equivalent on his own dime?

at this point, Shad, you need to design a castle made entirely out of nothing but machicolations. do it for the meme daddy

this was a good video as usual

Machicolations!!! Just got back from Europe and every tower I saw I loudly judged on if it had or didn't have machicolations! And of course I had to yell MACHICOLATIONS!! for every tower that had them lolol

*MA* *CHI* *CO* *LAAAAAAAATIOOOOOOOOOOONSSSAH!*

Shadiversity, your videos are always so educational and entertaining. Please keep them coming. :)

The magic of MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOOONS!!

Awesome complementary video to the castle's one! Thanx!

Something I never thought of, and never thought I'd learn so much about. Great video as always!

Hey, I've been to that castle at 11:15! I'm not sure if it counts as a watchtower castle on its own since it's actually within the walls of a larger fortress, the image probably came up under results for "Peel tower" or "Peel castle" because the castle it's attached to (Peel Castle) is named after the town of Peel. That said, apparently it was attached to a monastery before the Vikings came and constructed the castle, so perhaps it could have been a castle on its own, in conjunction with the monastery? Though on the other hand the tower is much too small for anyone to live in, and it appears it had battlements added to it at some point after the construction of the castle. In any case, it's a minor detail and the video is nevertheless excellent, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about a little Manx history.

So like Age of Empire 2 when you sound the bell villagers garrison inside watchtowers and fire from inside

Shad you are such an amazing RU-vidr I've never known another RU-vidr heart all of the comments in the comments section!!

This channel gives me so much material for my rpg campaigns, thank you!

Your videos are such a quality work.

i'm building a fantasy setting and i'm adding MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOONSSSS!!!! to my castles and such. edit: if you're interested in checking it out: discord.gg/RDQabU6

Great video and fantastic intro!

Watching the Castle series from the beginning I love how your definition of castle has evolved and broadened.

Great content sir!

Awesome vid! Love the emphasis on understanding the Medieval in terms of continuity (or discontinuity!) with the Roman period! I do have a counterexample when it comes to watchtowers, though - the Italian coast had networks of watchtowers for defense against pirates (often literally just "watch" towers - if they saw danger, they'd light a signal beacon to tell the local population to hide). A lot of the coastal towers that are there today are from the 16th century, but as far as I can tell the practice went back to the Angevin rule of southern Italy in the 13th century. Many are hotels now: www.cvvillas.com/Destinations/Italy/Campania-the-Amalfi-Coast/Il-Faro

Machiculatiooooooons!!!

Shad you should totally make a Europe tour where you go from castle to castle and have meet and greets

I just wanted to say I totally enjoy watching your videos :)

Shad, I think I speak for everyone when I say the intros are awesome! xD EDIT: You know how much you've influenced me?? I find myself going over the Shadiversity theme music in my head almost daily (that's unhealthy, probably). Whenever I hear the word "But," all I think of is "BUT WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS?" I swear, the memes on this channel are like diseases, the way they spread... Good diseases, that is.

MACHICULATIIIOOOOOOOOONNNNNSS

Atalayas(watchtowers) are quite common in the mediterranean coast of Spain and in its southern portion of the Atlantic(gulf of Cordoba). Basically to alert nerby populations of pirate raids . They worked as a network, as when one would start a fire on its top, the next would notice(usually the distance between them allowed to be seen at first sight from one another) and then do the same so it became a cycle.

Every day I live without owning a Machicholations t-shirt now gives me nightmares.

you heard it here folks, "it's not the size that matters it's the function..."

By the Power of Shad I HAVE MACHICOLATIOOOONS!

Holy moly, my stomach leaped when he mentioned Caernarfon Castle at 16:52! I live so close to it!

Great vid as always