We're going medieval this week to rectify some misconceptions about castles. Despite what many believe and what's put out there in fairy tales, castles are a very specific thing built in a specific time and place for a specific purpose. We'll examine the medieval period (AKA the middle ages or the dark ages) in Europe to better understand why and how castles were built and what they were used for. We'll also unpack the story of lesser known heroine, Nicola de la Haye, who defied gender norms to defend England's Lincoln Castle against invaders on more than one occasion, successfully withstanding siege after siege. 

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Sources: 

• How Stuff Works "How Castles Work"
• History.com "Middle Ages"
• Wikipedia "Castles"
• Road Trips Around the World "Why Are There So Many Castles in Europe?"
• History in the Margins "From the Archives: a Woman's Home Is Her Castle"
• Catherine Hanley "Nicola de la Haye"
• Summoning Magna Carta "Who Was King John?"
• Royal UK "Royal Residences: Windsor Castle"
• Historic Royal Palaces "The Story of the Tower of London"

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