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During this time castles were often the only buildings built widely throughout Western Europe, not including the churches of course. Castles were often built in a bulky design, normally surrounded by a mote, in which the only way into the castle is by using the drawbridge. Towers were built around the castle in order to see invaders from a distance as well as supply a place for rangers to shoot from. Within the walls of the Manors houses for the peasants were mere shacks in which an entire family lived, often located on the fields themselves. During the Renaissance however, architecture was greatly influenced by that of Rome’s and Greece’s. This was a result of the Christian crusades, an attempt to recapture the holy land from the Muslims. Although Christians had failed at capturing the holy land, they had acquired much knowledge from the Islamic Region. Since Muslims often used the domes, columns and arches in their buildings of Mosques, the idea of using them in Western European buildings began to arise upon the return of crusaders. Over time, architectural styles in Western Europe began to emphasis symmetry, proportion, geometry and the regularity of parts as they are demonstrated in the architecture of classical antiquity and in particular ancient Roman and Greek architecture. During the Medieval Ages, Manors replaced the functions of towns as growing threats of invasion from barbaric tribes emerged and co-existed with the founding of Feudalism. Feudalism primarily began in Europe as a result of the fall of the Roman Empire. Once the Roman Empire collapsed, there was nothing to prevent Germanic tribes from pillaging the territory, thus peasants lived in constant fear. Seeing an opportunity, the land holding wealthy elites gave peasant land within the boundaries of their walls and in return the peasants would receive protection from invading
