Castle, Palace, Manor or what?
If you play royals and/or high nobility houses, your sims probably reside in spacious conditions. Such big houses often hold history and traditions, and they most likely have a proper name to reflect...
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The historian in me got curious and looked it up, and according to several sources I found, the easy explanation is that manors have medieval roots in the feudal system (ie. it was a house, granted to a noble family by the regent or higher nobleman in return for military service and loyalty which in turn owned land on which farmers worked and rented land in return for protection). So in a way a feudal administrative unit.
Estate, on the other hand is a newer term for a large house with park land and surrounding farm land (either several rented farms, or one big farm controlled directly from the estate). Estate was not in any way tied to the feudal system, it's just a big house with farmland.
So, you could also say that all manors are estates, but not all estates are manors. Manors, think nobility and old medieval roots. Estate, think rich landowners of later times.
Thanks, that makes sense! I have several centuries of history in most of my worlds so there might be builds that actually ought to be manors. I like knowing the backstory in detail, but I'll probably save this for a rainy day in November ;)
You're welcome. I didn't comment on the others because you have already gotten some correct replies there. A castle is a fortified building for nobility or royalty to be able to defend an area, while also serving as a residence which is what separates it from a fortress which is a primarily military facility. Most castles were built in medieval times. Think small windows, a keep in the center, towers, drawbridges, moats...
Palaces, however, are mainly built for comfort and luxury. Think large windows and a distinct lack of moats and keeps. (Look at the difference between Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace). The concept of palaces is also newer, coming into use in the renaissance rather than in medieval times, when the transformation of the military made knights redundant and the feudal system started to lose it's importance as a military strategy. There were also during this time less need for castles and their use, and as palaces were more comfortable overall, they became more popular. They showed economic strength whereas castles showed military strength.
When it comes to the french Chateaux, it's a much broader word and can mean either castle, palace, manor or estate.
