Thank you very much Shad for this opportunity! It was an honour to make this video together and appear on your channel :) and thank you everyone for watching
I've been told that if you want to pronounce something as correctly as possible, speak it with the accent. Want to pronounce german as correctly as you can? Speak german viss ze german accent. Pronounce chinese? use engrish, etc. etc. etc.
One of the big differences that I didn't really see being talked about is that Japanese feudal castles were done during the 16/17th century, and had access to gunpowder. And if you look at European fortification before and after the introduction of Gunpowder you'll see a big differences (those done by Vauban comes to mind). To me one of the big reason Japanese raised to ground behind castles is that the ground can far better absorb the shock from cannons.
Well, there IS kancolle-type game called Oshiro/Shiro project that got similar premise to kancolle(aka, ships transformed in to animu girls that you send out to do missions) but this time, WITH CASTLES, so yea, its sorta already done
why doesn't southern Italian castles look different from rest of Europe, shouldn't they be in ruins by now. they seem to be fine despite earthquakes. or was the imported castle building technology so advanced that they withstand earthquake by the time they were built?
@@Folkmjolk when were they built? If they are late constructions they might have upped their game quite a bit, because all the early castles did collapse as expected.
I love the way you guys (both you and Metatron) are able to present historical knowledge with so much charisma and fun! I with my history teacher had done this back when I was in school.
Earthquakes are an excellent point. If the skeleton of the structure is wood, it can be made in a jointed way that allows it to sway. Stones can't be joined in a way that let's them sway without collapsing. Modern day steel structures can be build like wooden ones but with the strength of steel.
Actually, I was about to make the comment that stone walls are not all that bad against earthquakes. The mortar used to make them is chaux, it's a bit on the soft side as far as mortars go, but that's what makes the wall move and absorb the ground movement. The chaux is like a sort of joint inbetween every rock. We have evidence of walls that were on a flat ground when they were made but that are now curved because the ground moved. That wouldn't be possible with today's mortar because it is harder and would crack instead of give. A modern stone wall is more resilient but more brittle. Also, the romans' stone and brick walls were made in a way very good way for accommodating ground movement, and most of the medieval stone walls were built on the romans'. Probably that the japanese construction was better suited for earthquakes compared with most of the european walls, but the medieval stone wall is not as immobile as what we have today in non-seismic areas.
This was actually an extremely good video, very informative and fun. When i first saw its 30min duration i thought that i won't watch untill the end. But when the video was finished i was shocked because i was so interested that i did'nt know how much time has passed.
Japanese machicolations are amazing btw, wow the way the geometry just flows with the walls is absolutely gorgeous! The architects who designed these things are amazing, I can't even imagine where to start on a project like that. I've built a ton of realistic castle recreations but I have never ever been able to come close to how creative and resourceful these people must have been. I mean imagine the terrain they had to deal with for some of these projects. Just the coordination of the labor force astounds me, I know a lot of castle had issues and weren't perfect. But, so many were so elegant and lined up perfectly, so much thought and intent was put into them. I have to wonder if castles were constantly under renovation to include the latest and greatest idea's. There's no way someone could have come to a plot of land and in a few years time come out with a beautifully designed private fortification like some of what we've seen in this video. And with that it must have been an amazing site when the newest trend was introduced to your local castle! I recently watched the Medici's or something like that and they designed and built the first cathedral with a massive dome roof. It was the first of it's kind and I think of just how at awe the local populace and those on pilgrimage must have felt when entering such an amazing structure!
Shadiversity, Skallagrim, and Metatron should form a For Honor team. Shadiversity would play as a knight, Metatron would play as a samurai or centurion, and Skallagrim would play as a viking. That would be so cool
Shad, as a Japanologist myself, I found your Japanese pronunciation of Sekigahara surprisingly accurate! I'm not sure whether 'the' Metatron had a hand in that, but it's just impressive!
I have wached several of your video and i think this collaboration is one of your best and most professionally done. thank you for sharing this i loved it and have watched it 4 times already
Wow. This was a fantastic idea to do this in terms of a comparison. This taught me that there really is more than one valid way to build a castle, and it is super cool how the different contexts led to such a massive differences in castles. The comparison helped me contextualize and comprehend the Japanese castles so I could even understand how they worked with being so different, and helped me to learn more than I already did about European castles.
The castle shown at 14.32 looks a hell of a lot like Corfe Castle located in Dorset. I stumbled across this castle when on a Harley ride across southern England. It would have been an amazing structure in it's day. There is an amazing story attached to the history of this castle and a very courageous lady named Lady Mary Bankes.... It's always cool recognizing faces and places in your videos.....
Not being an expert, but having lived in Japan a while, I noticed that japanese Castles were destroyed very often, so Japanese regard a castle that is 200 years old as VERY old. And from what I heard, they mostly were destroyed by fire, not earthquakes. Usually they rebuilt the same castle over and over, but the actual structures never survived that long. So the theory, wooden japanese castles were protected well by coating seems kinda not backed by data.
I've learned so much from you guys on TH-cam, particularly you, Shad. Before I discovered your channel, I had very little interest in European castles, but they're like... Astoundingly interesting to me now. Your videos are very educational, and I really can't express how awesome it is to be able to learn this stuff without having to read a bunch of articles (I have a very short attention span when it comes to reading stuff). I really wish schools would teach this kind of stuff (and in an entertaining way instead of your typical robotic and boring way). I have learned so little from going to school, and so much from just doing my own research, especially on TH-cam. You guys, the creators, are awesome. Thank you so much!
It's great to see two prolific youtubers like shad and metatron working together without envy! Also, you picked so many great pictures, I could spend hours just watching those beautiful castles! Luckily I do live in germany where we have plenty of them, albeit many of them are detoriating. It consumes so much money to maintain them.
I think Metatron could have gone into much more detail on just how much of Japanese castle design was centered around preventing fires. For instance, walls and towers were designed in order to contain any one part that might catch fire, killing the flame rather than letting it take the rest of the structure. There's also the decorations used on castles meant to give supernatural protection primarily against, you guessed it, fire. Not that they realistically helped so much as to emphasize just how much of a serious threat fire was considered by the designers. Additionally, castle structures in Japan were centered around a pair of pillars set upright within the structure. When an earthquake would hit, it would tilt like an inverted pendulum but return ultimately to its upright position. The wood used to construct the rest of the castle would be able to lean and reset for exactly this event, which could happen daily.
I saw a documentary on China's Forbidden City, and similar techniques were used for these woodmen palaces as for Japanese wooden castles, and for the same reason. They did a shaker test, and the amount of energy the wooden structures could absorb was uncanny.
Metatron + Shad. Two amazing historical weapons and armor youtubers, together in one video. I also love that Metatron brought up the Machicolations, probably one of the best parts of any castle. Very will done to both men in this.
1:33 "Hello Shad and everyone" .. feels bad man, are we not Noble Ones just because we are watching you on a different channel?! Haha but seriously, more collabs like this please, you two are equally my favorite youtube content creators and it's fantastic hearing from you both on the same topic in the same video!
I think "Sekigahara" is actually the best pronunciation I've heard of a Japanese word coming from Shad. :P (Actually, I think it sounded fine.) That was a pretty badass collaboration. Like other people are saying, it's awesome to see two great scholars work together to teach and entertain an interested and curious population. I look forward to seeing more great videos from both Shad and Metatron in the future!
YES! I've been wanting this video for AGES!! Here's to the next... *C O L A B O R R R A A A T T I I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O N N N N N N N N N N S S S S S S S ! ! ! ! !*
This was a thoroughly enjoyable (and educational) collaboration. Would that make it "Shadatron" or "Metaversity"? It does not matter. I hope more are planned for the future!
Dear Shad, dear Metatron, Thank you for an absolutely excellent and incredibly informative video! Just one little comment from my part: I come from the Southern German cultural sphere, and have visited Hochosterwitz before (fantastic place, by the way). I wanted to point out that the correct pronunciation for Hochosterwitz would be "Hawkh-Awster-vits", with "aw" as in "hawk" and "kh" as in Scottish "Loch". The stress is on the "aw" in "Awster". I know that Shad always apologises for butchering pronunciation - a humility which I greatly admire - however, perhaps he might like to know the correct pronunciation and try it ;-) Thanks as always guys - you're doing a great job! Greetings from Freiburg, Germany, Ufthak
Shad Fact: Shad held a "Giants With Slings" charity event over the weekend, to raise funds to help restore a castle, due to a clerical error a cyclops was allowed in. All funds raised during the event have gone to repairing damages, and shad is out 10 dollars.
A fantastically presented video, you both did such a good job. The primary reason for such a different approach (earthquakes) puts everything into context. They were different because they HAD to be. Love your work fellas.
There are 2 thinks I love to see in my travels: 1st is Nature 2d castles. Most of people when they visit Europe they go to big cities, for exemple in France you would visit Paris. I Highly suggest you if you visit France to go visit Carcassonne, Castelnaud, Foix or Saint Michel (even if it is not really a castle).
A hill with a 60 degree incline with no neighboring hills of comparable size is almost worthless if the nearest population center with a population higher than 2,000 is a fortnight ride for a single lightly encumbered rider.
Speaking of Krak des Chevaliers, it also has the inner walls that are supported by a steeply sloping glacis (like japanese castles) which provided additional protection against both siege weapons and earthquakes because earthquake damaged the castle in 1170. so knights hospitallers built walls in such a way to prevent further damage from future earthquakes
I don't know? A wine-making contest? The joke seems to have gone over my head, although a Google search did reveals some interesting facts about Italian Australians via Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Australians
Great video Shad and Metatron! Great job yelling, "MACHICOLATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" By the way, interestingly, the problem that you (Shad) mention at 26:07 was mentioned in the season 2 finale of Game of Thrones, during the siege of King's Landing. One of the defenders mentions that, with them being busy defending the castle from the harbour side, there's too few people left at the front gate. I remember hearing that and hoping the writers, since they mentioned it, would actually use it in the plot; likely by having Stannis send some of his men to the front gate. Sadly, they didn't, and I remember that it being said, but not used, was one reason I was disappointed by how the 'siege' was done in the show.
Well, I might know a way to cheer you up. Did you watch the 4th season yet? If not: don't read on, there's spoilers ahead. The Wall is pretty damn big and in season 1, we heard the Nightwatch complaining about not having enough manpower to keep an eye on the whole damn thing. While Jon was with the wildling - party, they asked him why the land wasn't farmed -> he responded because of the raiders, coming over the wall. Obviously there's a lot of places where Wildlings can climb for several hours and make it over the wall without being noticed. And finally: while Manke Rayder for some reason didn't do it in the first place, after his test - assault on the Wall, when Jon came out to negotiate, he told him that he had already sent a group of warriors to another, unguarded part of the wall, to climb over.
Thanks. But I'm actually currently writing a fantasy war novel series that I hope does a detailed and authentic, yet interesting approach to siege warfare. By the way, the final siege in my first book happens in a castle reminiscent of Edinburgh Castle, and there is a drawbridge over a sheer drop, as the castle is on a hill. Do you have any idea how might the attackers try to overcome the problems presented by a drawbridge if, instead of a moat, it's just a sheer fall?
A draw bridge is a very big problem. Hm. You say "fall" do you mean by that that it's a cliff or something, so filling it up is not an option? Well I have an idea, but it only works if there is a good portion of ground in front of the drawbridge: building another drawbridge - on wheels. Maybe with a few spikes at the end to ancor it in the ground. Of course pushing something heavy, like a ram or a siege tower across it wouldn't exactly be an option, but infantry with good old ladders could get across. Then there is the stylish, yet hard to build and operate ballista from the TESO-trailer and the second LOTR-movie. You know: the one that shoots barbed projectiles with ropes attached to them, on which ladders or make-shift bridges can be brought to the walls. ... would however not be my first pick. If everything else fails: good old starving out or smuggling agents inside always works ( more or less).
Yeah; I mean a cliff. So filling it up is not an option. The castle itself also has enough supplies for the heroes defending the castle to last weeks; maybe even months, and the attackers, being in hostile territory, don't feel they have that long to take the castle. So starving out is not an option. I like your second drawbridge idea, but, as you said, that only works if there is a good portion of ground in front of the first drawbridge, and why would there ever be any, especially if the castle is on a hill? I read somewhere that a number of drawbridges used ropes rather than chains. Would it be possible for the attackers to try and sever the ropes; perhaps using arrows or ballista bolts? That ballistae idea you mentioned is kind of interesting. I had a similar one where the ballista bolts pierce the drawbridge, and the attackers then try to pull on the drawbridge with a team of horses and/or people to overcome any counterweight and pull down the bridge. Is that feasible?
Also, by only needing to be built using three walls instead of four, you actually get maximum volume for a given amount of wall by having the length be twice as much as the width, so you have more room between the buildings hugging the wall, and the center of the bailey, which is especially good if the keep is in the center of the bailey.
But that also means that you only need to knock down three walls instead of four. Why waste all those men assaulting the castle through a narrow gauntlet of death when you can chuck rocks at them with a trebuchet from a thousand feet away?
Awesome video Shad and Metatron! You filled in a ton of great details on castles for me. One detail you didn't answer though is which is stronger... MATRICULATIONS!!!!! or Pomel's of Mass Destruction?
Regarding earthquakes I beg to differ. Castles in southern Italy and Sicily are made of stone since antiquity. And those are very active parts of the earth with subduction zones like Japan. But wood is rare whereas easily workable stone (lime- and sandstone) is abundant which is not the case in Japan.
Incredible video Shad and Metatron. Hope to see more colaborations like this on the future, and why not: calling other amazing content creators to discuss other topics and compare information too!
I visited both type of castle, and I must admit that I've been more impress that I thought i would by Japanese castle. The ingeniosity and quality of wood workers was incredible. Plus those "woods" wall were much more that just wood in the end. Himeji Castle did survive a lot of earthquakes and is still standing strong to this day.
You can go a long ways making your structure narrower at the top than the bottom as well. Japanese castles, I've noticed, never have vertical foundations, but are ALWAYS slanted. The base of the foundation props the top up from the side as well as from under. Too steep to easily climb, but not so vertical as to become unstable in an earthquake or heavy rainfall.
in California building are constructed for earth quakes. they would not be allowed in Florida because of the hurricanes. different building codes for different areas. Europeans had more destructive war weapons because they were located in the same land mass. Japan is isolated and enemies would have to launch a maritime attack verses Europe where land attacks are the norm. no competition.
HOARDINGS! I was just discussing the functions of these the other day with someone, and we couldn't the the life of us figure out what they were called until now. Excellent video, Thank you!
1: You actually didn't butcher the pronunciation, nice job 2: Metatron just kinda jumped into the writing on the whiteboard so for anyone unfamiliar with japanese who was wondering, the stuff he adds underneath the characters are a pronunciation guide, not part of the character. 城 and 山城 are how they're written, しろ and やまじろ are how they are pronounced. (this is how japanese teachers write in beginner classes and how children's books are written)
Shad, Metatron thanks both of you for such informative and awesome video! Hope to see more collab between you and other HEMA channels in future. Now I'm off to watch Metatron video! P.S: Shad you should try game Stronghold HD, I think it's one of better castle building sims that was ever made, you'll love it.
It started as a castle and later became a city after the "throne" was moved from Osgiliath. I know my lore. It was a western border tower just like Minas Morgul was before it was captured by Saurons followers.
And well, the movies didn't do it justice. There were whole regions between fortified circles, like fields and such. But I'll give it that at least it had the "cool" factor in the movies.
So the real question though, How would a European Medieval Military fair vs a Japanese castle and visa versa? I am not aware of the Japanese utilizing very much in the way of seige weaponry so I am curious if these castles could stand up to European Siege Warfare if need be, and if the a Japanese military would be capable of penetrating a European castle. From what it seems, the Japanese castles are marvels of carpentry and engineering and very well designed to handle foot soldiers, where as the European Castle seems more designd to handle heavy bombardment and stand up to seiges, but appear less capable SHOULD the enemy actually mamage to breach the wall.
*TL;DR, it's really hard to guess, due to strategic and construction differences. The Osaka Campaigns are pretty much as close as it gets to a European army vs a Japanese castle, so I'd recommend reading about them and specifically about the Sanada Maru* The Japanese would probably starve the Europeans out, for the most part - a strategy that worked, most notably, on Ishiyama Hongan-ji (which was trapped by an artificial flood), Odawara (which was thought to be impenetrable), and Tottori (which took such a toll on the defenders that, when the siege was lifted and they were offered food, some died from overeating). Once out of the castle, it just depends on the fighters themselves, so it's hard to tell. I can't really guess how Europeans would siege a Japanese castle; they might adopt a similar approach, but they'd definitely have to storm some, since starvation allows attackers to avoid combat. I don't think they'd ever really need siege weapons, except against castles like Odawara, since the castles are made to act like battlefields that give the defenders an advantage. Stuff like siege towers and battering rams aren't really necessary against Japanese castles, since a gate that's forced open is easier to fix than a gate that's broken open. There's still cannons and catapults to consider, but those are my best guesses at both. It's hard to guess, because you're talking about people attacking castles that are so different to the ones they historically attacked.
By the time of sengoku period Europe had MASSIVE siege weapons that would destroy any fortification from far away... If we are talking about early period then we should really compare with the old types of japanese castles, which were not that intricate. Remember the crusades, a lot of wars going on, lot of sieges, europe is a whole continent, and actually, Eurasia is a whole continent, and pretty much you should add north africa to that context as europe was in perpetual warfare with the norht african peoples since the dawn of history, japan was an isolated archpelago with a fraction of the people and cultural diversity of eurasia, it is really not fair to compare both. By the way, the portuguese were on japan during sengoku, they thought the country was a mess, it was not worth the trouble, but on their estimations they could conquer it in a few months, but of course they were much more interested in India back then.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botafogo_(galleon) See, this was the type of weapon the japanese would have to deal. I should say my friend, they wouldn't stand a chance.
No, bombards will destroy everything, walls and earthen backing, nothing would stand. Research about renaissance bombards, they would sometimes shoot projectiles weighting a ton. And cannons would also be used as antipersonel weapons, add to that europeans assault troops wearing armour able to resist both japanese arrows AND their archbuss (which was copied from the portuguese), they would be screwed.
"The earthen "backing" here FILLS OUT THE ENTIRE AREA BEHIND THE WALL. It's less of a wall, and more of a fucking HILL with a facade made of stone. Only the uppermost "battlements" actually extend above what is ground level for the defenders. The kind of firepower to "destroy everything" when faced with that is something that did not exist until WWI, and even then it required a massive effort." They made an experiment some years ago to see if a roman ariete could break through a earth filled stone wall, first hit and it stood, second hit and it crumbled, the heavy hit shaked the strutcture and made it loose. The same would happen, the difference is a bombard is like 100x stronger than an ariete, like I said, a normal cannon would fire one pound ammo, a heavy cannon would fire 20 pounds ammo, a bombard would fire fucking 100kg, 200kgs, 300kgs, 400kgs, 1.000 kgs of ammo. You're thinking a stone wall filled with dirt can be compared to WW1 iron inlaid concrete bunkers, they're not. There was a reason late renaisssance forts were star like with angles on the walls, and earth filled, it was because the angle would divert some of the power behind the bombard, and even then they would never stand forever against bombardment. Moreover, bombards would shoot upwards on a balistic trajectory and would fall from fucking above over their targets, your walls would be useless. "Trying to use cannon for antipersonnel in this case would also be ineffective because you're trying to shoot at people that are practically sitting on a hilltop above you, behind concealment and limited cover afforded by the wall portions extending above ground, as well as the slope of the "hill" itself. You won't even see the defenders most of the time, let alone have a useable line of fire." Wrong, they have to appear to shoot, and then grapeshot would wreak havoc on the defenders, heavy cannons would also break the defenses over time. There is a reason why cannons changed warfare forever, and a reason why this type of castle was already obsolete by then. "And no, dipshit, " You're like 5 or something? "anyone have any armor able to resist arquebus fire - even heavy napoleonic-era cuirass and helmet combinations (which were far too heavy to cover more than chest and head, leaving the rest of the body virtually unprotected) were only good against pistols and LONG-RANGE fire from longarms. Short-range fire from arquebus or musket busted right through." Wrong again. 1st, most of the ammo on the 16th, 17th century was made of stone, so you have far less penetration than with lead. 2nd, there is a reson they made the musket, it was because armour was really chalenging the penetration power of the archbuss. Yes, archbuss at close range would breach armour, but we're talking something less than 30 yards, then you would have one pretty inacurate smoothbore shot and that's it, the full plated guy would be all over you. In the napoleonic era firearms had developed a lot, well, in europe, japan had stopped in time by then. It was enough for Admiral Perry to fire a few shots on the Nagazaki bay and your beloved samurai era was over, because they knew they could never withstand that level of artillery. In the 16th century muslims and indians were much more fitted to fight europeans than the japanese, and we all know what happened with them.
really enjoyed this vid, seeing Metatron in action, and the differences between the two styles, i hadn't even thought about earthquakes for example! Thoroughly entertaining. Thanks to both.
Thank you very much Shad for this opportunity! It was an honour to make this video together and appear on your channel :) and thank you everyone for watching
Metatron
I feel obligated to tell you I don't know who you are.
Scott Radcliffe
He's basically Shad that focuses on the Japanese
Just as awesome tho.
Jake Hutson
A Italian weeb who looks like he belongs in a metal band and sounds posh for some reason.
Never thought I would say that sentence.
A Medieval Europe Expert from Australia.
And A Feodal Japan Expert from Italy.
And I watch this from France.
Internet... man.
And you comment was red by a german that is married to a taiwanese wife :)
@@Puschit1 and written in English :D
@@khor11 By a Mexican who speaks Spanish that is gonna visit the only castle in america next week.
THE FUTURE!!!
And a Chinese-Indonesian Catholic
Japanese castles might have mad wood, but European ones are rock hard... I'll see myself out now.
😏
but what about 'tower envy ' ?
Yea, but no castle is beating an African one
@@-gemberkoekje-5547 because they don't exist
@@RedMatthew atleast you got half of the joke
Shad: "Beware poor pronunciation."
Shad: *proceeds to pronounce Sekigahara correctly*
I was pretty impressed by his accidentally appropriate pronunciation...
I've been told that if you want to pronounce something as correctly as possible, speak it with the accent. Want to pronounce german as correctly as you can? Speak german viss ze german accent. Pronounce chinese? use engrish, etc. etc. etc.
@@5peciesunkn0wn *Proceeeds to drop a bucket of spoons down the stairs*
Am I speaking it properly?
@@Cryogenius333 eh , close enough.
@@5peciesunkn0wn German makes my jaw hurt whenever I try to speak it.
One of the big differences that I didn't really see being talked about is that Japanese feudal castles were done during the 16/17th century, and had access to gunpowder.
And if you look at European fortification before and after the introduction of Gunpowder you'll see a big differences (those done by Vauban comes to mind).
To me one of the big reason Japanese raised to ground behind castles is that the ground can far better absorb the shock from cannons.
Yeah, Vauban's fortified places (not really castles anymore) have those tank-shaped earth walls. Vauban was way too good...
@@ThePrime125 That's the French quality for ya 😁
@@theh5099 you mean baguette
@@TheDarkestPaladin Non, croissant (or if you want to create pass hysteria in any french community : Chocolatine
N dV hence, king of france complained to vauban if he made a gold walls, because it's too expensive
But.... But...
Castles can't fight each other..
Well...Unless they are super sentai transformers
How is this not an anime already?
+Bruce Wayne
Well the Power Rangers once had a pyramid zord. Google "Pyramidas"
pretty funny.
yes
Well, the main city in Soul Eater is actually a big mech, so that counts too
Well, there IS kancolle-type game called Oshiro/Shiro project that got similar premise to kancolle(aka, ships transformed in to animu girls that you send out to do missions) but this time, WITH CASTLES, so yea, its sorta already done
Earthquakes, that is an excellent point. Explains a lot. Thumbs up.
why doesn't southern Italian castles look different from rest of Europe, shouldn't they be in ruins by now. they seem to be fine despite earthquakes. or was the imported castle building technology so advanced that they withstand earthquake by the time they were built?
@@Folkmjolk when were they built? If they are late constructions they might have upped their game quite a bit, because all the early castles did collapse as expected.
@@Xplora213 late medieval period i would guess, i know they aren't from the renaissance when cannons were common.
I feel like Shadiversity, Metatron, LindyBeige, ect, need to make a huge history documentary.
YES YES YES!
I think they need to make a huge castle.
Add Skallagrim in there.
Eff that, they need to make a historically-accurate MOVIE w/ Skallagrim
Has long as Shad includes his dual sword twirling
“Castles are like onions. Onions have layers. Castles have layers. Castles. Onions.”
Their smelly and nobody likes them?
@@Aatell764 No, they sit outside and get all brown an sprout little white hairs.
'Still closed, still closed. Mmmm..."
Their smelly and they make people cry
Castles are like Onions, when somebody cuts yours in half you cry.
I love the way you guys (both you and Metatron) are able to present historical knowledge with so much charisma and fun!
I with my history teacher had done this back when I was in school.
Earthquakes are an excellent point. If the skeleton of the structure is wood, it can be made in a jointed way that allows it to sway. Stones can't be joined in a way that let's them sway without collapsing. Modern day steel structures can be build like wooden ones but with the strength of steel.
Actually, I was about to make the comment that stone walls are not all that bad against earthquakes. The mortar used to make them is chaux, it's a bit on the soft side as far as mortars go, but that's what makes the wall move and absorb the ground movement. The chaux is like a sort of joint inbetween every rock. We have evidence of walls that were on a flat ground when they were made but that are now curved because the ground moved. That wouldn't be possible with today's mortar because it is harder and would crack instead of give. A modern stone wall is more resilient but more brittle. Also, the romans' stone and brick walls were made in a way very good way for accommodating ground movement, and most of the medieval stone walls were built on the romans'.
Probably that the japanese construction was better suited for earthquakes compared with most of the european walls, but the medieval stone wall is not as immobile as what we have today in non-seismic areas.
all hail rebar!
@@vonsaponatheim3736 Makes sense. Many castles built centuries ago in earthquake prone areas of Europe are still in prime shape.
@@Nerobyrne the Greeks and Romans would scoff at that
@@RedMatthew and they'd be idiots.
A history documentary series on TH-cam presented by Lindybeige, with Matt Easton, Shad, Skall and Metatron... that would epic!
falcons1988 yessss do that
I wish that could happen 😔😞😞😞 but hey!! I can always dream
This was actually an extremely good video, very informative and fun. When i first saw its 30min duration i thought that i won't watch untill the end. But when the video was finished i was shocked because i was so interested that i did'nt know how much time has passed.
Thank you for this awesome collaboration.
Japanese machicolations are amazing btw, wow the way the geometry just flows with the walls is absolutely gorgeous! The architects who designed these things are amazing, I can't even imagine where to start on a project like that. I've built a ton of realistic castle recreations but I have never ever been able to come close to how creative and resourceful these people must have been. I mean imagine the terrain they had to deal with for some of these projects. Just the coordination of the labor force astounds me, I know a lot of castle had issues and weren't perfect. But, so many were so elegant and lined up perfectly, so much thought and intent was put into them. I have to wonder if castles were constantly under renovation to include the latest and greatest idea's. There's no way someone could have come to a plot of land and in a few years time come out with a beautifully designed private fortification like some of what we've seen in this video. And with that it must have been an amazing site when the newest trend was introduced to your local castle!
I recently watched the Medici's or something like that and they designed and built the first cathedral with a massive dome roof. It was the first of it's kind and I think of just how at awe the local populace and those on pilgrimage must have felt when entering such an amazing structure!
Show a nuke intro
Shad: Let talk about feudal japenese castle
*Oof.* Didn't even think about that.
I've built many castles over the years and even though the advantages of stone and wood are quite impressive, I still prefer lego. xD
Lego offers the best protection against your walls being stepped on by pesky giants.
But does it have MACHICIOLATIONS?
And what about dragons?😋
@Kyle Muncal I like how you act like legos are cheap
but wood and stone would probably still be cheaper
I still prefer minecraft
But can these castles withstand a knight that can launch a 0.9 kg pommel at a distance of 3m?
If the pommel weights almost 1kg, I don't wanna see the sword it belongs to...
(probably 3m long, 5cm thick and wielded by an anime girl)
Imagine it like the holy hand grenade of Antioch where the orb is the pommel and the small cross is the blade and guard.
In fact the holy hand grenade probably is just a pommel.
nothing can survive the pommel
Never
Shadiversity, Skallagrim, and Metatron should form a For Honor team. Shadiversity would play as a knight, Metatron would play as a samurai or centurion, and Skallagrim would play as a viking. That would be so cool
This has to happen after this Coronavirus stuff happens!!
Me: sees headphone users beware.
Me: puts Down volume.
Nuke: explodes.
Me: it’s safe now, raises volume
Shad: DESTRUCTIOOOOON!!!!!
Me: dies
Shad, as a Japanologist myself, I found your Japanese pronunciation of Sekigahara surprisingly accurate! I'm not sure whether 'the' Metatron had a hand in that, but it's just impressive!
He ended that chair rightly
Yes. Skallagrims channel is awesome
Darn, you beat me to the punch... by a year... : P
Wait, was the Holy Hand-Grenade actually a pommel of mass destruction?
Of Antioch
Terraria?
Who knows?!?!?!?
Quin illud sit.
@@wakopako2803 Monty python
Metatron had trouble unleashing his inner MACHICOLATION! He is still young in the ways but he will learn
Mondo Cool he doesn't know de wey. Shad will show him de wey
Speet on da fake machicolations brudda!!!
It's curious because you live in Australia, so you are closer to Japan, while he is probably closer to Europe, yet the subjects are reversed.
Australia was colonised by the British so people in Australia would probably have more knowledge of European history than Asian
@@josepharmstrong6502 Also, what does it matter if the distance of your subject is 4000km or 6000km away? Both are too far to make regular trips
It was just a possibility
I think Metatron is Italian (and lives in Italy), so he isn't closer so much as *in.*
@@brigidtheirish True by australian standards italy itself is a museum
I have wached several of your video and i think this collaboration is one of your best and most professionally done. thank you for sharing this i loved it and have watched it 4 times already
Thought this was a Metatron video based on the title, then I saw Shad do a Skallagrim meme. So confused! :P
(Also, Skall needs to get that shirt!)
i think skall is beyond tired of that meme.
He will never live that down
Miner Moleman It’s our only historical meme (other than Sargent Gunny from those ENTIRELY scientific videos), we must cherish it
Actually, skall likes it, he just thinks it's overdone. That being said, we do need more MACHICOLATIONS... I mean... history memes.
...But what about dragons?
shad all your Medieval youtubers should all make a video together with every one like skall linybeige scholagladiatoria metatron and all the rest
What's this? A TH-cam crusade?
They can all join up and march down to Jerusalem together!
A debate about pommels
One issue: they're literally spread across the world.
Yes! They really should do this more.
Wow. This was a fantastic idea to do this in terms of a comparison. This taught me that there really is more than one valid way to build a castle, and it is super cool how the different contexts led to such a massive differences in castles. The comparison helped me contextualize and comprehend the Japanese castles so I could even understand how they worked with being so different, and helped me to learn more than I already did about European castles.
It was a great collaboration. I really enjoyed this.
0:00 Technically Skall was here too, through the meme
I still love that sequence with the pommel.
Yeah I'm just curious if he gives any of those proceeds to Skallagrim seeing as how that's his whole meme.
Meanwhile in a parallel universe, Shad is still unscrewing that pummel
You sure he aint using explosiv machicolations?
Seems to me it should have gone off on the third twist. It did for Rick Sanchez.
YEAH BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!! I love all the colabs I see. You with OSP, Metatron with Ian... All people I follow and love
Oh ye :)
Overly Sarcastic Productions? :D
rubén Galván wait, which Ian?
Troy Weatherford Ian Laspina from Knyght Errant
Altrunchen yes! Awesome channel
The castle shown at 14.32 looks a hell of a lot like Corfe Castle located in Dorset. I stumbled across this castle when on a Harley ride across southern England. It would have been an amazing structure in it's day. There is an amazing story attached to the history of this castle and a very courageous lady named Lady Mary Bankes.... It's always cool recognizing faces and places in your videos.....
Not being an expert, but having lived in Japan a while, I noticed that japanese Castles were destroyed very often, so Japanese regard a castle that is 200 years old as VERY old. And from what I heard, they mostly were destroyed by fire, not earthquakes. Usually they rebuilt the same castle over and over, but the actual structures never survived that long. So the theory, wooden japanese castles were protected well by coating seems kinda not backed by data.
The Shadatron is one of my new favorite youtubers!
Hahahahahaha dude, thats sounds like the nickmame of some pornstar. Loved it.
But what about dragons?
Iroden Sharnn
MOTHER FUCKING DRAGONS!
put siege weapons on towers
But what about the droids attack on the Wookies ?
Western or Eastern dragons?
That's what all the sushi was for!
I've learned so much from you guys on TH-cam, particularly you, Shad. Before I discovered your channel, I had very little interest in European castles, but they're like... Astoundingly interesting to me now.
Your videos are very educational, and I really can't express how awesome it is to be able to learn this stuff without having to read a bunch of articles (I have a very short attention span when it comes to reading stuff).
I really wish schools would teach this kind of stuff (and in an entertaining way instead of your typical robotic and boring way). I have learned so little from going to school, and so much from just doing my own research, especially on TH-cam.
You guys, the creators, are awesome. Thank you so much!
Thanks so mach mate, comments like this makes it all worthwhile ^_^
It's great to see two prolific youtubers like shad and metatron working together without envy!
Also, you picked so many great pictures, I could spend hours just watching those beautiful castles!
Luckily I do live in germany where we have plenty of them, albeit many of them are detoriating. It consumes so much money to maintain them.
What a brilliant vid. I love the level of detail, and the dedication to things like animations. Well done to both of you.
Wow... This channel just keeps getting better and better! Thanks for the amazing class and keep up with the good work Machiculation Lord.
kk eae Julio?
Eta diacho, me acharam. rs.
Tá pesquisando para o projeto minha casa minha vida é?
Sempre. rs. =)
That intro was golden
WHAT ABOUT THE
CANNONS!!!!!
Well, if you want to ' Drag Gonnes' about the place, that is up to you ;)
I think Metatron could have gone into much more detail on just how much of Japanese castle design was centered around preventing fires. For instance, walls and towers were designed in order to contain any one part that might catch fire, killing the flame rather than letting it take the rest of the structure. There's also the decorations used on castles meant to give supernatural protection primarily against, you guessed it, fire. Not that they realistically helped so much as to emphasize just how much of a serious threat fire was considered by the designers.
Additionally, castle structures in Japan were centered around a pair of pillars set upright within the structure. When an earthquake would hit, it would tilt like an inverted pendulum but return ultimately to its upright position. The wood used to construct the rest of the castle would be able to lean and reset for exactly this event, which could happen daily.
I saw a documentary on China's Forbidden City, and similar techniques were used for these woodmen palaces as for Japanese wooden castles, and for the same reason. They did a shaker test, and the amount of energy the wooden structures could absorb was uncanny.
Holy shit. Bless both shad and metatron for this amazing video. THAHKS GUYS!!
Metatron + Shad. Two amazing historical weapons and armor youtubers, together in one video. I also love that Metatron brought up the Machicolations, probably one of the best parts of any castle. Very will done to both men in this.
I seriously underestimated Japanese castles. But I'm sure we can all agree that castles, of all types, are awesome!
1:33 "Hello Shad and everyone" .. feels bad man, are we not Noble Ones just because we are watching you on a different channel?!
Haha but seriously, more collabs like this please, you two are equally my favorite youtube content creators and it's fantastic hearing from you both on the same topic in the same video!
I think "Sekigahara" is actually the best pronunciation I've heard of a Japanese word coming from Shad. :P (Actually, I think it sounded fine.)
That was a pretty badass collaboration. Like other people are saying, it's awesome to see two great scholars work together to teach and entertain an interested and curious population. I look forward to seeing more great videos from both Shad and Metatron in the future!
YES! I've been wanting this video for AGES!! Here's to the next...
*C O L A B O R R R A A A T T I I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O N N N N N N N N N N S S S S S S S ! ! ! ! !*
This was a thoroughly enjoyable (and educational) collaboration. Would that make it "Shadatron" or "Metaversity"? It does not matter. I hope more are planned for the future!
"Size does matter! There is such thing as too big!"
-Shad, 2018
How about the size of a planet?
@@nullpoint3346 a bigger planet is always better
@@some_shitposting_idiot3023
Not really, too big and it's a star.
@@nullpoint3346 wow you're stupid. Planets don't become stars
@@some_shitposting_idiot3023
A gas giant is a planet and they can become stars, and iron stars can exist, eventually.
DAMMIT SKALGRIM!!!
That pre intro is pure gold, good job Shad! :D
Italian guy talks about Japanese castles and the Australian guy talks about European castles. Thank you internet.
Dear Shad, dear Metatron,
Thank you for an absolutely excellent and incredibly informative video!
Just one little comment from my part: I come from the Southern German cultural sphere, and have visited Hochosterwitz before (fantastic place, by the way). I wanted to point out that the correct pronunciation for Hochosterwitz would be "Hawkh-Awster-vits", with "aw" as in "hawk" and "kh" as in Scottish "Loch". The stress is on the "aw" in "Awster".
I know that Shad always apologises for butchering pronunciation - a humility which I greatly admire - however, perhaps he might like to know the correct pronunciation and try it ;-)
Thanks as always guys - you're doing a great job!
Greetings from Freiburg, Germany,
Ufthak
Loved this video, thanks gents
Whenever I see "Headphone users beware" I turn up the volume.
Captain Cookie at least I know now that I'm not the only crazy one
Captain Cookie I'm sorry what did you say I can't hear you
Captain Cookie enjoy tinnitus
"I'm gonna butcher the pronunciation..." --> Best pronunciation of Japanese on TH-cam by someone who doesn't speak it. Seriously, that wasn't bad.
Guys you two should collaborate more often, because this is one heck of a video!!! Keep up the great work!
Nice collab video this is very fascinating
Shad Fact: Shad held a "Giants With Slings" charity event over the weekend, to raise funds to help restore a castle, due to a clerical error a cyclops was allowed in. All funds raised during the event have gone to repairing damages, and shad is out 10 dollars.
?
HOLY SHIT THEY DID A COLLABORATION! DIVINE DREAM COME TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A fantastically presented video, you both did such a good job. The primary reason for such a different approach (earthquakes) puts everything into context. They were different because they HAD to be. Love your work fellas.
There are 2 thinks I love to see in my travels: 1st is Nature 2d castles. Most of people when they visit Europe they go to big cities, for exemple in France you would visit Paris. I Highly suggest you if you visit France to go visit Carcassonne, Castelnaud, Foix or Saint Michel (even if it is not really a castle).
"Perfectly positioned large hills are not always where you want them." - Would they really be perfectly positioned then?
nikolai60 LMFAO
nikolai60 two different meanings of well positioned
Want = need.
A hill with a 60 degree incline with no neighboring hills of comparable size is almost worthless if the nearest population center with a population higher than 2,000 is a fortnight ride for a single lightly encumbered rider.
Speaking of Krak des Chevaliers, it also has the inner walls that are supported by a steeply sloping glacis (like japanese castles) which provided additional protection against both siege weapons and earthquakes because earthquake damaged the castle in 1170. so knights hospitallers built walls in such a way to prevent further damage from future earthquakes
Top 10 anime tag teams
This was awesome!!! So glad you both did a video together! =)
It is a delight to see you both on this vidéo
Two of my favorite youtubes in one video... this is too awesome.
secrecy274 I felt the same way
an italian and an australian... what could go wrong?
Dvdshaman
Hahahaha...
I don't get it.
I don't know? A wine-making contest? The joke seems to have gone over my head, although a Google search did reveals some interesting facts about Italian Australians via Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Australians
He’s saying that they will be intimate, one of the largest ethnic groups in Australia are Italian Australians
Both nationalities have a reputation for being impulsive and hedonistic. Those stereotypes don't seem to apply very well to these individuals however.
This was a very informative and entertaining video. Glad you guys collabed!
"...Earthquakes..." Thanks for cracking that for me, mate!
Thanks guys - Shad and Metatron for doing this one together, really interesting.
Great video Shad and Metatron! Great job yelling, "MACHICOLATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
By the way, interestingly, the problem that you (Shad) mention at 26:07 was mentioned in the season 2 finale of Game of Thrones, during the siege of King's Landing. One of the defenders mentions that, with them being busy defending the castle from the harbour side, there's too few people left at the front gate. I remember hearing that and hoping the writers, since they mentioned it, would actually use it in the plot; likely by having Stannis send some of his men to the front gate. Sadly, they didn't, and I remember that it being said, but not used, was one reason I was disappointed by how the 'siege' was done in the show.
Well, in Hollywood they concentrate more on the storming of the castle, than the 'boring' parts of seige.
Well, I might know a way to cheer you up. Did you watch the 4th season yet? If not: don't read on, there's spoilers ahead.
The Wall is pretty damn big and in season 1, we heard the Nightwatch complaining about not having enough manpower to keep an eye on the whole damn thing. While Jon was with the wildling - party, they asked him why the land wasn't farmed -> he responded because of the raiders, coming over the wall. Obviously there's a lot of places where Wildlings can climb for several hours and make it over the wall without being noticed. And finally: while Manke Rayder for some reason didn't do it in the first place, after his test - assault on the Wall, when Jon came out to negotiate, he told him that he had already sent a group of warriors to another, unguarded part of the wall, to climb over.
Thanks. But I'm actually currently writing a fantasy war novel series that I hope does a detailed and authentic, yet interesting approach to siege warfare.
By the way, the final siege in my first book happens in a castle reminiscent of Edinburgh Castle, and there is a drawbridge over a sheer drop, as the castle is on a hill. Do you have any idea how might the attackers try to overcome the problems presented by a drawbridge if, instead of a moat, it's just a sheer fall?
A draw bridge is a very big problem. Hm. You say "fall" do you mean by that that it's a cliff or something, so filling it up is not an option?
Well I have an idea, but it only works if there is a good portion of ground in front of the drawbridge: building another drawbridge - on wheels. Maybe with a few spikes at the end to ancor it in the ground. Of course pushing something heavy, like a ram or a siege tower across it wouldn't exactly be an option, but infantry with good old ladders could get across. Then there is the stylish, yet hard to build and operate ballista from the TESO-trailer and the second LOTR-movie. You know: the one that shoots barbed projectiles with ropes attached to them, on which ladders or make-shift bridges can be brought to the walls. ... would however not be my first pick.
If everything else fails: good old starving out or smuggling agents inside always works ( more or less).
Yeah; I mean a cliff. So filling it up is not an option. The castle itself also has enough supplies for the heroes defending the castle to last weeks; maybe even months, and the attackers, being in hostile territory, don't feel they have that long to take the castle. So starving out is not an option.
I like your second drawbridge idea, but, as you said, that only works if there is a good portion of ground in front of the first drawbridge, and why would there ever be any, especially if the castle is on a hill?
I read somewhere that a number of drawbridges used ropes rather than chains. Would it be possible for the attackers to try and sever the ropes; perhaps using arrows or ballista bolts?
That ballistae idea you mentioned is kind of interesting. I had a similar one where the ballista bolts pierce the drawbridge, and the attackers then try to pull on the drawbridge with a team of horses and/or people to overcome any counterweight and pull down the bridge. Is that feasible?
Placing a building against the outer wall also make building it more cost effective as you only need to build 3 walls not 4
Also, by only needing to be built using three walls instead of four, you actually get maximum volume for a given amount of wall by having the length be twice as much as the width, so you have more room between the buildings hugging the wall, and the center of the bailey, which is especially good if the keep is in the center of the bailey.
But that also means that you only need to knock down three walls instead of four. Why waste all those men assaulting the castle through a narrow gauntlet of death when you can chuck rocks at them with a trebuchet from a thousand feet away?
Awesome video Shad and Metatron! You filled in a ton of great details on castles for me.
One detail you didn't answer though is which is stronger...
MATRICULATIONS!!!!! or Pomel's of Mass Destruction?
Regarding earthquakes I beg to differ. Castles in southern Italy and Sicily are made of stone since antiquity. And those are very active parts of the earth with subduction zones like Japan. But wood is rare whereas easily workable stone (lime- and sandstone) is abundant which is not the case in Japan.
This is a perfect example of how collaboration videos should be done.
ITS SHAD AND METATRON!!!! Happy day
As someone who had a character in a Tabletop RPG with a sword that had a rocket launcher in the pommel...I need that shirt
Incredible video Shad and Metatron.
Hope to see more colaborations like this on the future, and why not: calling other amazing content creators to discuss other topics and compare information too!
That's awesome you guys collaborated, I watched metatrons channel before I came across yours
Not saying I replaced him though lol
GREAT JOB guys! One of the best videos either of you have ever done!
I visited both type of castle, and I must admit that I've been more impress that I thought i would by Japanese castle. The ingeniosity and quality of wood workers was incredible. Plus those "woods" wall were much more that just wood in the end.
Himeji Castle did survive a lot of earthquakes and is still standing strong to this day.
you'd be surprise how earth quake proof those old Japanese castles
Yeah, I've seen video of how the structure handle it while I was visiting the Castle in Kanazawa! Pretty interesting.
You can go a long ways making your structure narrower at the top than the bottom as well. Japanese castles, I've noticed, never have vertical foundations, but are ALWAYS slanted. The base of the foundation props the top up from the side as well as from under. Too steep to easily climb, but not so vertical as to become unstable in an earthquake or heavy rainfall.
in California building are constructed for earth quakes. they would not be allowed in Florida because of the hurricanes. different building codes for different areas. Europeans had more destructive war weapons because they were located in the same land mass. Japan is isolated and enemies would have to launch a maritime attack verses Europe where land attacks are the norm. no competition.
@@nunyabizwack343 I don't think they had building codes back then.
Hollyshit, I never imagine I lived to see this day.
Sometimes i feel like a child listening stories when watching your videos and it makes me so happy, you guys are awesome! Like castles!
HOARDINGS!
I was just discussing the functions of these the other day with someone, and we couldn't the the life of us figure out what they were called until now.
Excellent video, Thank you!
Pretty awesome to see you guys collaborating! MOAR!
1: You actually didn't butcher the pronunciation, nice job
2: Metatron just kinda jumped into the writing on the whiteboard so for anyone unfamiliar with japanese who was wondering, the stuff he adds underneath the characters are a pronunciation guide, not part of the character. 城 and 山城 are how they're written, しろ and やまじろ are how they are pronounced. (this is how japanese teachers write in beginner classes and how children's books are written)
Shad, Metatron thanks both of you for such informative and awesome video!
Hope to see more collab between you and other HEMA channels in future.
Now I'm off to watch Metatron video!
P.S: Shad you should try game Stronghold HD, I think it's one of better castle building sims that was ever made, you'll love it.
What if you had a concentric concentric castle ie a castle within a castle within a castle
CASTLECEPTION
Isnt that like Mina Tirith in Lord of the rings?
Minas Tirith is a city not a castle
It started as a castle and later became a city after the "throne" was moved from Osgiliath. I know my lore. It was a western border tower just like Minas Morgul was before it was captured by Saurons followers.
Good point although it would have been expanded to become a city hence the addition of levels.
And well, the movies didn't do it justice. There were whole regions between fortified circles, like fields and such. But I'll give it that at least it had the "cool" factor in the movies.
Shad, after seeing your "pommel of mass destruction ad" a few times, I decided you need a "machicolatioooooonsss!" Shirt.....I would definately buy it
Excellent collaboration. One of the best I've seen. Great work!
Excellent! Exquisite production! Congratulations to both of you.
presenting the pomel of mass DESTRUCTIOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!
So the real question though, How would a European Medieval Military fair vs a Japanese castle and visa versa?
I am not aware of the Japanese utilizing very much in the way of seige weaponry so I am curious if these castles could stand up to European Siege Warfare if need be, and if the a Japanese military would be capable of penetrating a European castle.
From what it seems, the Japanese castles are marvels of carpentry and engineering and very well designed to handle foot soldiers, where as the European Castle seems more designd to handle heavy bombardment and stand up to seiges, but appear less capable SHOULD the enemy actually mamage to breach the wall.
*TL;DR, it's really hard to guess, due to strategic and construction differences. The Osaka Campaigns are pretty much as close as it gets to a European army vs a Japanese castle, so I'd recommend reading about them and specifically about the Sanada Maru*
The Japanese would probably starve the Europeans out, for the most part - a strategy that worked, most notably, on Ishiyama Hongan-ji (which was trapped by an artificial flood), Odawara (which was thought to be impenetrable), and Tottori (which took such a toll on the defenders that, when the siege was lifted and they were offered food, some died from overeating). Once out of the castle, it just depends on the fighters themselves, so it's hard to tell.
I can't really guess how Europeans would siege a Japanese castle; they might adopt a similar approach, but they'd definitely have to storm some, since starvation allows attackers to avoid combat. I don't think they'd ever really need siege weapons, except against castles like Odawara, since the castles are made to act like battlefields that give the defenders an advantage. Stuff like siege towers and battering rams aren't really necessary against Japanese castles, since a gate that's forced open is easier to fix than a gate that's broken open.
There's still cannons and catapults to consider, but those are my best guesses at both. It's hard to guess, because you're talking about people attacking castles that are so different to the ones they historically attacked.
By the time of sengoku period Europe had MASSIVE siege weapons that would destroy any fortification from far away...
If we are talking about early period then we should really compare with the old types of japanese castles, which were not that intricate.
Remember the crusades, a lot of wars going on, lot of sieges, europe is a whole continent, and actually, Eurasia is a whole continent, and pretty much you should add north africa to that context as europe was in perpetual warfare with the norht african peoples since the dawn of history, japan was an isolated archpelago with a fraction of the people and cultural diversity of eurasia, it is really not fair to compare both.
By the way, the portuguese were on japan during sengoku, they thought the country was a mess, it was not worth the trouble, but on their estimations they could conquer it in a few months, but of course they were much more interested in India back then.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botafogo_(galleon)
See, this was the type of weapon the japanese would have to deal.
I should say my friend, they wouldn't stand a chance.
No, bombards will destroy everything, walls and earthen backing, nothing would stand.
Research about renaissance bombards, they would sometimes shoot projectiles weighting a ton.
And cannons would also be used as antipersonel weapons, add to that europeans assault troops wearing armour able to resist both japanese arrows AND their archbuss (which was copied from the portuguese), they would be screwed.
"The earthen "backing" here FILLS OUT THE ENTIRE AREA BEHIND THE WALL. It's less of a wall, and more of a fucking HILL with a facade made of stone. Only the uppermost "battlements" actually extend above what is ground level for the defenders. The kind of firepower to "destroy everything" when faced with that is something that did not exist until WWI, and even then it required a massive effort."
They made an experiment some years ago to see if a roman ariete could break through a earth filled stone wall, first hit and it stood, second hit and it crumbled, the heavy hit shaked the strutcture and made it loose. The same would happen, the difference is a bombard is like 100x stronger than an ariete, like I said, a normal cannon would fire one pound ammo, a heavy cannon would fire 20 pounds ammo, a bombard would fire fucking 100kg, 200kgs, 300kgs, 400kgs, 1.000 kgs of ammo.
You're thinking a stone wall filled with dirt can be compared to WW1 iron inlaid concrete bunkers, they're not.
There was a reason late renaisssance forts were star like with angles on the walls, and earth filled, it was because the angle would divert some of the power behind the bombard, and even then they would never stand forever against bombardment.
Moreover, bombards would shoot upwards on a balistic trajectory and would fall from fucking above over their targets, your walls would be useless.
"Trying to use cannon for antipersonnel in this case would also be ineffective because you're trying to shoot at people that are practically sitting on a hilltop above you, behind concealment and limited cover afforded by the wall portions extending above ground, as well as the slope of the "hill" itself. You won't even see the defenders most of the time, let alone have a useable line of fire."
Wrong, they have to appear to shoot, and then grapeshot would wreak havoc on the defenders, heavy cannons would also break the defenses over time. There is a reason why cannons changed warfare forever, and a reason why this type of castle was already obsolete by then.
"And no, dipshit, "
You're like 5 or something?
"anyone have any armor able to resist arquebus fire - even heavy napoleonic-era cuirass and helmet combinations (which were far too heavy to cover more than chest and head, leaving the rest of the body virtually unprotected) were only good against pistols and LONG-RANGE fire from longarms. Short-range fire from arquebus or musket busted right through."
Wrong again.
1st, most of the ammo on the 16th, 17th century was made of stone, so you have far less penetration than with lead.
2nd, there is a reson they made the musket, it was because armour was really chalenging the penetration power of the archbuss. Yes, archbuss at close range would breach armour, but we're talking something less than 30 yards, then you would have one pretty inacurate smoothbore shot and that's it, the full plated guy would be all over you.
In the napoleonic era firearms had developed a lot, well, in europe, japan had stopped in time by then. It was enough for Admiral Perry to fire a few shots on the Nagazaki bay and your beloved samurai era was over, because they knew they could never withstand that level of artillery.
In the 16th century muslims and indians were much more fitted to fight europeans than the japanese, and we all know what happened with them.
really enjoyed this vid, seeing Metatron in action, and the differences between the two styles, i hadn't even thought about earthquakes for example! Thoroughly entertaining. Thanks to both.
Thanks for your channel, very intelligent compare to all movies and especially video games that messed so many minds