Castles as Fortresses and Homes. The noble class and the people who worked immediately for them (their retainers) were only a small percentage of the medieval European population, at most 3-5 percent. Yet, this small community had a disproportionate influence on many aspects of European society and culture. One of the most striking artifacts of their power is the medieval castle, and many modern assumptions about castle structure and noble life are based on anachronistic, romantic perceptions. Castles were frequently the homes of only a small garrison, which might include one or two knights, mercenary soldiers, and civilian-soldiers who owed military service. Even in massive structures built by kings and princes the actual number of people living within the castle walls was not large: around forty to fifty when the lord was in residence, perhaps twenty when he...