This excerpt from a history lesson explores the different ways in which castles were attacked throughout history. The text highlights the development of castle design as a response to these attacks, including the transition from wooden motte-and-bailey castles to stronger stone structures. The author describes various siege tactics, including the use of fire, battering rams, ladders, siege towers, catapults, and mining. Finally, the excerpt discusses the strategy of a siege, which involved surrounding a castle and slowly starving its occupants into submission.