<P> A small number of motte - and - bailey castles were built outside of northern Europe . In the late - 12th century, the Normans invaded southern Italy and Sicily; although they had the technology to build more modern designs, in many cases wooden motte - and - bailey castles were built instead for reasons of speed . The Italians came to refer to a range of different castle types as motta, however, and there may not have been as many genuine motte - and - bailey castles in southern Italy as was once thought on the basis of the documentary evidence alone . In addition, there is evidence of the Norman crusaders building a motte and bailey using sand and wood in Egypt in 1221 during the Fifth Crusade . </P> <P> Motte - and - bailey castles became a less popular design in the mid-medieval period . In France, they were not built after the start of the 12th century, and mottes ceased to be built in most of England after around 1170, although they continued to be erected in Wales and along the Marches . Many motte - and - bailey castles were occupied relatively briefly; in England many had been abandoned or allowed to lapse into disrepair by the 12th century . In the Low Countries and Germany, a similar transition occurred in the 13th and 14th centuries . </P> <P> One factor was the introduction of stone into castle building . The earliest stone castles had emerged in the 10th century, with stone keeps being built on mottes along the Catalonia frontier and several, including Château de Langeais, in Angers . Although wood was a more powerful defensive material than was once thought, stone became increasingly popular for military and symbolic reasons . Some existing motte - and - bailey castles were converted to stone, with the keep and the gatehouse usually the first parts to be upgraded . Shell keeps were built on many mottes, circular stone shells running around the top of the motte, sometime protected by a further chemise, or low protective wall, around the base . By the 14th century, a number of motte and bailey castles had been converted into powerful stone fortresses . </P> <P> Newer castle designs placed less emphasis on mottes . Square Norman keeps built in stone became popular following the first such construction in Langeais in 994 . Several were built in England and Wales after the conquest; by 1216 there were around 100 in the country . These massive keeps could be either erected on top of settled, well established mottes, or could have mottes built around them--so - called "buried" keeps . The ability of mottes, especially newly built mottes, to support the heavier stone structures, was limited, and many needed to be built on fresh ground . Concentric castles, relying on several lines of baileys and defensive walls, made increasingly little use of keeps or mottes at all . </P>

Who lives in a motte and bailey castle