Topic: Not really Rolemaster related, but cool

[gandalf970]

I was watching something on TV and they were talking about spiral staircases and why they were designed the way they were.  In the Middle Ages all spiral stair cases were made clockwise to assist in defense.

It was assumed most warriors are right handed so they could swing a sword down more easily and the defender coming up the stairs would have to deal with the interior column.

Just some interesting information.

[markc]

That is very interesting. So a race of left handed people would attack a castle better going up the stairs.
MDC

[tulgurth]

That is interesting Gandalf.  Something I would have never thought about, until now that is.  My players tend to hate me, now they are going to hate me because of you.  LOL  At least I can point my finger at someone else and say, "It's all Gandalf's Fault !!!!"

LOL

[gandalf970]

@tulgurth you can use me as needed and my players hate you as well.  @markc or the left handers build their own stairs counterclockwise!

[markc]

Maybe a -5 mod is needed.
MDC

[rdanhenry]

It was a majority of staircases, not all. And given how little room there was to maneuver regardless of which side your sword was on, I doubt it much mattered, since such stairs were generally walled on both sides. Whatever edge there was from the direction of the spiral, it would be dwarfed by the advantage from above of hacking away at your foe's head and arms while he tried to do some damage to your ankles or maybe knee. Of course, if you're having to defend an interior stair, all the important defenses have already been breached and the battle is lost, so why would you nag the architect about such a detail? This is an oft-cited "fact" for which I have yet to see any actual evidence. Until I see some actual evidence, I'll hold with the historians who call this a myth.

[Cory Magel]

I doubt it much mattered...
Until I see some actual evidence, I'll hold with the historians who call this a myth.

Er, hold a sword in your right hand, put a big pole on your right side almost up against your body, and try to swing at someone on your left.  Even if I had no sword experience common sense alone dictates this would have a real impact.  Now, the size of the staircase would have a huge impact, but I've been up and down a LOT of spiral staircases in old castles.  It would matter in a lot of them.

[Deepfire]

Usually castles were also build in a way that the aggressive force while approaching the castle had to show their right side to the defending walls - the side without a shield - so the defenders could send arrows to the lesser defended attackers.

http://www.dickemauern.de/hanstein/plan.jpg

[dagorhir]

Indeed, most medieval constructions were designed with defense in mind. Staircases weren't until clockwise but were also made very narrow to create a bottleneck for the attackers. Most people think the narrow staircases were built small because people were smaller then.

Another defensive building technique was placing the door 15' up off the ground. The only way to get in was to use a ladder. It's hard to break down a door when standing atop a 15' ladder.

[tulgurth]

@tulgurth you can use me as needed and my players hate you as well.  @markc or the left handers build their own stairs counterclockwise!

Why do your players hate me?  Did you adopt my 666 rule?

[Cory Magel]

Scottish Clan Kerr.  They trained left handed with weapons as it would give them an advantage against their foe (cause most people are right handed most people are used to fighting a right handed foe - so it gave them an edge).  Which direction did their spiral staircases go?  In the other direction.

[gandalf970]

Fantastic, damn Scotts had it figured out!!