EVO

This series contains adult language and depictions of graphic violence.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you investigate stories of enduring power, what you'll find is that many of them begin the same way, with fear.

In the mid-9th century, amid the rumble of hooves and the smoke of pillaged villages, Europe found itself shattered into a mosaic of uncertain territories.

The Roman Empire, long since dust, had left roads, but no order. Its successors were

fragmented kingdoms too weak to stand alone. Vikings came from the north, Saracens from the

south, and from within, petty nobles contended

with each other for scraps of influence. In that long twilight of cohesion, the answer wasn't

reason. It was stone. The first castles of Europe were crude things, wooden fortresses hastily built atop earthen mounds, ringed by palisades and trenches.

Yet even these rudimentary structures symbolized an idea that would shape the continent for centuries.

The fortresses not just a shelter, but as the focal point of political power, military control, and social identity.

From this modest beginning, emerged one of Europe's most iconic architectural legacies.

Castle building would span a thousand years, employ millions, and forge the backbone of medieval society.

Welcome back to the devil within. You're listening to the haunted castles of Europe.

At their core, castles were practical.

Their first purpose was defense.

With law weak and war constant, local lords needed a place to withstand siege, to store provisions, and to signal dominance. Castles controlled crossroads. They overlooked rivers. They anchored feudal estates

and marked the edge of hostile lands. But they were more than mere military installations.

Castles were symbols of authority. A stone keep on a hill was not just harder to burn.

It was harder to ignore.

Within their walls, barons dispensed justice, collected taxes, and held court.

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