The castle introduced into Europe in the late 12th century which consisted of two or more complete rings of bastioned curtain wall within one another, each increasing in height towards the keep in the centre. A variation on this design was were the gatehouse doubled as the keep. The aim of the design was to present the enemy with sides of equal strength at the time allowing a faster response to attack by the garrison. And with each ring of defence increasing in height towards the centre the defenders on the higher walls and towers could fire at the enemy over the lower defences, so that the amount of missile fire was increased compared to contemporary designs. If the outer defences fell to the enemy, they would be confronted by yet another line of defence; and each set of walls had to be taken completely before the attackers could move on to the next, thus increasing the losses to the besieging force as the siege continued. Also known as a multiple castle.
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