Is it true that in the Middle Ages, the screw stairs were twisted clockwise for the convenience of the defenders?

According to common opinion, the orientation of the screw stairs in medieval castles was selected so as to give the residents of the castle the advantage of defense. We checked how reasonable this statement is.

This is how the essence of this concept is described in one of the publications on the topic of medieval castles in the journal "The world of science fiction": “In all castles, stairs are twisted clockwise. There is only one castle with a reverse twist - the fortress of the graphs of Wallenstein. When studying the history of this kind, it was found that most men in it were left -handed. Thanks to this, historians realized that such a design of stairs greatly facilitates the work of defenders. The most powerful blow to the sword can be delivered towards your left shoulder, and the shield in the left hand best covers the body from this direction. All these advantages have only the defender. The attacker can only strike to the right side, but his shock hand will be pressed against the wall. If he puts forward a shield, he will almost lose the opportunity to act with a weapon. ”

This rather logical argument is also given by the candidate of historical sciences Vasily Bulankov in publications "Arguments and Facts." Write about him and in a number of construction sites, and c fiction, and c collections of factsand in the authoritative American online magazine Mental Floss. About the idea of ​​medieval architects love to tell guides and Television journals.

To begin with, we note that the screw stairs are not at all a product of the Middle Ages, as it might seem when reading cognitive articles. Even in the Old Testament when describing the Temple of Solomon mentioned “Round stairs”, along which people climbed the middle tier. The remains of the screw staircase discovered And among the ruins of another sanctuary - in Sicilian Selinunta. One of the oldest surviving screw stairs Allows From the inside, climb the column of Trajan (113 years old e.). In general, the ideas of Roman architects are considered the prototype of screw stairs in medieval castles so popular in historical cinema.

However, upon closer examination of the issue, several problems arise at once.

Firstly, and this is important-not a single source that speaks of such a calculation of medieval architects reached us: no documents, ordinary manuscripts, or at least graffiti. In other words, this statement can already be nothing more than a hypothesis, a guess based on naked statistics.

Secondly, contrary to the stories of guides, stairs in medieval castles do not always go up the clock. For example, about ten years ago, specialists of the British group of castles have published study, which showed that in England and Wales there are at least 85 castles, stairs in which are oriented in the opposite way. The construction time of these castles is 1070-1500, that is, the period when the capture of the castle was commonplace, and architects planned their creations very rationally. Similar results were brought by another study, from which, coupled with the previous one, it follows that the share of such castles is quite sensitive 30%. Moreover, judging by the dates of the appearance of structures, the further, the more this share was more noticeable. This also gives rise to serious doubts about the veracity of the city legend. After all, the staircase, oriented counterclockwise, does not just neutralize the advantage of the average defender of the castle - it, according to the same logic, makes his position losing. In addition, the battle with swords on the stairs generally means that the legs of the defenders are not protected from the swords of the attackers. Forwards can attack the open legs of the defenders with a raised shield. Therefore, the very thought of such battles and some serious hope of them does not look very thoughtful.

The additional problem is that most medieval stairs are extremely cool and narrow. The steps of such stairs have such an insignificant area that it is extremely inconvenient to stand on them and wave a sword (in any direction). Not to mention the fact that the sword will touch the walls. If a heavy sword nevertheless sinks down, towards the attacker, then in some cases, by inertia, he will pull the defender. A lighter sword, in turn, involves a sharp throw forward, which entails the same problem.

And finally, if the enemy has already entered the castle, then this is equivalent to the fact that the lock is taken. The basis of the reliability of the castle is its walls (or even the fortress wall around the building), a deep moat, but not one -on -one fight with an enemy, obviously having supplies from the outside. Moreover, studies conducted in the 1970-1990s, Showedthat medieval castles were primarily by decorative structures that emphasized the status of their owner, luxurious residences, and only then fortifications.

Interestingly, the so -called theory of the fencer, as the concept we consider often called, interested the researchers back in the 19th century. Even then, a military engineer and architect Eugene Violle-le-Duk in his lengthy work I came to the conclusion that the screw stairs in the castles were "only a means of achieving the upper floors of the dwelling." Nevertheless, this legend not only did not disappear, but also continues to exist, in which modern Researchers They see the “guilt” of the British art critic, writer and great fencing fencing, Theodore Andrea Kuk, who at the beginning of the 20th century painted in detail all the now popular details of legends in his works.

Most likely not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Mediaeval Mythbusting Blog #3: The Man Who Invented The Spiral Staircase Myth
2. No, Medieval Staircases Weren’t Designed to Give Right-Handed Defenders an Advantage