Richard The Lionheart's Castle: Chateau Gaillard

It was a rainy, misty day when we arrived in the village of Les Andelys in Normandy. However, we didn't allow the weather to dampen our enthusiasm for a visit to the imposing landmark sitting 90 metres up on the hill above: Chateau Gaillard.

Today there are just ruins so the castle is but a shadow of its former self - a once glorious and incredible piece of medieval architecture, brought to life by none other than King Richard 1st. Having done some reading on the subject, we understand that it was Richard's experiences whilst on crusade that inspired the building of Chateau Gaillard. He had seen some mighty walled defences and noted their architectural style which helped afford more defence.

Construction of the castle began in 1196 and, when complete just two years later - an incredible feat for such a build - it was arguably the most formidable castle in all of medieval Europe. It was also one of the first castles in Europe to ever use machiolations.

It's glory under its patron King Richard, however, was to be short-lived for only a few years after his untimely death in 1199 AD, the castle was captured by King Philippe II of France. As mentioned in our dedicated page on castle defence and attack Chateau Gaillard was ironically breached through no more than an unguarded chapel window.

We will revisit the subject of Chateau Gaillard again in our Medieval Castle Blog and share more of our photographs. In the meantime, you can read more on the Wiki page on Chateau Gailard

The French themselves have a great passion for their castles or Châteaux de France as they call them. Although the text is in French, there are some great photographs on the following Chateau Gaillard page.

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.

12th Century Medieval Abbey

Medieval religion is an intrinsic part of our history and heritage and the architecture that resulted - from churches to abbeys, priories and cathedrals - still inspires us today, even if in ruins.

The ruins of what was once a wonderful, medieval Cistercian Abbey .... this photograph was taken on the Ile de Ré, a beautiful island off the coast of La Rochelle, France.

The "Abbaye de Notre-Dame-de-Ré Les Chateliers" was founded in 1156. It was built on what at the time was a very strategic location, close to the largest docking point on the island. Described as a 'large gothic church', the Abbey flourished into the 13th and 14th centuries until devastation from the Hundred Years War took its toll. This led to structural changes and improvements in the 15th century. The ruins we see today are therefore a mixture of 12th, 13th and 15th century French medieval architecture.

It makes for fascinating study when compared to medieval abbeys in England such as Hexham Abbey (refounded as an Augustinian priory in the early 12th century).

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.