From the time of Henry II (1154 - 1189) until Richard III (1483 - 1485) Nottingham Castle was as much a royal palace as a fortress. Successive kings spent vast sums of money on not only improving the castle's defences but also making the accommodation suitable for a king and queen. Provision had to be made for all those people that travelled with the king - the Royal Family, knights, men-at-arms, ladies-in-waiting, clerks and servants - in all at least one hundred persons.

The death of Richard III saw the end of an era for Nottingham Castle. Although for the next hundred years it remained the principal royal fortress in the North Midlands, the introduction of artillery and stable central government from London combined to make castles obsolete.