A Tumblr thread breaks down a few of the more powerful, surprising, and downright fierce Medieval battle tactics that existed.

Here’s one example that gives you an idea of how tough it would be for anyone trying to attack by going up the stairs:

Once noble families started living in castles as their homes (instead of, say, a fortress), wider staircases came into fashion.

It turns out the advent of gunpowder was a pretty big gamechanger for castle interior design.

The placement of walls was also entirely strategic.

The strategic placement of walls is seen all over the world. On the East Coast in what is now the United States, homes and property were usually protected with palisades or wooden fences.

Basically, it comes down to one fairly universal truth: it’s pretty challenging to defend yourself if there’s a wall in your way, right?

Castles also used to have another form of protection. For example, the  Bodiam Castle in Sussex has a right-angled bridge to further endanger attacking forces.

Since most people were right-handed, the tactic was definitely effective.

Being right-handed was also beneficial (if not all but required) when using a sword and shield.

The same is true of jousting: if you’re left-handed, it just wasn’t going to work out.

This was so entrenched in Medieval warfare and the like that even the horses were trained to swerve to the right.

Right-handed preference extended well into our recent past as well.

While it is technically possible to hold the instrument in your left hand, you need to be right-handed to properly wield it.

Eventually, some left-handed families started redesigning their castles to benefit themselves.

This was probably pretty confusing for anyone who expected the usual design!