Medieval Castle: Château d'Angers

The medieval castle in Angers in France's Loire Valley is a must see for anyone interested in medieval history. The Château d'Angers is not only a stunning piece of medieval architecture and medieval castle design but its list of tenants over the centuries reads like the 'Who's Who' of medieval greats! Here are just some of the people who spent time at the Château d'Angers:

Henry II ~ Eleanor Of Aquitaine ~ Philip II ~ Catherine de Medici

Visiting the castle leaves a unique imprint on the mind - at least that's what we found. Its style and location as well as the colour and pattern of the stonework are like no other medieval castle we've ever seen before.The drawbridge at the entrance with its heavy chains makes you feel like you're walking back through time!

Read more about medieval castles in France on our main website.

Celebrity Weddings In Medieval Castles

Castles present a wonderful location for events and many people choose to host their wedding celebration in a castle. Some castles even have licences for people to actually have their marriage ceremony within the castle walls!

It's not surprising then to learn that many celebrities have taken this route and found themselves a romantic castle as their wedding venue.

Here are a few examples:

Odescalchi Castle, Bracciano, Italy - 15th century castle with a fascinating array of frescos plus its own museum displaying weapons, paintings, books and manuscripts.
Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes chose this as their wedding venue in 2006.

Ashford Castle Hotel, Ireland - A castle turned hotel
Pierce Brosnan & Keely Shaye Smith chose this as their wedding venue in 2001.

Sudeley Castle, England
Elizabeth Hurley & Arun Nayar selected this for their wedding in 2007.

Villa Durazzo, Italy - 17th century castle located on a hill
Rod Stewart & Penny Lancaster married here in 2007.

Skibo Castle, Scotland
Madonna & Guy Ritchie chose this ancient castle for their wedding in 2000.
More about Skibo Castle

Read more about castle wedding venues

Medieval Architecture - Medieval Castles

Medieval castles seem to fascinate people regardless of their age, from children to adults. If you visit a medieval castle this is plain to see when you look at other visitors around you. So what is it that makes medieval castles so appealing?

There is more than one answer of course because it depends upon the castle in question. For example:

• it might be a castle reputed to be haunted;
  
• it might be a castle where some famous siege or battle took place;
  
• it might be a castle where someone particularly famous lived or died;
• it might be a castle renowned for its architecture;

One thing we enjoy when we visit a medieval castle - whether it is still intact or just ruins - is that it is tangible history. You can walk up to the castle walls, touch them and think of the many centuries that have passed since the day the mortar was set between the stones.

View a short video clip we made of medieval castle stonework close up and just feel the history!

Read more about medieval castle architecture

Chevauchée - William The Conqueror's Harrying of the North

William the Conqueror was one of the most successful and ruthless military commanders of the medieval era. Although he won the Crown of England with his victory at The Battle of Hastings it took him rather longer to truly conquer the Kingdom.

During the winter of 1069/70 he headed North in response to the threat of insurrection with the support of King Sven of Denmark who had arrived with some 240 ships and took the city of York on 20 September 1069.

William's response has come down to us as the "Harrying of the North". He utterly devastated the surrounding lands, burnt the crops and destroyed all food sources for the rapidly approaching winter. This strategy isolated the Danes and cut them off from any supplies which might have come from the countryside. The Danes came to terms and left but the impact on the country as far north as Northumbria was terrible. Hunger and famine was everywhere and killed more people than those put to death by the sword.

Basically William targeted the rural population. He wasn't fighting an army or attacking medieval castles but destroying the countryside and denying food and sustenance to the people. This wasn't the first or indeed the last time that such tactics were used in medieval times. Terrible though they were their impact was undeniable.

References: Harrying Of The North on Wikipedia
"By sword and Fire". Sean McGlynn. Pub Phoenix.

Image from the Bayeaux tapestry of William 1st

Medieval Castle Videos

We now have our own medieval castle videos channel on YouTube.

In our last blog post we talked about the superb example of a donjon which we visited whilst on a trip to France. Well you can now view a short clip of its interior on our video channel - donjon video.

If you are a YouTube user and want to support our work in promoting medieval castles, please visit our video channel and feel free to subscribe and comment.

A Magnificient Medieval Donjon

The word 'donjon' is of course French and comes from the Norman French who built many of the world's greatest medieval castles. A donjon was a formidable piece of medieval architecture - a freestanding structure, rectangular in shape and most readily identifiable to what most people think of as a castle keep. 

Built for defence, a donjon had very thick walls and an internal spiral stone staircase connecting all floors (up to four storeys high). A donjon was usually constructed inside a castle's walls but was sometimes located within the curtain wall itself. I have seen many a castle keep in medieval castles over the years, particularly in Britain but I had never seen a definitive French donjon until recently when I visited Bazoges-en-Pareds. 

It was a magnificent sight, towering above the small town and dominating the skyline for miles around. Here is a video clip which I hope will convey some of that magic.

There was also a most beautiful, medieval garden located just in front of the donjon - but that's a story for another day! In the meantime, to whet your appetite, you can take a look at my medieval garden photos here in a gallery published with permission by medieval-recipes.com.

A Piece Of English History For Christmas

Medieval history in general and medieval castles in particular hold a great fascination for many people. Do you or does someone amongst your friends or family fall into this 'interest' category? If so, then buying Christmas gifts for them to enjoy is not that difficult.

You can choose from a wide selection of medieval history books online and there's plenty of medieval style jewelry as well if budgets allow. Some castles even sell their own, individually branded castle gifts.

Eastnor Castle in England is a great example. A fairytale, mock medieval castle with stunning architecture, the castle is set in a wonderful setting in the English Malvern Hills (Edward Elgar country). It is in great demand as one of England's most romantic wedding venues and stages some high profile, outdoor public events such as The Big Chill and Mud Runner.

Romance, character and history all rolled into one, Eastnor Castle is a great place to visit - but what if you can't get there? What if you are at the other side of the world? Well, this is where the Castle Online Store comes in. Amongst the super gifts you can buy are a mounted print of the castle (see picture above) and ceramic pot stands (right) decorated with the Pugin deer design from Eastnor Castle's drawing room fireplace tile. There is a range of gifts for all ages and any time of year in fact, not just Christmas ... so that's a few birthday presents sorted as well!

Medieval France - Castles, Churches & Abbeys

This Medieval Castle Blog focuses, for the most part, on British medieval history - from haunted castles in England such as Carlisle Castle for example through to British medieval kings and queens and more.

British medieval history, however, would not be so fascinating if it were not for the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the ensuing centuries of links with France. Medieval France is, therefore, a very relevant subject to study if we are to understand British medieval history in depth.

In recent blog posts, we have started to cover medieval France - eg. the medieval garden at Bazoges-en-Pareds and the haunted Tiffauges castle - and we intend to do so even more. We some stunning photographs and video from a recent trip to France where we visited numerous medieval castles, churches, abbeys, priories and cathedrals.

Here is a photograph we took of a 13th century medieval priory in St Prouant (Vendee). Known as the Prieure de Grammont it was founded by none other than Richard The Lionheart (great uncle to King Edward I) and is today one of the best preserved medieval monasteries in all France.

A Medieval Garden

One of the most fascinating aspects of medieval castle life is what people ate and drank. Life was very different then to now and most people today have simply no idea what it took to source and prepare a daily meal. 

 The castle owners, of course, had plenty of servants to rely on but to help them have access to a wide variety of food, they often had a medieval garden within the castle grounds. 

Medieval gardens were usually a mixture of vegetables, herbs and flowers with the majority being used in cooking but some, particularly the herbs, being used for medicinal purposes. 

Here is a photograph of a medieval garden in France which we visited recently. It is set within the grounds of a medieval castle - a medieval donjon in fact. 

 

One of the 16 sections of the garden

Walking in the shade under a canopy of vines, the air was filled with the sweet aroma of medieval herbs such as rosemary, hissup, purslane and mace .... simply wonderful!

When Were Medieval Castles Built?

This is a good question and a common one for many people when they first become interested in medieval history.

Medieval times spanned several centuries so you might have an early medieval castle or a late medieval castle, both of which belong to the same definitive period in history (ie. medieval) BUT both quite different in their castle archictecture and construction.

Here are 2 examples:

Dover Castle - built in 1066

Threave Castle - built in 1370

A difference of 300 hundred years in when these castles were built, representing the passing of many generations of castle builders, architects, carpenters and stone masons.

Dover Castle in England was built on the coast whilst Threave Castle in Scotland was built inland on the river Dee. A notable point about Threave however is that it was built with its own little harbour on an island in the middle of the river - see photo which I took when visiting Threave Castle in 2009.

For more details on when medieval castles were built read the Medieval Castles Timeline.

Medieval Castles in 2009

During the course of this year we have visited and photographed a number of medieval castles in the Border region that lies between England and Scotland. It is an area that has seen many battles for power over the centuries and is therefore littered with fortresses many of which date back to medieval times and some such as Carlisle Castle having origins even further back - to Roman times.

Carlisle Castle (Cumbria England)
With over 900 years of history. Architecturally fascinating and reputed to be haunted!

Naworth Castle (Cumbria England)
A small, privately owned medieval castle dating back to the early 14th century.

Dacre Castle (Cumbria England)
An even smaller castle, again privately owned which was up for rental at the time we visited.

Dunstanburgh Castle (Northumberland, England)
Castle ruins in one of the most outstanding locations you could ever dream of! Located high on a promintery overlooking the sea. Breathtaking views once you reach it and look down on the surrounding countryside. Legends abound about this castle and it is reputed to be haunted.

Threave Castle (Scotland)
Ruins of a 13th century castle built in a unique location - on an island in the middle of the river Dee.

Hermitage Castle (Scotland)
Another unique location for a medieval castle - this was far from romantic though. A much more desolate location. Castle reputed to be haunted.

Photographs of each of the above will be published in subsequent blog posts.

Spooky Stories From Medieval Castles On Halloween!

If you've been reading our Medieval Castle Blog during the month of October you will know that we have been recounting 'white lady' ghost stories at some of Britain's medieval castles. Well, for those of you who haven't had enough and want yet more spooky stories for your Halloween bedtime reading, let us point you in the right direction ....

Haunted Castles In England
Haunted Castles In Scotland
Haunted Castles In Ireland
Haunted Castles In Wales

On a personal note, one of the most 'spooky' castles I have ever visited has to be Hermitage Castle in Scotland. It is difficult to explain but the moment you set eyes on the castle it really grips you and holds your attention. It has a powerful, eery appearance and when you see it close up and then enter inside the ruins the atmosphere is very intense. Hermitage Castle is set close to a river, in open countryside and with views to distant fields and hills all around. It has to be one of the most distinctive of medieval castles I have ever seen - though not one that I would relish revisiting. There was a coldness to it that even now is clear in the memory as I write this post. See our dedicated page on Hermitage Castle and read about 2 of its ghost stories.

A Medieval Castle With Its Own Harbour

Now here's something you don't see every day ... a medieval castle with its own harbour. On a recent visit to Scotland we took in a trip to Threave Castle.

Set in a stunning location on a tiny island in the middle of the river Dee, the remains of this medieval castle can only be reached by walking down to the river's edge, ringing an old-fashioned bell and waiting for the ferryman to come and take you across in his little boat! With room for only 4 passengers, the boat happily phut-phuts along taking just a minute or so to cross the narrow stretch of water to land you on the jetty the other side.

Threave Castle is a ruin but one you can still go inside and from its highest point you can savour its uniqueness by surveying the unspoiled landscape around it, watching the current of the river Dee cut a swathe past the castle's own little harbour which was once vital to the castle's inhabitants for bringing in supplies. In the distance at the top of some tall trees we could see a large nest and with the benefit of binoculars realised it was that of a pair of Ospreys - what a wonderful sight!

The history of Threave Castle is fascinating as is its architecture but we will save those to cover another day. Suffice it to say, if you get the chance to visit Threave Castle, don't miss it!

Best Of The Web On The BBC - medieval-castle.com

This last week has been incredibly exciting for us here at medieval-castle.com. We have received many complimentary emails from medieval history fans as well as requests from castle owners to be considered for inclusion in the site - and all because of the BBC.

On 1 May the BBC's flagship technology program 'Click' did a review of "Best Of The Web". Their reviewer Kate Russell selected 4 websites .... just 4 from the 1 trillion unique URLs* that currently exist on the Web. Out of those 4, one was on medieval castles - and it was medieval-castle.com! If you missed the tv show just follow the link to watch the tv clip.

Kate was very flattering to the site and gave it the kind of review that money cannot buy. Here's a line extracted from her comments:
"This site is a must for architecture and history fans alike"

All we can say is 'Thank you Kate' - your endorsement restores our faith in reviewers. (Well, let's face it there are some real cynics out there when it comes to reviewing websites!) The reaction from the public too has been equally strong. There are clearly many, many people out there who love medieval history and in particular medieval castles and that's great news in this day and age. History is truly alive and kicking!

For our part we take all of this as a thumbs up for the further development of the site. So please keep revisiting to see what's next on the agenda.

* = this is according to Google who in July 2008 claimed to have seen a trillion unique URLs. Moreover, the number of web pages is, they claim, growing by several billion per day! Read more:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/we-knew-web-was-big.html