Literally all of these misconceptions were told to us by our last guide visiting a castle here in germany (Rheinland Pfalz) lmao. And i thought so many times, that it didnt make sense .

@ashesvictor

Ай бұрын

Was that Burg Eltz by any chance? I will be visiting it soon xD

@TheRezro

Ай бұрын

From my experience building things in Minecraft. I prefer stairs being on left from entrance. After all you do not want instinctively fall from stairs going there in the night. But at the same time, there was literally no problem to put them other way around, to keep symmetry in specific places. So yes. 3/4 seams to be the usual ratio.

@KarnivorActual

Ай бұрын

@@jackjosh1981 Sounds like you just hover around trying to get his attention. 🫡

@sirgaz8699

Ай бұрын

Yeh, I knew about the spiral staircase thing from a little plaque in a castle.

@darthplagueis13

Ай бұрын

Last Summer I visited a bunch of castles in the Eifel region, and in one of the guided tours we had the tour guide spout all that nonsense whereas in the next castle we had a different tour guide debunk it all.

I suspect that, especially in banquet halls, the wall tapestries would help with the noise level. Imagine having all the people of a banquet, party, or other gathering in a giant stone room with hard stone or plaster wall surface. Vast amounts of sound reflection and echo, raising the noise floor and forcing people to then speak even louder to be heard. (Like the noise level in a modern restaurant with an 'industrial' theme' of bare brick walls and exposed beam ceiling) The fabrics of wall tapestries would absorb some of that reflected noise, break that feedback loops, and make for a quieter more enjoyable environment (in addition to looking great)

@DIREWOLFx75

Ай бұрын

"I suspect that, especially in banquet halls, the wall tapestries would help with the noise level." Yup. I have lots of small wallhanging textile stuff myself and part of why is because they dampen sound and noise far better than most other things. My hangings cover maybe 10% of the walls in total and it's still very noticeable. So if you go big on it, it will absolutely make a difference. "The fabrics of wall tapestries would absorb some of that reflected noise" Yeah. You can even buy special textile hangings nowadays that are specifically made to dampen noise while looking nice. Generally they're either multilayered textile, or they're textile on top of some other material(anything from rubber to foam to what's essentially pillows filled with feathers), and while many of them wouldn't be available in medieval times, some would. I'd break the bank account if i wanted to put up a full set of those though, even if just in my apartment. And textiles were EXPENSIVE in medieval times, so yeah, the pretty stuff was for the rich. Though i've read that it was not rare for people with less money to use textiles too worn out to be used for clothes or such, sew together enough of them in a collage and it became a decent improvised tapestry, improving both looks and reducing draft.

@jeanlannes4396

Ай бұрын

You can even hear the difference in echo between the dressed stone room and the fully decorated room with wall hangings.

@TwoLeftThumbs

Ай бұрын

I don’t think using Castell Coch as an example is a good idea. It was basically built as a folly and a romanticised version of a medieval castle. cadw.gov.wales/more-about-castell-coch

@joletapetty6706

Ай бұрын

There was definitely a district difference in the room with all the drapery, Shad's voice wasn't echoing nearly so much.

@seriousmaran9414

Ай бұрын

Far more tapestries are a layer of insulation. Every little helps when you are trying to keep some place warm. There are multiple reasons to have them. Do not assume they were as expensive back then, they would be made when people had nothing important to do.

I don’t know why but Shadiversity talking about Castles is my favorite content from him. Nothing insane, just him and some Stone Walls and Houses

@maxpowers9129

Ай бұрын

I love his castle videos, but I also like when he talks about fantasy topics like what weapons a monster would use or when he discusses "bikini armor for science". 😂 Its just a joy listening to him talk about what he loves.

@Predator20357

Ай бұрын

@@maxpowers9129 It really does feel nice when you see someone genuinely enjoy the thing they talk about with clear interest in it.

@darcraven01

Ай бұрын

cuz castles are awesome?

@SneedenFeeden

Ай бұрын

I've been missing the sketchup content tbh

@stormgear896

Ай бұрын

Machicolations!

2:15 "The person at the lower level has the advantage in combat..." As if millions of Star Wars fans suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

@superme63

5 күн бұрын

The spiral staircase is one of the few rare circumstances where being higher up is not the most advantageous position. In almost every other circumstance, yes, having the high ground is preferrential, as it is generally easier to attack or advance from a higher position. Here is an excerpt from The Art Of War, by Sun Tzu (written around 500BC) -With regard to precipitous heights, if you are beforehand with your adversary, you should occupy the raised and sunny spots, and there you should wait for him to come up. -If the enemy has occupied them before you, do not follow him, but retreat and try to entice him away. -If you are situated at a great distance from the enemy, and the strength of the two armies is equal, it is not easy to provoke a battle, and fighting will be to your disadvantage.

@user-oo8oj1hl8k

3 күн бұрын

@@superme63 Generally high gound is most useful for armies, because when you're higher up you have better visibility, your archers have longer range than enemy archers, the enemy has to come uphill which makes them tired, and any push or charge is way stronger when performed downhill compared to having to do it uphill. One on One fighting the advantages aren't that great

@superme63

2 күн бұрын

@@user-oo8oj1hl8k the solo advantages aren't as pronounced, no, but they still just as applicable.

@DoverBlood86

23 минут бұрын

because the lower only has access to your mostly none vital areas and not your mostly vital areas and the higher has access to your mostly vital areas and not your mostly none vital areas the lower has the advantage....makes sense

Your enthusiasm is palpable. Thanks, again, for such in-depth visuals and commentary!

Wait, you're telling me that your usual video set isn't a real castle?

@WorldArchivist

Ай бұрын

​@@Undomaranel Pretty sure that was a joke.

@orionstarrthegreat2514

Ай бұрын

I'm shocked!

@Undomaranel

Ай бұрын

@@WorldArchivist Fine. Deleted so you can downvote this comment to oblivion then, because I'm clearly a humorless idiot and deserve to be yelled at for stupidity.

@DanielMWJ

Ай бұрын

I was disappointed to find out that it was just a facade and there was no shed back there! It could have been Shadshed Castle. Just think about it.

@heyspookyboogie644

Ай бұрын

Yet…

It is interesting how we feel that rough stone and unpainted furniture is "authentic". If we were to see a TV show or movie with authentic furniture that is painted, it would look wrong. It is bigger than just medieval timeframes. All of the bold white marble statues that we think of from Greek antiquity were painted with bold colors in a way that we would consider "garish" or "tacky" by todays standards. If a time period movie showed the statues painted... people would complain. And the Egyptian pyramids were covered with a fine layer of white limestone... they would be blazingly white, not the sandstone color we associate with them.

@thegyrfalcon65

Ай бұрын

As a Greek myself I was about to write this out too!

@maxkore278

Ай бұрын

nah ...the more i learn about the truth the more disillusioned i am by hollywood's illiteracy on basically everything, to the point i just assume its all alternate reality

@Nushnark

Ай бұрын

The one with the marble statues was something I was impressed by when I played Assassins Creed Odyssey. Think of the game what you want, but some of the armour in that game and the depiction of ancient greek was fairly well done. They may have gone overboard with the size of the god statues in the game, though.

@Heulerado

Ай бұрын

The thing with the marble statues I'm not sure how much we know about. I read somewhere that there's barely any surviving paint, so we can only make up the most general idea of what the finished statue would look like. Those "recreations" you see with the very basic, flat, uniform colors may be wildly inaccurate. It would make sense that they put as much care into the paint as they did into the carving. But since we can't really know, we have no idea about the specific style (This is me half-remembering something I read that made sense, some of it may be bs, someone else will have more specific knowledge)

@harbl99

Ай бұрын

​@@maxkore278 About the only thing that golden age Hollywood got right was colour on the costumes in the old Technicolor films. Medieval people _loved_ their vivid colours and bold patterns. John the Bowyer would look at Errol Flynn's _Robin Hood_ costume and think 'nice'.

Wall tapestries have another advantage - sound insulation, to cut down on echoes or sound carrying a distance within the castle..

@EyeMCreative

12 сағат бұрын

Ah, now that definitely makes sense for bedrooms... 😂

This is amazing content! So much historical knowledge but also useful to someone like me who has been playing RPGs since the late 70s. Thank you, Shad! I hope KZread fixes the algorithm and gets your vids promoted again! Well deserved.

I made my wife's dreams come true, and we were married in a castle. But you sure wouldn't have known it from the look on her face as we were bouncing around during the ceremony.

@pipsqueek89

Ай бұрын

i hope she didn't wear high heels as to not damage the architecture

@steemlenn8797

Ай бұрын

My cousin did that too. We only needed three ambulances after everyone had climed up and down the staircases.

@Pitchguest

Ай бұрын

Bouncy castle. I see what you did there. 😂

I hope you enjoyed your time here in the UK. It's easy to forget how much amazing history we have on our doorstep.

Loved this video a lot! Some of my favorite videos were just shad sitting and talking about a topic like history or castles and this is like that with bonus features.

On the uneven steps item. The college I went to had a very old General Ed building. There were two staircases, one was a service staircase sort of in the back and the other was the main staircase. The main staircase had marble treads. So many students had gone up and down the staircase over the 100+ years that the treads from first to second floor had prominent dips in them. While second to third weren't as noticeable and third to fourth were basically non-existent. Things get worn out when they get used. Even if the stairs were perfect when they were put in 700 years ago, they have had 700 years of deferred maintenance too.

@steemlenn8797

Ай бұрын

Imagine how sandstone looks like. Even after just 200 years there are several finger deep areas from all the feet.

@BrunodeSouzaLino

Ай бұрын

Even steel steps would have some sort of deformation after hundreds of years of being stepped on.

@TheDiner50

Ай бұрын

Yes. Dips from wear is one thing. What uneven steps are talked about here is that the hole slap of steps go from say 10.1cm high, 10.7cm high. 09.8cm high. And possibly and very likely is that at one end of a 2m wide staircase to be 10cm exactly, but on the other end 10.2cm, or heck 10.5cm! Okay. 10cm high steps are probably a bad example. What is the length of a rope? A staircase usually is what? 15cm? 17cm? Like believe me. If a staircase at a school or library whatever is randomly off by even a single cm in the middle of the staircase? And it is not worn but built badly? In modern times? Modern materials? Swears and curses. Some of the most cruel things you can do in construction is making a staircase with one step or a couple off by 1cm or more. We are simply not expecting things like that today.

@jayhill2193

Ай бұрын

it's not just steps. It was customary to touch the bottom part of some pillars in front of Saint Peters Basilica's entrance as you entered and over the many houndreds of years those were totally abrased too, it's now I think even not allowed to touch them anymore. I can easily see the same thing happen to walls in stairways and hallways that are common places to put your hand on for stability in walking.

@alexturnbackthearmy1907

Ай бұрын

@@TheDiner50 Yep. Main hospital in my city is exactly that. Like EVERY stair is a trip hazard, way too high, and every few steps are different, i though i would trip and die first week (they were also much longer then most other staircases by some damn reason).

"If we make the floors and stairs uneven, that will give us the advantage!" 😊 "Ow crap! They had uneven floors and stairs in their castles too?" 😳

@SerunaXI

Ай бұрын

And like, as stated, if they are that deep into the keep, all the major defensive measures have failed and it's just a steady stream left.

@RogaineForEwoks

Ай бұрын

How many times would you have to go up and down ALL the stairs and across all the floors to know them by "instinct" so that when you're running around with adrenaline going that you wouldn't trip? I went to one where the stairs lead to bedrooms, the noble family would not like troops of soldiers going up and down the stairs twenty times a day.

@jonh8790

Ай бұрын

Look up "witch's stairs" purposely built uneven, because witches can't walk up uneven stairs. Lmao.

@fredEVOIX

Ай бұрын

@@jonh8790 my birth town has a 1300-ish built "sorcerer's tower" (was used as a prison from the 1500s to 1800s which seems impossible in our era 300 years !) I would be curious to know it has uneven stairs lol but I doubt it as the name and prison use came much later it was a lookout tower initially oh well

@hellomate639

Ай бұрын

@@SerunaXI Lol. That and having a castle that allows you to be mobile inside the castle lets you adapt to changing conditions of a siege BEFORE the enemy gets inside, making them less likely to get inside in the first place.

I was very happy to receive this notification from youtube for Shadiversity, it's been a while since I've gotten one, this is my favorite type of content for the channel.

This was a treat! I was totally geeking out with you! Thank you for sharing ❤ subscribed 👍

Anybody else notice that YT is actually giving us recommendations to Shads vids? After his complaint video I have gotten more recommendations in the last 11 days than in the last 5 months.

@Undomaranel

Ай бұрын

There must be viewership/ subscriber tiers then. I got notifications but didn't watch if I wasn't interested.

@therabidbanshee824

Ай бұрын

I have notifications turned ON and haven't gotten a notification in months

@Joe_Pittard

Ай бұрын

I noticed that as well, I watched the video when it came out, because I checked his page, as it's the only way I could actually see his content, and then boom, recommended feed was practically half shad, older stuff included

@TGPDrunknHick

Ай бұрын

@@therabidbanshee824 I do get them. that said, I'm an Australian from the same general area. so I imagine regional recommendations are a thing.

@jeromethiel4323

Ай бұрын

Who needs recommendations. Subscribe and scroll down your list of subscribed channels. I only miss a video if i choose not to watch it.

CASTLE CONTENT!

@BrokenBallista

Ай бұрын

CASTLE CONTENT!!

@Sorrowdusk

Ай бұрын

😮 *THIS* is *WHY* people subscribe

@BF-I-II-V-V-III-VII

Ай бұрын

YEAH? BUT WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS!?

@darlenefraser3022

Ай бұрын

Yaaaaaaay!

@DanielMWJ

Ай бұрын

MACHICOLATIONS!

Love this video! It’s really cool to see the reality of medieval castles, and I hope Shad does more stuff in the field like this in the future

Great video Shad! My wife and I stumbled upon Tretower Court and Castle completely by accident once, on holiday. Fascinating place!

You missed a very salient point when talking about “garish” walls and furniture in a castle. It appears that in all the rooms you were in had electrical lights. So, yes, authentically painted, decorated furniture (etc) were all bright. Take those same rooms and illuminate them strictly with fire: candles, torches and the occasional oil lamp. Suddenly, the “garish” walls and furniture are muted in color, yet stand out. Polished furniture would blend into the gloom except for the immediate area of illumination. Good myth busting video. Cheers!

@TonyM540

Ай бұрын

Good point

@PSDuck216

Ай бұрын

@@TonyM540 Thank you. I’m a medieval historian and have toured several castles, and the Tower of London. Having fought in full plate for years, I try to envision what life was truly like for our ancestors. They were quite a hardy bunch! Cheers

@florian8599

Ай бұрын

Also, that room Shad was standing in and presenting is painted and decorated in 19th century historicist style.

@PSDuck216

28 күн бұрын

@@florian8599 Could have been remodeled during the Victorian Gothic Revival.

@MrMarinus18

23 күн бұрын

True. It reminds me of what many say about GBA games about how they are "oversatuarated" when you view them on a modern LED screen. However if you view them on the original with the double filter with no backlight you can see why they did it that way. The GBA had 8 bit color just like the SNES and there were tons of ports. They could have made the colors identical but doing that would have made them appear far too muted.

A lot of credit to Shad on the respect he shows these places. The amout of restraint to not touch everthing is almost superhuman.

@joletapetty6706

Ай бұрын

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to notice! I'm such a tactile person, I don't think I'd have the same restraint, especially in that dressed stone room 😍

@Skelldr

Ай бұрын

Are you by any chance an American? Asking for a friend

@TAKE_BACK_BRITAIN

Ай бұрын

Yeah he acts so respectfully at all these castles

@carloshenriquezimmer7543

Ай бұрын

At least in front of the cameras...

@rogerwilco2

Ай бұрын

In a lot of these places you are not allowed to touch things.

Wow. Cannot tell tou how many photos I have looked at and never noticed the wall tapestry hanging hooks. Great details, many thanks, Shad.

What a treat! Great video, thank you for high quality content, hope you'll receive on what you delivered!

I’m writing a fantasy novel and binging all of Shads videos to help me make things more realistic. ❤️

@EpicRandomness555

Ай бұрын

Mood

@uwesca6263

Ай бұрын

If you want examples of all sorts of armor, weapons, decorations, statues, paintings, mundane items and what not you can check out: SKD-Daphne and their online collection. Its the online database for basicly the complete Saxony (germany) historic treasure. You might need to use a translater since most of it is in german. But its great and filled with a ton of details (up to the exact materials and measurements of clothing).

@CelestialBurion-1145

Ай бұрын

I’m doing the same!😁

@morlath4767

Ай бұрын

Same.

@vojtechslezak4553

Ай бұрын

Same

Love seeing Shad geek out on just the smallest detail of metal hooks in walls.

@bragnir

23 күн бұрын

That detail's big due to where it is, though!

@james7844

22 күн бұрын

i was reading this and not 1 sec later he starts geek out about the metal hooks lol

@Hellsong89

20 күн бұрын

Well again pigments and metal were very valuable at the time, so metal hooks on the wall is something that they would not put on for any minor reason. After all you need to get the ore, smelt and purify it to be worked on, witch takes massive amount of work. Then the blacksmith needs to heat and mold it into shape required, while knowing how to prevent it from separating as the wrought iron was not that pure. They developed methods to somewhat industrialize the process to make far better quality proper steel, but even wrought iron was never really cheap.

@dranorter

8 күн бұрын

Those hooks are fantastic, it's amazing that they look just like the hooks in the paintings.

I love the historic information stuff, both that I can listen to and see. You're a fantastic narrator Shad.

Dude's claymore is so rad. I love how he attends all these medieval castles in full period clothing, and again, a frigging claymore at his hip

@chrisperyagh

29 күн бұрын

Including authentic period New Balance trainers.

@1nePercentJuice

29 күн бұрын

@@chrisperyagh 😂

At 20:32 Undressed stone walls.... If the stones are rough, undressed, it gives more area for the plaster to grab a hold of. Plaster would probably fall off a dress stone wall rather quickly....

@Armored_Muskrat

Ай бұрын

Yes, there has to be some "tooth" for it to grab onto.

This should be required viewing for anybody writing fantasy. Wish it had been around when I started writing.

This is definitely my favorite video of yours because you're precisely as excited as i would be. I love your enthusiasm!

Shad’s genuine love and excitement over castles is so endearing. So happy you got to experience this!

YAY, another castle video! Love these, castles and medieval stuff is why I subscribed to Shadiversity!

I worked as a security Guard at a castle for some time. There were a lot of paintings in the castle, like so so so many paintings. And when you look at them, you notice something. They were all dark in color. The reason was very simple. (btw when I say castle, it was more like a big home, it was a very late almost too late medi eval castle) The reason was that black color was expensive. The most expensive color you can have at the time. And that is the reason the paintings where so dark, it was to show "hey, I can afford black paintings, a lot of them too, look in awe about my wealth". So I totally get it when Shad says that people of the past wanted to show of what they had. They absolutely did.

@Netseer2000

Ай бұрын

The most expensive color was Tyrian purple. Red, black, and blue were among the expensive colors.

@Brinta3

Ай бұрын

@TerminusTartaros I don’t really believe that. I would think it was easy to make black paint; you just need charcoal. It is true though that black fabric was difficult and expensive to make. Some reasons medieval paintings are dark: (list stolen from Andrew Meyers on Quora) - There was an informal recipe for the use of colors that was passed down. There was a dictate that shadows should be brown etc. - There was a scarcity of different pigments, not yet developed, and many were fugitive with time. - Oil and varnishes darken with time - Dirt and soot accumulates on painting surfaces. They need cleaning. - Oil paints become somewhat transparent with time. This allows the darker underpainting to come through. Rembrandt’s The Night Watch is called that because it was long thought to depict a night scene, but it was just the thick layer of darkened varnish that made it so dark. It’s a day scene!

@TerminusTartaros

Ай бұрын

@@Brinta3 Ok interesting. Welp. What I said was what they told me at the castle. So I blame an inaccuracy on them.

@sarumano884

Ай бұрын

@@Brinta3 Lamp black or soot black I think was the preferred paint source. It came ready powdered and was purer than charcoal. You got it from the chimney.

@JHNoble

Ай бұрын

how old were these paintings? had any been restored in the last 20-40 years? look at some of the before & after pics of old restored paintings, and you can see the brilliant effect of removing hundreds of years of dust, smoke and grime. smoke from pre-electric lighting & heating was probably the biggest factor, I'm guessing.

This is the content I enjoy the most from you. It’s not too silly or gimmicky. Good information explained in an engaging and relaxed manner.

I haven’t seen your videos in my feed in a while. This was a great informative video. Great work!

I really like the "this is the actual historical authentic way things were" videos. Keep it up, my Friend!

Castle misconception #13: Not all castles come equipped with a Shad. There is only one Shad and he is located in Australia. However a Shad exchange programme could be set up so castles can temporarily have a Shad on site.

@sarumano884

Ай бұрын

*site

@Adiounys

Ай бұрын

What is Shad? Only some fish shows up in search result.

@GuusvanVelthoven

29 күн бұрын

@@Adiounys You will find your answer in the first 2 seconde of the video.

@Cymes

29 күн бұрын

Actually there's another Shad , but we do not talk about the other Shad.

@pietroconstantino4848

18 күн бұрын

I'm surprised he's Australian after listening to his accent. I couldn't tell if he was English, Australian or American lol

These are the Shadiversity videos that we love the most. We actually use these in our Home School curriculum. Thank you Shad.

Thank you for making this video!! It was so interesting and I learned so much!! Love your channel!

23:00 that reaction is exactly why I love your channel. The sheer joy that only a fellow history nerd could appreciate.

"I win I have the high ground!" Nope!

@ImminDragon

Ай бұрын

I always felt that line was a bluff. It tricked Anakin into trying to take the high ground, which left him open and caused him to lose the fight.

@Colt1775

Ай бұрын

I would think if you have a pole arm you may have the upper hand tho. Just a little push and you topple the whole army.

@hermannhinterhauser1227

Ай бұрын

I win, I have uneven floor and stairs!

@charlessapp1835

Ай бұрын

@@Colt1775 That reminds me of the book "The Lion of the North, a tale of the times of Gustavous Adolphus." At one point, the MC and a few Scottish soldiers are surrounded in a church tower by a bunch of angry peasants. The MC had the idea of placing the door on the stairs with 2 pikemen at the top.

@SvenTviking

Ай бұрын

Not for the Scots at Flodden.

Great video! Glad you enjoyed your visit to my country, Shad!

OMG THEY HAVE THE HOOKS!!! The joy over tapestry hooks was awesome.

Thanks for talking about the staircase. That has always seemed such a strange tactic people would claim. If I lived in a castle uneven stairs would probably destroy me long before the enemy showed up so they seemed like an unlikely design choice for a defender to want.

Stirling castle in Scotland has made a great effort of restoring and recreating lots of original wall decoration, tapestry painting and furnishings. It's definitely worth a tour whenever you get the chance. They even have some actors there doing things that the people would do who lived there and who you can ask and who will tell you what you want to know... They keep doing a fantastic job there!

Thank you for this. Always good to add more info to my (for now) limited amount of general knowledge!

Honestly my fav form of Shadiversity content. I like the conceptual fun things, but and seeing him go in depth on more historical elements is where I started with his channel. Hope you can keep it up despite the tough times.

I've actually used a lot of your advice in making my own castles, it has helped a lot! I haven't built one in Enshrouded yet, but I'm rather proud of the one I'm building in Valheim.

What?!?!? The person on the lower end has the advantage in combat?!?!? But he has the high ground!

@DIREWOLFx75

Ай бұрын

One of the reasons armored boots were REALLY well armored.

@sumwun9908

Ай бұрын

@@DIREWOLFx75 guess anikin should of worn armored boots

@toddkes5890

Ай бұрын

@@sumwun9908 Cortosis armor, to cause lightsabers to short out?

@alistairbolden6340

Ай бұрын

Yeah they do, think about how risky it is on your own stairs to be leaning farward with your arms streached out infront of you while holding something fairly heavy, not try swinging that thing without falling head first down the stairs, you can't. Defending from above on stairs only ever happened by people who were standing on the landing above the stairs, you would never want to fight on the stair case itself that would get you killed.

@davidioanhedges

Ай бұрын

In the open high ground where you can see the enemy coming is a massive advantage When it's enclosed, and they can hide behind stone until the are right up to you ... a lot less so

20:40 I love that you talk about the wall carpets. I always read about wall carpets in Robert Louise Stevenson and other historical pieces, but I couldn't quite envision where/how they hung, how continuous they were.

Your passion really comes through in these on location video's, I hope you had a good time here in Europe.

Fascinating. As a writer myself, I appreciate this insight. We've all assumed things true or untrue because of common movie depictions.

@alistairbolden6340

Ай бұрын

Its why almost all the best fantasy writers are British or in the case of the few good foreigners such as Bernard Cornwell they are anglophiles who spent years visiting the UK and learned everything they could about British history before writing their books.

@RMartian76

Ай бұрын

This makes zero sense. It assumes fantasy and British are synonymous. XD Nearly every culture around the world made castles but the vicious Brit empire wrote history to their liking for a long time. I'd argue most fantasy sucks because it's myopic and obsessed with one set of ideas that are focused on Europe as the end all, be all, or medieval life.

Those stones were so massive and so well fitted that only aliens could have built them.

@nonamegirl9368

Ай бұрын

That's because we still believe that people back then were stupid. but they weren't that at all

@RobertDoornbosF1

Ай бұрын

​@@nonamegirl9368 We also can't grasp time. People these days can barely fathom churches taking 10+ years to be built.

@Nathan_Bookwurm

Ай бұрын

@RobertDoornbosF1 Let alone spending a few hours farming in a game instead of buying it from cash 😂 everything needa to be ready immediately.

@batatahigh382

Ай бұрын

Maybe we are becoming more stupid 😮

@johnmagnotta8401

Ай бұрын

Oh right, aliens! I was thinking Zues and Odin built them!!! (Yes, I know Zues & Odin are basically the same god in different societies)

Thank you for the straight-up, clear, understandable, and, well, friendly accent. No arrogance, not one bit. Just. . . wow! Much appreciated.

I wish you did more videos like this again. This is the kind of content I enjoyed in the past :)

I think the idea of "it's bumpy and uneven on purpose" doesn't work for a few reasons. While Castles are known for their defense, battles were rare compared to the happenings of daily life. Castles had friendly and neutral guests far often than they have invaders. It should also be considered that people who grew up in a time where flat floors were rare were probably more trip averse than people of today. So a slightly uneven ground or steps wouldn't be nearly the inconvenience to an invader than it would be to a time traveler like us who are expecting very flat floors and even staircases.

@_Ekaros

Ай бұрын

Also, just how did the invaders get there? Probably marching many many kilometres on even more uneven ground... And your average training field very likely also was bumpy... So actually perfectly flat and smoot surface might be better advantage...

@B3RyL

Ай бұрын

YES! People lived their entire lives on uneven surfaces. Something as simple as going to the latrine at night would have you trudging almost blind over planks that would sink in rain, warp in heat, and had to be replaced every couple of years at most. People were just used to walking on uneven surfaces, so a puny staircase with some steps slightly higher than others wasn't an obstacle at all.

@arthurdent5357

Ай бұрын

I think they has bed pots for that reason.

Shad, This video was incredibly interesting. Thanks for taking us with you on your noble quest!

Nice to see this video is being seen more than some other recent ones i am glad to see the channel has recovered slightly

Loved the video! I grew up in North Wales in a village called Dolwyddelan, which has its own castle. Great to see all of the castles I grew up around and kind of took for granted, but you taught me far more than I ever knew about them, really cool!

That's so interesting about the furniture being painted! By modern aesthetics, colorful furniture like that looks like something made for children, but it totally makes sense when you think about the expense required to obtain those pigments. People always place more value on things which are difficult to get--and as what is difficult to get changes over the years, so do our tastes.

Uneven stairs also are very common in period stairs in America from the 19th and early 2th century, so yeah... likely symmetry is just a modern convenience bought in stubbed toes. Completely unrelated, but I saw a 1910 farmhouse my mom almost bought with stairs so steep, you could not stand on the bottom step and fully extend your arm.

@faithlesshound5621

Ай бұрын

Now imagine being a maid in an ankle-length dress, who has to carry a full chamber-pot down those stairs without breaking her neck. She must have been tempted just to tip it out of a window.

Great video! Loved seeing your reactions to a lot of the revelations you got. :)

Amazing video! Always enjoy Shad talking about castles

LOVED the geeking out about the original wall hangers :D

@faithlesshound5621

Ай бұрын

Wouldn't any original iron fittings have rusted away over the centuries? Nails may have been driven in by a Victorian (or later) user/owner to support wall hangings for a special event. Many of our ancient buildings were updated over the centuries, and have been "restored" to an earlier state in recent times by ripping out the improvements.

The UK tour content has been awesome glad you got to do this trip your passion really comes through here

Great video and one of very rare that showed up in feed in last year or so despite having subscribed to you for years. Could be that this might be more in line what I've clicked like on the videos I've watched (History Time, History with Cy, Kings and Generals) than the usual Shad videos. 🤔 (so maybe not conspiracy or so)

A few things I knew, most I didn't, ad others I would never have thought to ask the question. Thanks for the video. Very enjoyable to watch.

I really enjoyed seeing this. I know this is not something that is possible all the time because of the cost of travel, it really was great to take these tours with you!

Caerphilly castle is literally on my doorstep. Locals used to get in for essentially free (£2 a year). I spent many a summer just hanging around inside it! There's nothing like running around, hacking at you friends with swords (even wooden ones) in a real castle. So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂

@bvyup2112

Ай бұрын

you guys are so lucky. I live in Canada and we have nothing like that at all. Never seen a castle or any ruin except for some Mayan ruins in Mexico.

@temptempy1360

Ай бұрын

So... easier defending from upstairs , or attacking upwards?

@maxpower1029

Ай бұрын

@@temptempy1360 I mean, on a spiral staircase definitely easier stabbing the person above you. But careful they don't push you down! 😂

@maxpower1029

Ай бұрын

@@bvyup2112 I would LOVE to see Mayan ruins! 😀 We're especially lucky in Caerphilly as there's so much of our castle intact (or restored). Plus we have The Leaning Tower!

@PhilJonesIII

Ай бұрын

@@maxpower1029 That thing is more like a diving board with that lean. Must be careful not to give the local council ideas though.

I live a few miles away from Castell Coch so it has always been a favourite and a first port of call where we take visitors. It was great to see Tretower Court and castle too as I first visited there as a student an 1982 and loved it ever since.I have usually visited at least once a year ever since. I haven't been now since lockdown so thanks for reminding me I must go there soon this year. Loved your video, thank you. PS, the tapestries or wall coverings would also have helped to make the rooms warmer, maybe not by much but they needed all the help they could get.

Shad, this is one of the best videos I've seen on this channel. The editing is tight, no repetition, no ranting, just a knowledgeable guy explaining some cool stuff. Best of all, you look genuinely excited and happy and that's so great to see. Extremely well done, sir. Can't wait to see the rest.

22:59 Shad, I haven't had as much of a chance to watch your videos lately, the downside of growing old. But your nerding out over the hooks for the tapestry was heartwarming, and part of what made me subscribe to you way back then.

@sarumano884

Ай бұрын

Shad nerds about the polished, fitted sandstone masonry in this Mediaeval room. Shad nerds about the tapestry hooks that held up curtains that HID the polished, fitted sandstone walls in this Mediaeval room.

You must have had a fun time trying to get that sword past customs...

@ShaggyRogers1

Ай бұрын

Looks to not be sharpened. If the blade isn't sharpened, most customs treat it as just a giant block of steel. A blunt sword is no more dangerous than any other chunk of metal.

@TheSteam02

Ай бұрын

@@ShaggyRogers1 I'm fairly certain that's one of his LARP swords. Foam swords are basically seen as toys.

@Ranstone

Ай бұрын

@@ShaggyRogers1 It's foam, made by Calimacil. They're very convincing, aren't they! (Look up Calimacil, Geralt's steel sword.)

@ShaggyRogers1

Ай бұрын

@@Ranstone It's hard to tell on camera, either way. However, you can see him just grab it by the blade, so it clearly doesn't have an edge even if it was steel.

@harbl99

Ай бұрын

Aussie border guard: "Anythin' ta declare that yer bringin inter Stralya?" (Yes, I used to watch a lot of that old Aussie Border Control documentary show) Shad: "Sword!"

Great video as always! Mini sketch style was kind of nice!

Your videos are showing back up again on my feed - yay!!!

That draps on the wall help so much with the sounds.

@alistairbolden6340

Ай бұрын

Yes not just to reduce noise but also the terrible echo you get from a room that has no wallpaper.

Awesome video. I love the medieval misconceptions stuff. Hope this video does well.

I enjoyed this video more than I've enjoyed one of these in a long time. I think it's the choice of topic and also being able to visualize it combined with the live demonstration and unique scenery.

Genuine delight at spotting those wall hooks, love the enthusiasm 👍👍

10:30 "In case of Saxons, use axe"

I'm here for this! Prefer these to the usual videos.

Shad geeking out about things brings joy to my soul

Thanks for the video, this was really cool & interesting!

Been watching your content for years, being born and bred in Wales Castles are pretty much a normal part of our everyday life. Amazing to see you visit places I’ve been to many many times, awesome to see someone enthusiastically appreciating what so many around here take for granted. Thanks man x

@Matt_Alaric

Ай бұрын

You were bread in Wales? Then you were raised properly at yeast.

@aaronus08

Ай бұрын

@@Matt_Alaric English being my second language always humbles me ☺️

So, just a thought, maybe they made clockwise stair cases because people are usually right-handed, so if you were carrying a lamp while navigating stairs at night, and going down stairs, it would feel more natural to carry the lamp in your left hand, and use your right hand as a guide along the wall, ready to brace yourself should your footing slip. I think this because I grew up with a clockwise staircase in my house, and trying to go down spiral stairs is very disconcerting. Being right handed, we also generally put our weight on our right foot when descending, and if you make the stairs clockwise, you have more footing at the right side going down, making descent that much safer and surer of footing. I also found that running up clockwise stairs is easier for right-handed people, because you can grip the central column with your right hand to counteract the centripetal force you generate as you run up, and right-handed people generally have stronger grip in their right hand. Just some insight from having lived in a home with spiral stairs for 20-some years. Remember, castles were homes, and while defenses are something to consider, I think a lot of decisions are gonna be made around aspects of daily living more so than aspects of warfare - which may never even happen to your castle. Personally, I think fighting on stairs, spiral or not, is already gonna be very challenging. I just have my doubts that the direction of spiral had much to do with combat/defense, and more likely was due to what's better for daily life. I could be wrong, so whatever.

@HenryLoenwind

Ай бұрын

At a friend's house the stairs are not spiral, but they don't have a landing at the turning point between floors and instead go around. There's no handrail on the downwards-righthand wall, only in the centre. Those are the only stairs I ever fell down face first. So yes, having a handrail on the right when going down is essential.

😃👍🏻 You know it is going to be a great Sunday when you get to see Shad geeking out about castles. Thanks Shad, this video was a treat to watch! ❤

You just gave me some great ideas about a book I am wanting to write! Thank you so much!

fantastic distillation of the longer videos, thanks for putting this together

@valanshard2105

Ай бұрын

Longer video?

So happy to learn there are plenty more castle videos to come.

You know, I love how the volume of your voice changes: in a few areas, you're _very_ quiet, maybe because there are other people or super-echoey acoustics; in other areas, you're using an outdoor voice and showing a lot of excitement; in other areas, it's in-between. It's clear you're respectful of the space, but also very knowledgeable and excited about what you're seeing! Makes me wonder whether other people were asking you questions or sitting enraptured by the explanations you're giving your camera!

Thanks, Shad. This is a great video. Very, very informative.

I do wish you had made the obvious comparison that swords hung on the wall is the same as a modern home decorated with a lot of guns. While ancestral weapon or especially decorative piece might be displayed, having many would be as unusual as a set of AR-15s in a line

@shrootskyi815

Ай бұрын

Shad lives in Australia. We have strict firearm laws here, so Shad is probably completely unfamiliar with how guns are displayed and stored in modern homes (because very few people keep guns in their homes here). Hence, while such a comparison would've been a good addition to the video, it wouldn't have been obvious to Shad to make that comparison.

@Benjamin1986980

Ай бұрын

@@shrootskyi815 That's the thing, even in Texas, such a display would be considered tacky and weird unless it was Grandpa's cowboy revolvers or something similar.

@HenryLoenwind

Ай бұрын

Not just that. It would be like a gamer decorating his living room walls with GTX4090s, or a soldier hanging his service weapon to the wall of his bedroom. During the times those castles served their original purpose, swords were expensive and high-maintenance items that were in use. People might have used gilded decoration pieces, or inherited ones that were of no use anymore, as decorations but their current weapons were the reason there was a castle at all. People in here probably know, but anyway: Castles were a mix of garrison and seat of government with an included apartment for the head of that government. Like cramming the White House and an army base together, so to speak.

@stanleyhape8427

29 күн бұрын

I would love to see a bit in a movie where a fight breaks out, and a few guys grab the weapons off the wall only to realize they are just decorative .😂😂😂 With a few figuring out how to fight with dull swords permanently fixed in a crossed position. ⚔️😂😂😂

@Benjamin1986980

29 күн бұрын

@@stanleyhape8427 It happened in Ready or Not. When the heroine grabbed a display rifle, she found out the ammunition was a prop

YEA! Shadiversity notifications! Thanks for the video, Shad!

@SleepyLibrary-px3ly

Ай бұрын

Yeah first time in months lol

@valanshard2105

Ай бұрын

@@SleepyLibrary-px3ly same here other than the maybe shutting down video that was heartbreaking

@SleepyLibrary-px3ly

Ай бұрын

@@valanshard2105 I hope he gets his views back, wish I could support him somehow, tough times tho.

@valanshard2105

Ай бұрын

@@SleepyLibrary-px3ly same here, giving what I can. It's not much but I hope it helps.

Starting to see the on my recommendations again so happy to see you back

Thank you so much for the information. I admit that I have had many of those misconceptions about the castle's architecture and design.

This is what we subscribed for!

Thanks for the informative video, Shad! Hope you guys had fun at the castles you visited.

Informative and very interesting again !! Thanks mate 👍

Always love seeing your medieval architecture videos