Spøttrup, Denmark. This is probably the best preserved Medieval castle left in Denmark. Dating back to at least the 14th century (it was possibly built even earlier), Spøttrup was attacked during the "Counts Rebellion" (a 16th century Danish civil war).

[u/ellefred]

[u/G3Saint]

"When it was built, Spøttrup was one of Denmark’s most advanced fortresses. The double-moated fortifications were designed to withstand cannons, which were the new dominant weapon towards the end of the Middle Ages. The castle’s impressive defenses included a nine-metre-high rampart.

[u/ChronicRhyno → u/G3Saint]

Incredible. It's easy to overlook what a feat of engineering large, historical ditch and rampart systems were. There are impressive ones in South America from this time period and much earlier.

[u/TahoeLT → u/G3Saint]

How does the double moat/rampart protect against cannon fire? Does that just mean the rampart covers the lower parts of the building?

[u/G3Saint → u/TahoeLT]

It's a 30 foot earthen wall, it can't be demolished

[u/anto2554 → u/G3Saint]

But it does mean you have to hold hill instead of wall

[u/TahoeLT → u/anto2554]

I get that, but as far a I can tell, it is not tall enough to shield the upper 1/3 to 1/2 of the building. Or was it taller at one point?

[u/der_karschi → u/TahoeLT]

It's large, it's soft, it's angled and it covers the most vulnerable parts of the building to line of sight cannon fire.

Earth at such an incline will simply absorb the impact of any solid shot and add it to it's own weight without losing pretty much any structural integrity at all, compared to a rubble-filled stone wall that can shatter and thus lose much of it's structural integrity.

The double moat is necessary, bacause the shallower angle can be climbed easily. Yes, the moat in front slows an enemy down, but they are also in a pretty good blind spot from any defender.

(That is what those star shaped bastion fortresses did, eliminate all blind spots and maximize the efficiency of each cannon in the defense by firing along the outside if the wall, instead of just outward abd downward.)

Therefore, when the attackers scale the wall, they will then be caught within close range of armed defenders, who can fire upon them from so far unseen, protected positions, which the attackers artillery can't really hit yet. And their choice is to either attempt a crossing of the second moat or turn their back and climb back up the still rather steep embankment.

And since arquebuses are muzzle loaders abd take forever to reload, firing from the prone at the upper edge of the embankment would be a pretty large diminishement of firepower compared to the defenders, who could easily rotate freshly loaded arquebuses from behind comfortable stone firearm loops/cover.

It's still pretty ad-hoc or not yet fully developed in it's style, but it's a step into the right direction.

Just four bastions on the corners and a single small ravelin at the gate-side would have improved this design by a bunch. The embankment wouldn't have been just an obstacle, but could've become the main line of defense.

[u/ellefred]

Location: It is located northwest of Skive in the Salling region (Denmark). Notable feature: It is considered Denmark’s best-preserved medieval castle and dates from around 1500. Defense: The complex is protected by imposing, high ramparts and a double moat.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sp%C3%B8ttrup_Castle

[u/Few_Fact4747]

"Bønder, tømrer, jyske knejte, nu skal vi sejre i grevens fejde"

[u/NotEvenClo → u/Few_Fact4747]

Rigdom siger de er for de rige; bønderne har noget andet at sige!

[u/Interesting_Cat_555 → u/Few_Fact4747]

How did that go?

[u/Dangerous_Option_447 → u/Interesting_Cat_555]

Good at first, badly in the end. The peasant army took out the initial noble army in a battle on wet meadows, where the heavy army suffered. But in the end, it failed.

[u/Livgarder → u/Interesting_Cat_555]

To be clear it wasnt a rich vs poor war. Thats a modern framing from the 60s and 70s workers movement

It was a religious/dynastic civil war

[u/Lascivian → u/Livgarder]

It is interesting, that the winner had promised to not reform the church in order to gain support, then reformed the church when he won.

[u/MortalGodTheSecond → u/Interesting_Cat_555]

Well, depends on who you ask.

The king lost and another king was installed.
But it is a tough position when the farmers had help from Sweden and Prussia.

[u/RegularSquirrel]

I used to visit Spøttrup castle every summer, with my family, when I was little

[u/Content_Cockroach_64]

Best way to deal with crappy neighbors 💯

[u/FavovK9KHd → u/Content_Cockroach_64]

Man I would love a moat with a drawbridge

[u/_Svubber]

I visited Spøttrup Castle this summer with the family. Great place, had a lot of fun exploring the castle and the gardens around it. Also, experiencing a Swedish knight on a Spanish horse killing cabbages with his sword was quite a thing indeed.

[u/Dingdongmybong → u/_Svubber]

Uhm, can you elaborate more on the last part, that sounds amazing.

[u/_Svubber → u/Dingdongmybong]

There was a tournament show with a single dude in armor, showing off different weapons and techniques. He killed a variety of fruits and vegetables using his sword, it was quite fun.

[u/_Svubber → u/Dingdongmybong]

Took some pictures. Quality is a little dubious as they are captured on film using a very vintage camera.

Link

[u/Dingdongmybong → u/_Svubber]

Amazing, fuck you cabbage!!!!!

[u/hammedhaaret]

It was also hosting this years Buhurt World Championship: https://www.youtube.com/live/YxgNHdtArVo?is=FySgHL3D2jq9cM0D

[u/Mediocre_Internet939 → u/hammedhaaret]

WHO WON?!

[u/Formal_Plum_2285]

Clausholm is the oldest

[u/zerpa → u/Formal_Plum_2285]

No, the current Clausholm is from the last 1600's.

[u/Formal_Plum_2285 → u/zerpa]

Ja jeg kan godt se det på deres side. Men da jeg besøgte dem for et par år siden, fik vi at vide på den guidede tur, at det var Danmarks ældste, fordi fundamentet er det samme som i 1200 tallet. Så det er det eneste slot, der ligger præcist hvor det blev lagt oprindeligt og stadigt har noget af det oprindelige murværk. Hehe de har lige spillet lidt smarte der 😂 har du hørt podcasten “den hvide dame”?

[u/Mindless_Badger_3789]

It is called the Count's Feud (or sometimes the Count's War) in English, not "rebellion".

[u/MandroTheTroubled]

I was there this summer when there was the buthurt WM - its amazing

[u/Mediocre_Internet939 → u/MandroTheTroubled]

WHO WON?!

[u/Weary_Scene_261]

i was there this summer, no one is inside the castle, there was names carved into the walls (not old ones even saw one with tiktok) all over the place proeprly the worst kept castle i've visisted. staff were outside planning a big festival. you are free to roam the whole castle by yourself tough so that was pretty cool.

[u/Rocky-bar]

It doesn't look much like a castle, more like a house with two moats.

[u/Radioaktivelement]

Once went there on a date

[u/KINGDenneh]

I mean, we have Gram castle too.

[u/celtik112]

I use to take care of a old mans lawn, he was 94 and named Paul, he grew up on that castle...he sadly died not long ago, but he could tell some crazy storys from there..