Chapter I

., the plan of the motte-and-bailey castle strongly suggests that there may be a connection between its adoption and the use of mercenaries. For the plan of this kind of castle seems to hint that the owner does not only mistrust his enemies, he also does not completely trust his garrison. The keep in which he and his family live is placed on the top of the motte, which is ditched round so as to separate it from the bailey; the provisions on which all are dependent are stored in the cellar of the keep, so that they are under his own hand; and the keys of the outer ward are brought to him every night, and placed under his pillow.[188]

But unfortunately for this theory, there is some evidence of the raising of mottes at an earlier period in the 10th century than the accession of Fulk Nerra. Thibault-le-Tricheur, who was Count of Blois and Chartres from 932 to 962, was also a great builder, and it is recorded of him that he built the keeps of Chartres, Chateaudun,[189] Blois, and Chinon,[190] and the castle of Saumur; these must have been finished before 962. Now there was anciently a motte at Blois, for in the 12th century, Fulk V. of Anjou burnt the whole fortress, "_except the house on the motte_."[191] There was also a motte at Saumur;[192] and the plan of the castle of Chinon is not inconsistent with the existence of a former motte.[193] These instances seem to put back the existence of the motte castle to the middle of the 10th century.

We know of no earlier claim than this, unless we were to accept the statement of Lambert of Ardres that Sigfrid the Dane, who occupied the county of Guisnes about the year 928, fortified the town, and enclosed his own _dunio_ with a double ditch.[194] If this were true, we have a clear instance of a motte built in the first half of the 10th century. But Lambert's work was written at the end of the 12th century, with the object of glorifying the counts of Guisnes, and its editor regards the early part of it as fabulous. That Sigfrid fortified the _town_ of Guisnes we can easily believe, as we know the Danes commonly did the like (see