'Every great man built himself castles and held them against the king; they sorely burdened the unhappy people of the country with forced labour, and when the castles were built, they filled them with devils and wicked men,' says one contributor to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1137.

He is referring to the civil war during the reign of Stephen when nobles take advantage of what is known as 'the anarchy' to build castles for themselves without the king's permission. Henry II destroys the castles when he restores order.

The Normans are great builders of castles and cathedrals: these giant stone structures are symbols of permanence and power. Their solidity also emphasises the absolute certainty of medieval people in the truth and rightness of their religious beliefs and political allegiances.

Defence of the realm

Castles eventually develop into must-have fortress homes for the nobility, but initially William I orders a comprehensive castle-building programme to maintain order in his newly conquered lands – he has only a small army. They are constructed at gateways to the realm such as Dover and Rochester, and at trouble spots such as York and Chester. By 1100, the Normans have built 500 castles. Early castles, which need to be built in a hurry, are mostly 'motte-and-bailey' buildings: the motte is an earth mound with a wooden tower on top, which is the baron's living quarters; and the bailey is an enclosed area of barracks, stables and stores below.

William starts work on the Tower of London as his home in 1097. It comprises the White Tower, which is built in limestone. Thick stone walls become the norm and castles grow ever more grand in style as nobles flaunt their prestige. The home of Simon de Montfort, Kenilworth Castle, is one of the grandest in the land.

The entrance to the keep (tower) is protected by a barbican (gatehouse) and the castle is further defended by a moat with a retractable drawbridge and portcullis (iron gate). Inside, castles are dark and cold, with open windows and slits for firing arrows. Toilets (garderobes) are housed in protruding wall cavities and waste is slung into the moat below.

The castle acts as local law court, record office and prison. Most functions are carried out in the great hall. Taxes are paid, disputes settled and meals eaten, and people sleep there, either on wooden benches or on reeds spread over the floor.

Most of the castles in Wales are built by English kings, particularly Edward I, who is responsible for Flint, Rhuddlan, Conwy, Beaumaris, Caernarfon, Criccieth, Harlech and Aberystwyth. Eagles like those of imperial Rome are carved atop Caernarfon Castle.

Scottish castles are mainly built by the Scots themselves, often to protect themselves from Norse (Scandinavian) attacks.

By the end of the 1400s, country houses are replacing castles as homes for the aristocracy, not least because they are more comfortable. Castles revert to a mostly military role.

Religion and relics

The Catholic Church dominates every facet of medieval life. Everyone who doesn't stray from the fold is baptised, married and buried by their parish priest. Most villagers and townspeople live within sight of their local church, where they regularly attend Mass and confession. To keep people in line, the torments of hell are much publicised. Anyone who criticises Church teaching is branded a 'heretic' and risks being burned at the stake.

England, Scotland and Wales are divided into three archbishoprics: Canterbury, York and St Andrews. The archbishop of Canterbury is the second most powerful person in the country – appointed by the king but answerable only to the pope, deemed to be God's voice on earth. The archbishoprics are divided into bishoprics, each headed by a bishop, who has a cathedral as his seat of office. He is a powerful man in local government, and is usually literate and of noble birth.

Bishoprics are divided into parishes, each with its own stone-built church, presided over by an impoverished priest. In times of turmoil, it is often a place of refuge and the priest a mediator in disputes. In the 1200s, there are up to 40,000 ordained priests, drawn from all levels of society. They are supposed to remain celibate but often keep mistresses, get drunk and go poaching.

What little education is available is provided by the Church. Cathedrals usually have schools attached, mostly aimed at training the clergy, with Latin grammar being the most important subject – all church services are conducted in Latin.

At the beginning of the 1200s, the schools at Oxford and Cambridge evolve into universities, with patronage from as far away as Paris. As a comfortably-off class of nobles and knights develops, education for their offspring becomes a sought-after status symbol. Since most legal and government business is conducted in Latin, it is also a meal-ticket.

The Church owns land, has its own laws – canon law – and raises its own taxes, known as tithes.

The Church also makes money by charging for baptisms, marriages and burials and from the sale of 'indulgences' (pardons for sins). Part of its income is spent on a lavish lifestyle for its bishops, but large sums are also used to build imposing, elaborately decorated cathedrals (see below).

An important part of Church teaching is the veneration of relics, often the bones of saints. Saints – people whom the pope deems to have led exemplary religious lives – are regarded as special mediators between ordinary folk and God. Their burial places are shrines – medieval tourist attractions – to which pilgrims flock seeking penance for their sins or a cure for their ailments or to show their devotion to God.

The most popular shrine after 1170 is that of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. In Scotland, St Andrews and Tain are much visited; in Wales, the places to go are St Asaph and Llandaff.

By the late 1300s, Church teaching on relics is coming under fire from reform movements such as the Lollards, who believe that only the Bible contains true Christian doctrine. The Church's accumulation of wealth is another popular grievance. An anonymous poet writes in 'The Complaint of the Ploughman': 'Of holy church make they a whore / And filleth her womb with wine and ale.'

Monks and friars

The flagging Benedictine monasteries, run by abbots in places such as St Albans and Bury St Edmunds, are revitalised after 1066 with an influx of enthusiastic monks and nuns from France. Their numbers rise from about 1,000 in 1066 to 13,000 by 1215.

In general, monastic or convent life is based on withdrawal from worldly temptations – sex, fighting, dancing and the like – in order to concentrate on the contemplation of God. This means solitude, prayer, poverty and chastity. Monks go to church services eight times a day.

As well as the Benedictines, there are Cistercian and Augustinian orders. By 1153, there are 36 Cistercian abbeys in England. Whereas the Cistercians retreat completely from society and survive on income from farming in remote areas such as Tintern in Wales and Rievaulx in North Yorkshire, the Augustinians help out in the parish. Monasteries and convents also run schools and hospitals.

One peculiarly English order are the Gilbertines, founded by Gilbert of Sempringham, initially to bring more women into monastic life. The problem he faces is that women cannot celebrate Mass or farm the land, so he brings in monks to help them out. At the time of his death in 1189, there are at least 10 'double houses' of both men and women.

From the 1220s, both monasteries and churches are being squeezed in the popularity stakes by friars: Dominicans inspired by St Dominic and Franciscans inspired by St Francis of Assisi. Better trained and more zealous than other religious orders, they are effective preachers, leading ostensibly humble – and therefore more spiritual – lives. By 1350, they are represented in most English towns.

Friars are criticised by the poets Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langland, as well as by the preacher John Wycliffe.

Cathedrals

Bishops want their thrones – cathedra – to be buildings of splendour, ostensibly out of respect for God but also because it emphasises their own importance.

Building a cathedral or abbey is a lengthy process, requiring hundreds of masons, carpenters, sculptors and decorators. In the building of Westminster Abbey during the reign of Henry III, the first phase alone takes 39 years. Salisbury Cathedral – built, apart from its steeple, between 1220 and 1266 – is one of the few to be completed as one project.

An outstanding architect of the period is Henry Yevele, who between 1360 and 1400 was the king's master mason, responsible for Westminster Hall and the naves of Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral.

Because the mass of the population is illiterate, the walls and windows of churches and cathedrals are adorned with colourful pictures of Bible stories, the lives of the saints or the consequences of immoral behaviour. (Many of these are later destroyed during the Reformation).

There are several styles during the medieval period. The first is English Romanesque (Roman-like). It is defined by massive columns, thick walls, rounded arches and few windows. Durham Cathedral is a magnificent example.

In the later 1100s, the Gothic style arrives from France, along with stained glass. Gothic is characterised by pointed arches and ribbed vaulting. Because the emphasis of weight is downward rather than outward, it allows for thinner walls and more windows. Flying buttresses outside help to take the stress off the walls. Wells and Lincoln cathedrals are examples of what becomes known as Early English Gothic.

Decorated Gothic in the early 1300s emphasises width as much as height. It includes intricately carved decoration, which can be seen all over the façade of Exeter Cathedral, for example. Exeter has the longest uninterrupted Gothic vault anywhere. The style is based around curves and angles rather than straight lines, with tracery (fine ornamental stonework) round the windows.

The Perpendicular style – simple, slender and straight with wide arches and large windows – is adopted in England in the late 1300s. Typical examples are the vertical and rectangular lines of the choir in Gloucester Cathedral and hammer-beam timber roofs such as the one at Westminster Hall created by Richard II's carpenter Hugh Herland. The great east window of York Minister has the finest stained glass of the 14th century.

A 15th-century motif for effigies was the 'Dance of Death' – the idea of everyone being reduced to worm food when they die. Hence the production of effigies of decaying corpses, such as the one of Alice, duchess of Suffolk, in the 1470s in Ewelme church. The sculptures are often in alabaster, which is quarried near Nottingham.

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