I have a particular question. Did castles in western Europe have a strategic value besides their other functions (social, economic, etc.) in the period between ca. 1150 and 1250?
I have often read in novels, that castles "control" a mountain pass, or are in a strategic position and thus important enough that a hostile army had to deal first with them before continuing on their actual objective. Now I have some difficulty to imgaine why that would be the case. Bar the castle holding an army capable of attacking the other, which seems unlikely due to limitations in food supply and space, what actually could such a castle do to the marching army? Has this to do with possible attacks on the supply train from those castle forces? Did long supply chains even exist in medieval warfare?
Any advice - preferably backed by some academic sources - would be greatly asppreciated. Thank you for all your help in advance.
Kind regards,
G.