What is a “siege”?

The story behind the answer

Medieval armies typically encircled a fortified town or castle, blocking roads, rivers, and fields to starve defenders and prevent relief. Success relied on time and pressure—attrition through hunger, thirst, and morale—rather than a costly frontal assault. Artillery and mining supported the blockade, but the decisive element was isolation, often sealed by earthworks called lines of circumvallation to keep defenders in and contravallation to keep rescuers out.

Sieges could last months or years and shaped politics as much as battles did. Commanders built siege towers, trebuchets, and battering rams; defenders countered with sallies, hoardings, and countermines. Disease frequently ravaged both sides in crowded camps. Famous episodes—Orléans (1429) or Antioch (1097–98)—show how supply, morale, and relief armies could overturn even a tight investment.