When the land was all divided out, the barons had about 3/7 of it
and the church about 2/7. Most of the barons had been royal
servants. The king retained about 2/7, including forests for
hunting, for himself and his family and household, on which he
built many royal castles and hundreds of manor [large private
estate headed by a lord] houses throughout the nation. He built
the massive White Tower in London. It was tall with four turrets
on top, and commanded a view of the river and bridge, the city and
the surrounding countryside. The only windows were slits from
which arrows could be shot. On the fourth and top floor was the
council chamber and the gallery of the chapel. On the third floor
was the banqueting hall, the sword room, and the chapel. The king
and his household slept in apartments on these upper floors.
Stairs went up to the gateway entrance on the second floor, which
were hidden by a wall. The garrison's barracks were on the first
floor (ground floor). Any prisoners were kept in cells at a level
below the first floor. The other castles were often built at the
old fortification burhs of Alfred. Each had a constable in charge,
who was a baron. Barons and earls had castle-guard duty in the
king's castles. The Conquerer was constantly moving about the land
among his and his barons' castles, where he met with his magnates
and conducted public business, such as deciding disputes about
holding of land.
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