Castle-guard was an arrangement under the

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...

, by which the duty of finding knights to guard royal castles was imposed on certain manors,

knight's fees In feudal Anglo-Norman England and Ireland, a knight's fee was a unit measure of land deemed sufficient to support a knight. Of necessity, it would not only provide sustenance for himself, his family, and servants, but also the means to furnish him ...

or baronies. The greater

barons Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

provided for the guard of their castles by exacting a similar duty from their sub-enfeoffed knights. The obligation was commuted very early for a fixed money payment, a form of

scutage Scutage is a medieval English tax levied on holders of a knight's fee under the feudal land tenure of knight-service. Under feudalism the king, through his vassals, provided land to knights for their support. The knights owed the king military s ...

known as "castle-guard rent", which lasted into modern times.AL Poole, ''Domesday Book to Magna Carta'' (OUP, 2nd edition, 1955) Castle-guard was a common form of feudal tenure, almost ubiquitous, on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

where all manors were held from the

Lord of the Isle of Wight The Lord of the Isle of Wight was a feudal title, at times hereditary and at others by royal appointment in the Kingdom of England, before the development of an extensive peerage system. William the Conqueror granted the lordship of the Isle of ...

, seated at

Carisbrook Castle Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke (near Newport), Isle of Wight, England. Charles I was imprisoned at the castle in the months prior to his trial. Early history The site of Carisbro ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castle-Guard Castles Feudalism Land tenure