Who Lived in Medieval Castles and What were some of the castle defences?

Answer 1

Fuedal lords, kings, and their staff....

Some of the defense systems were awesomely brutal....and the entire architecture of a castle would usually revolve around defense.

Example:

The walls were 20 to 40 feet high and 20 inches thick

Moats

Towers (people could use them as a lookout and also they were used to store emergency food/supplies)

Any surrounding woods would be cleared to allow for a clear line of sight

The castle would usually be one a hill or some other area that wouldn't allow for the attackers to dig under the castle and get in that way

There would be areas that would allow people in the castle to dump boiling oil on intruders from above

Trebuchets would be set up (they are basically stone throwers)

Longbows would be used through narrow slits in the structure

Answer 2

The castles were lived in by Kings, princes, barons, lord etc. and their families, armies and retainers. At the beginning the castle was a simple 'motte and bailey', that is an artificial hill on the top of which was a wooden, later, stone tower or keep(the motte). This would be surrounded by a palisade fence which might take in some surrounding land where ancillary building like kitchens, stables could be situate (the bailey) - see picture and further detail at http://www.castlewales.com/motte.html
Later the land surrounding the castle would be extended and the palisade fence replaced by a thick stone walls called 'curtain walling' This would be crenellated and probably include a walkway for defenders. Further towers would be built into the wall. These would have narrow arrow slirs for defenders to fire through without exposing themselves.The bailey was extended and there might be an inner and outer bailey. The gatehouse, allowing entry became more elaborate and was often defensible - with two doors and often a narrow passageway between with holes looking down through which defenders could attack any persons trying to make entry against the owner's wishes. The castle might be surrounded by a moat - see http://www.castles-abbeys.co.uk/Bodiam-Castle.html
The moat might be crossed by a drawbridge which could be pulled up to prevent entry.
Other castles were built on rocks to be defensible - seehttp://www.castlewales.com/harlech.html
For one of the most complete medieval castle exisiting see http://www.castlewales.com/caernarf.html

Answer 3

Feudal lords and kings. Strong walls, wide moats and narrow apertures in the sides of the central keep from which defenders could fire arrows, were some of the defenses most commonly found.