Siege Warfare
How castles were attacked and defended: siege weapons (trebuchets, battering rams, siege towers), boiling liquids, arrow slits, murder holes; the drama of a medieval siege
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Siege Warfare means naming how castles were attacked and defended during a siege that could last weeks. We will practise once together, then check a fresh example.
Materials: Castle sketch and attack/defence cards; Labels: trebuchet, battering ram, arrow slit. 1. Define siege: surrounding a castle to force surrender over time. 2. Match attack cards: trebuchet, battering ram, siege tower. 3. Match defences: arrow slits, thick walls, murder holes (age-careful wording). 4. Fresh check: child answers one new prompt on the same idea. Record and stop. Done: Ask for one attack and one defence. Proof: parent note of examples tried and support used. Stop: End after the fresh check; keep optional challenge for another day.
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Start practiceSiege Warfare practice
Match castle attack and defence methods in a siege.
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Learning resources
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BBC Bitesize · Practice link — not the full lesson
Castles
Before you open · source notes
Castles supports Siege Warfare. An adult previews and guides; this is a learning page, not a scored quiz.
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Before you openAsk the learner one fact they learned and one question they still have.
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Source, access and review notes
Public BBC Bitesize page. An anonymous GET on 2026-11-12 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt for this URL. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. An adult should preview and guide the learner.
BBC Bitesize. “Castles.” External page; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute materials.
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Check understanding
- Name at least three siege weapons or attack methods
- Describe at least two ways a castle was designed to resist attack
- Explain what a siege was and why it could last weeks or months
“If your child was reading about a medieval siege, could they explain the weapons used to attack a castle and the clever ways defenders fought back?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Conceptual
- Subject
- History
- Domain
- Medieval Times
- Age range
- Ages 7–9