Were any fortified castles self-sufficient in food?

Question

I read here and there about sieges of fortified castles which lasted extended lengths of time (two years for instance). Was there any castle in Medieval Europe that was self-sustaining? By self-sustaining I mean it could produce enough food to feed its defender, i.e. the ability to grow crops and raise cattle within the fortifications in amounts which would allow people inside to survive. I understand that those sieges could last so long because of amassed reserves of food, I was wondering though, did anybody tried to be to a certain extent independent from anything outside the walls. Note: I believe that this would also be limited by some everyday items (like wood for instance), which are slow-growing and thus one needs a large reservoir to account for natural replacement.

Answer 1

So far as I know, there were no fortifications in Medieval Europe in which enough food could be grown to make them self-sufficient. A fundamental problem is that, in order to grow a substantial enough amount of food or, for that matter, raise a relatively sufficient number of domesticated animals, a large amount of land is needed. Fields to be tilled in order to grow grain, pasture with enough grass to provide the necessary amount of nutrition for cattle or sheep. Picture the amount of land under use that surrounded the average Medieval village, including both fields for crops and pasture for farm animals.

Thus, for a castle or other form of fortification to be self-sufficient by containing the amount of land necessary to produce its own food by growing / raising it, the walls of the castle would have to be of a tremendous length to encircle such a large area. Leaving aside the fact that this would be incredibly expensive, it would require a far bigger garrison in order to man this length of wall.

But with a greater number of men to serve as the garrison of such a castle, necessary to adequately defend a far longer length of wall, there would be that many more mouths to feed, requiring that much more food. Therefore, it's not clear if the figures could be squared; could there be enough land defended by walls to feed a large enough garrison to man the length of walls necessary to defend the necessary amount of land?

Answer 2

Interesting question. I doubt any castle enclosed an area large enough to grow sufficient crops and raise enough livestock to feed the inhabitants indefinitely. Fields for growing crops were quite large and, given the agricultural techniques of the day, would not have yielded as much as fields do today. The whole purpose of a siege was to starve the defenders into submission. The reason why some sieges lasted so long was the their were techniques for preserving food such as drying, smoking m salting. Most sieges actually did not last very long, although you are correct that some did. Only the largest and best defended castles could hold out very long. Most sieges actually did not last very long so the long sieges are the exception rather than the rule. One reason is that the besieging army also had to feed itself. A besieging army often had to give up because of hunger, after they had stripped the neighborhood of available supplies. Every siege was a little different depending on factors such as the size and strength and type of the castle, the foresight of the lord in storing food for an emergency, the size and armament of the besieging force, how much time defenders had to prepare, whether the castle or besieged city was on a river, etc. I don;t think we can say there was such a thing as typical siege. But sieges that lasted more than a few weeks were rare because one side or the other would have to give up sooner. But you are right there are a few examples of long sieges. For what it's worth I have found nor records of a castle surviving a siege for a long time because it could grow its own food inside the walls. It takes a surprising amount of land to feed just one person, especially in the Middle ages. According to modern estimates at least 5 acres is necessary for a single person to be self-sufficient.