A hilltop castle is a type of hill castle that was built on the summit of a hill or mountain. In the latter case it may be termed a mountaintop castle. The term is derived from the German, ''Gipfelburg'', which is one of a number of terms used in continental castellology to classify castles by topology. The chief advantage of such a strategically selected site was its inaccessibility. The steep flanks of the hill made assaults on the castle difficult or, depending on the terrain, even impossible. In addition, it often commanded excellent fields of view and fire over the surrounding countryside. The sheer height of the castle above the local area could also protect the occupants of the castle from bombardment. In addition, the prominent location of such a castle enhanced its status as a residence. Nevertheless, hilltop castles presented their logistic difficulties. Without sufficiently strong pumps, water supply could be problematic if there was no well in the vicinity. The transport of food,

working animal A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for ...

s and other goods was also made more difficult by the location, and the adverse

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...

usually found on hilltops made living conditions in such a castle less comfortable. Another problem was the isolation of such castles. The withdrawal of armed foot soldiers into the castle was hampered by the terrain; all the more so for

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...

. Its control over the surrounding region was therefore not always adequate. Hilltop and spur castles were introduced by the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

in order to hinder the deployment of heavy siege machinery. Whilst spur castles had to be prepared to defend against such equipment on their one uphill side, hilltop castles were completely surrounded by steep slopes that effectively prevented the use of such machines. The classic example of a German hilltop castle is the 13th-century Otzberg, which comprises a circular ''

bergfried ''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Spanish: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries and in countries under Germ ...

'' on a hill above the village of the same name. The ''bergfried'' is surrounded by concentric, oval-shaped, inner and outer wards and an external

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

. The Cathars used a number of inaccessible hilltop castles as refuges, such as Château de Montségur which stands on the summit of a steep rocky mountain. Like other hill castles, hilltop castles lost their significance during the course of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. The rise of towns as economic and political centres reduced the value of such castles for trade and governance.www.badische-seiten.de
accessed on 9 June 2009

References

{{Fortifications Castles by type