<P> The earliest purely documentary evidence for motte - and - bailey castles in Normandy and Angers comes from between 1020 and 1040 , but a combination of documentary and archaeological evidence pushes the date for the first motte and bailey castle , at Vincy , back to 979 . The castles were built by the more powerful lords of Anjou in the late 10th and 11th centuries , in particular Fulk III and his son , Geoffrey II , who built a great number of them between 987 and 1060 . Many of these earliest castles would have appeared quite crude and rustic by later standards , belying the power and prestige of their builders . William the Conqueror , as the Duke of Normandy , is believed to have adopted the motte - and - bailey design from neighbouring Anjou . Duke William went on to prohibit the building of castles without his consent through the Consuetudines et Justicie , with his legal definition of castles centring on the classic motte - and - bailey features of ditching , banking and palisading . </P>
<P> The earliest purely documentary evidence for motte - and - bailey castles in Normandy and Angers comes from between 1020 and 1040 , but a combination of documentary and archaeological evidence pushes the date for the first motte and bailey castle , at Vincy , back to 979 . The castles were built by the more powerful lords of Anjou in the late 10th and 11th centuries , in particular Fulk III and his son , Geoffrey II , who built a great number of them between 987 and 1060 . Many of these earliest castles would have appeared quite crude and rustic by later standards , belying the power and prestige of their builders . William the Conqueror , as the Duke of Normandy , is believed to have adopted the motte - and - bailey design from neighbouring Anjou . Duke William went on to prohibit the building of castles without his consent through the Consuetudines et Justicie , with his legal definition of castles centring on the classic motte - and - bailey features of ditching , banking and palisading . </P>
when was the first motte and bailey castle built
when was the first motte and bailey castle built
979
979