Many peoples have had a need to defend themselves against invaders since ancient times. For this reason, strategic points such as higher areas were often chosen for the residential areas. The residential areas were often protected by all kinds of defenses such as city walls, forts, bastions, moats, ramparts, land defenses and flooded land.
First defenses
The use of defense structures has undergone a development over the centuries that once started with a row of wooden posts. This development was also related to the weapons that had to be defended against. In the early Middle Ages, the so-called motte castles were first created for which artificial hills were constructed with a defensive tower on top. These forms of fortification appeared at the end of the tenth century in the regions between the Rhine and the Loire. A number of these motte-and-bailey castles were expanded into larger castles and later grew into towns.
First city rights, then city walls against invaders
To protect the cities against invaders, a row of wooden poles was initially installed, which were later replaced by city walls. But in order to be allowed to build city walls, a settlement first needed city rights granted by the ruler of the area. However, not all city walls proved effective, but they at least had a deterrent effect on the attacking party.
Forts for wealthier rulers
In many cases the city walls were equipped with towers from which the area around could be better viewed for approaching danger. From these towers, the soldiers stationed in the city had the opportunity to shoot at the enemy under cover through special loopholes. The wealthier rulers of the Middle Ages could have stone forts built as defenses, such as the Citadels of Namur, Liège, Dinant and s Hertogenbosch.
Bastions for extra defense
With the arrival of heavier offensive weapons, the city walls often no longer provided sufficient protection. Sometimes the walls were therefore made wider or bastions were added to the city walls. A bastion is a forward-extending defense structure made of earth or stone. Examples of bastions are Fort Rammekens near Vlissingen and Bastion Heusden. A bastion had the possibility to defend from the advanced position to different sides, often with a permanent occupation by a battery of artillery.
Ramparts smothered cannonballs
In other cases, where protection was needed from heavier artillery, systems of moats and earthen walls were constructed. A moat in particular was an additional obstacle for the enemy to reach the city. While attempting to cross the moat, the attacker was shot at from high walls. The ramparts were also ideal for smothering cannonballs, unlike the walls that could no longer stop the heavy bullets.
Spiny shrubs on land walls
Other defenses from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were land defenses. Land defenses provided protection to a population that could withdraw within the land defenses in times of danger and unrest. A landweer consisted of a single or double earthen wall with a dry moat or ditch on both sides. The Limburg municipality of Landgraaf is said to have once had a land defense consisting of a ditch one and a half meters deep with a wall of approximately two meters on either side. On the ramparts of the land walls, prickly shrubs such as hawthorn, blackthorn, dog rose and eglantine grew, making it an almost impregnable obstacle. There were only a few guarded passages.
Flood
In some cases, to defend a city, the area around the city was flooded. This happened when the superior force of troops approaching the city was too great to defend. Where this was not possible, a ring of forts was sometimes built around the city, especially in later years.
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