What proportion of wooden castles in France were later rebuilt in stone?
I have a question about Western European castles - in particular, France.
I read from several sources that at the end of the early middle Ages (i.e. 10-11th century), the majority of existing "castles" (defined in layman terms, i.e. any large military fortification, such as motte-and-bailey castles) were built in wood. I'm assuming this is the historical consensus (let me know if I'm mistaken).
This is at first a bit surprising to hear, since today only stone fortifications have survived. But it makes sense that wooden fortifications don't survive for 1000+ years since they're less durable than stone (more prone to fires, etc), and require very high cost of maintenance / renovation.
However, it seems like there's two possible outcomes for all these wooden castles. Either they're converted / rebuilt in stone, at some point, or they're destroyed / abandoned and no other "castle" is built on top of it.
What share of French wooden castles were replaced with stone castles? Just approximately - was it more like a small share 20-30%, or a big majority like 70-80%?
I'd be happy with an approximate guess from a historian - but ideally, sources would be greatly appreciated.
Posted Aug 1, 2025, 12:03 PM UTC