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During Richard's reign, [[the Crown]]'s expenditure on castles declined from the levels under [[Henry II of England|Henry II]], Richard's father, although this has been attributed to a concentration of resources on England's war with France.<ref>{{harvnb|Allen Brown|1955|pp=355–356.}}</ref> However, the work at Château-Gaillard cost an estimated £15,000 to £20,000 between 1196 and 1198.<ref>{{harvnb|McNeill|1992|p=42.}}</ref> This was double Richard's spending on castles in England, an estimated £7,000.<ref>{{harvnb|Gillingham|2002|p=304.}}</ref> The [[Pipe rolls]] for the construction of Château-Gaillard contain the earliest details of how work was organised in castle building and what activities were involved. Amongst those workmen mentioned in the rolls are quarrymen, masons, carpenters, smiths, soldiers to guard the workers, diggers who cut the ditch surrounding the castle, and carters who transported the raw materials to the castle. A master-mason is omitted, and military historian Allen Brown has suggested that it may be because Richard himself was the overall architect; this is supported by the interest Richard showed in the work through his frequent presence.<ref name="Allen Brown 113"/>
During Richard's reign, [[the Crown]]'s expenditure on castles declined from the levels under [[Henry II of England|Henry II]], Richard's father, although this has been attributed to a concentration of resources on England's war with France.<ref>{{harvnb|Allen Brown|1955|pp=355–356.}}</ref> However, the work at Château-Gaillard cost an estimated £15,000 to £20,000 between 1196 and 1198.<ref>{{harvnb|McNeill|1992|p=42.}}</ref> This was double Richard's spending on castles in England, an estimated £7,000.<ref>{{harvnb|Gillingham|2002|p=304.}}</ref> The [[Pipe rolls]] for the construction of Château-Gaillard contain the earliest details of how work was organised in castle building and what activities were involved. Amongst those workmen mentioned in the rolls are quarrymen, masons, carpenters, smiths, soldiers to guard the workers, diggers who cut the ditch surrounding the castle, and carters who transported the raw materials to the castle. A master-mason is omitted, and military historian Allen Brown has suggested that it may be because Richard himself was the overall architect; this is supported by the interest Richard showed in the work through his frequent presence.<ref name="Allen Brown 113"/>


Not only was the castle built at considerable expense to the Crown, but it was built relatively rapidly;<ref name="Allen Brown 62"/> construction of large stone castles often took the best part of a decade, and the work at [[Dover Castle]] between 1112 and 1191 cost £7,000.<ref>{{harvnb|McNeill|1992|pp=41–42.}}</ref> Richard was present during part of the construction to ensure construction proceeded at a rate he was happy with.<ref>{{harvnb|Liddiard|2005|pp=42–43.}}</ref> According to [[William of Newburgh]], in May 1198 Richard and the labourers working on the castle were drenched in a rain of blood but Richard was undeterred:
Not only was the castle built at considerable expense to the Crown, but it was built relatively rapidly;<ref name="Allen Brown 62"/> construction of large stone castles often took the best part of a decade, and the work at [[Dover Castle]] between 1112 and 1191 cost £7,000.<ref>{{harvnb|McNeill|1992|pp=41–42.}}</ref> Richard was present during part of the construction to ensure construction proceeded at a rate he was happy with.<ref>{{harvnb|Liddiard|2005|pp=42–43.}}</ref> According to [[William of Newburgh]], in May 1198 Richard and the labourers working on the castle were drenched in a rain of blood. While some of his advisers thought the rain was an evil omen, Richard was undeterred.<ref>{{harvnb|Gillingham|2002|p=303.}}</ref>


{{quote|the king was not moved by this to slacken one whit the pace of work, in which he took such keen pleasure that, unless I am mistaken, even if an angel had descended from heaven to urge its abandonment he would have been roundly cursed.|William of Newburgh<ref>{{harvnb|Liddiard|2005|pp=112–113.}}</ref>}}
{{quote|the king was not moved by this to slacken one whit the pace of work, in which he took such keen pleasure that, unless I am mistaken, even if an angel had descended from heaven to urge its abandonment he would have been roundly cursed.|William of Newburgh<ref>{{harvnb|Liddiard|2005|pp=112–113.}}</ref>}}

Revision as of 16:30, 23 December 2009

For the commune in the Ain département, see Château-Gaillard, Ain.
Château-Gaillard
Les Andelys, France
The ruins of a castle in grey limestone. It dominates the landscape. The castle's keep protrudes above the walls of the inner bailey; to the left a tower stands taller than the ruined walls.
View of Château-Gaillard
Château-Gaillard is located in France
Château-Gaillard
Château-Gaillard
TypeConcentric castle
Site history
Builtc. 1196–1198
Built byRichard the Lionheart
MaterialsLimestone
Demolished1599–1611
EventsAngevin Empire
French Wars of Religion

Château-Gaillard is a ruined medieval castle, located above the town of Les Andelys overlooking the River Seine, in the Eure département of Normandy, France. It is located some 95 kilometres (59 mi) north-west of Paris and 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Rouen. Construction began in 1196 under the auspices of Richard the Lionheart, who was simultaneously King of England and feudal Duke of Normandy. The castle was expensive to build, but the majority of the work was done in an unusually short time. Château-Gaillard was captured in 1204 by the French king, Philip II. In the mid-14th century, the castle was the residence of the exiled David II of Scotland. The castle changed time several times in the Hundred Years' War, but in 1449 the French captured Château-Gaillard from the English for the last time, and from then on it remained in French ownership. Henry IV of France ordered the demolition of Château-Gaillard in the late 16th century. The castle ruins are listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. The inner bailey is open to the public from March to November, and the outer baileys are open all year.

History

Construction

From 1190 to 1192, Richard the Lionheart was on Crusade. He went with Philip II of France as each was wary of the other invading his territory in his absence.[1] Richard was captured and imprisoned on the return journey to England, and he was not released until 4 February 1194. In Richard's absence, his brother John revolted with the aid of Philip; amongst Philip's conquest in the period of Richard's imprisonment was Normandy. It took Richard until 1198 to reconquer Normandy.[2]

The site of Château-Gaillard was identified as a strategic position, and under the terms of the Peace of Louviers (December 1195) between Richard and Philip II neither king was allowed to fortify the site. Despite this, Richard ordered the construction of the castle.[3] The purpose of the castle was to protect the duchy of Normandy from Philip II,[4] and to act as a base from which he could launch his campaign to take back the Vexin from French control.[5] Richard tried to obtain the manor of Andeli, the location of the site, through negotiation. Walter de Coutances, Archibishop of Rouen, was reluctant to sell the manor as it was one of the diocese's most profitable, and other lands belonging to the diocese had recently been damaged through war.[3] When Philip besieged Aumale in Normandy, Richard grew tired of waiting and seized the manor,[3][6] although the act was opposed by the Church.[7]

In an attempt to get Pope Celestine III to intercede, Walter de Coutances left for Rome in November 1196. Richard sent a delegation to represent him in Rome, however one of the party, William Longchamp, died along the way.[8] Walter de Coutances issued an interdict against the duchy of Normandy which prohibited church services from being performed in the region. Roger of Howden detailed "the unburied bodies of the dead lying in the streets and square of the cities of Normandy". Construction began with the interdict hanging over Normandy, but it was later repealed in April 1197 by Celestine, after Richard made gifts of land to Walter de Coutances.[9][10] As reparations, Richard gave the church of Rouen two manors and the prosperous port of Dieppe.[11] The site of Château-Gaillard had not been fortified before, and the town of Les Andelys was constructed at the same time.[12] In English "Château-Gaillard" means "castle saucy".[13]

A tall pale grey wall around an enclosure and surrounded by a ditch. A modern metal bridge leads up to the entrance between two towers in the wall. A square stone tower rises above the wall.
The keep of Château-Gaillard is surrounded by a moat.

During Richard's reign, the Crown's expenditure on castles declined from the levels under Henry II, Richard's father, although this has been attributed to a concentration of resources on England's war with France.[14] However, the work at Château-Gaillard cost an estimated £15,000 to £20,000 between 1196 and 1198.[15] This was double Richard's spending on castles in England, an estimated £7,000.[16] The Pipe rolls for the construction of Château-Gaillard contain the earliest details of how work was organised in castle building and what activities were involved. Amongst those workmen mentioned in the rolls are quarrymen, masons, carpenters, smiths, soldiers to guard the workers, diggers who cut the ditch surrounding the castle, and carters who transported the raw materials to the castle. A master-mason is omitted, and military historian Allen Brown has suggested that it may be because Richard himself was the overall architect; this is supported by the interest Richard showed in the work through his frequent presence.[4]

Not only was the castle built at considerable expense to the Crown, but it was built relatively rapidly;[12] construction of large stone castles often took the best part of a decade, and the work at Dover Castle between 1112 and 1191 cost £7,000.[17] Richard was present during part of the construction to ensure construction proceeded at a rate he was happy with.[18] According to William of Newburgh, in May 1198 Richard and the labourers working on the castle were drenched in a rain of blood. While some of his advisers thought the rain was an evil omen, Richard was undeterred.[19]

the king was not moved by this to slacken one whit the pace of work, in which he took such keen pleasure that, unless I am mistaken, even if an angel had descended from heaven to urge its abandonment he would have been roundly cursed.

— William of Newburgh[20]

After just a year, Château-Gaillard was nearly complete and Richard remarked "Behold, how fair is this year-old daughter of mine!"[4] Richard boasted that he could hold the castle "were the walls made of butter".[21] The castle was largely completed by 1198.[4] In his final years, the castle became Richard's favourite residence, and writs and charters were written at Château-Gaillard, bearing "apud Bellum Castrum de Rupe" (at the Fair Castle of the Rock).[12] On 6 April 1199, Richard died due to an infected arrow wound on his shoulder.[22]

The Siege of Château-Gaillard

A line drawing of Château-Gaillard under siege. To the south of the castle is the fortified town of Les Andelys, while the besieging forces are camped to the south. There are catapults and a siege tower ready to assault the castle.
An impression by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, a 19th-century architect experienced in renovating castles, of how the Siege of Château-Gaillard would have looked

After Richard's death, King John of England ineffectively defended Normandy. Château de Falaise fell to Philip's forces, as well as castles from Mortain to Pontorson; while this was going on Philip besieged Rouen.[23] The troops of Philip II of France captured Château-Gaillard after a long siege from September 1203 to March 1204, some four years after Richard's death. As King Philip continued the siege throughout the winter and King John made no attempt to relieve the castle, it was only a matter of time before the castellan was forced to capitulate.[24] During the siege, Philip ordered a group of his men to look for a weak point in the castle. The French had gained access to the outermost ward on the line of approach by undermining the tower. Following this, they gained access to the next ward via the chapel. After ambushing several unsuspecting guards, and setting fire to the buildings, Philip's men then lowered the drawbridge and allowed the rest of their army into the castle. The Anglo-Norman troops retreated to the inner ward.[25]

After a short time the French successfully breached the gate of the inner ward, and the garrison retreated finally to the keep. With supplies running low Roger de Lacy, Constable of Chester, and his garrison of 20 knights and 120 other soldiers surrendered to the French army, bringing to an end the siege on 6 March 1204.[25] In drawn-out medieval sieges, contemporary writers often emphasised the importance of dwindling supplies in the capitulation of the garrison, as was the case with the Siege of Château-Gaillard.[26] With the castle under French control, the main obstacle to the French entering the Seine valley was removed; they were able to enter the valley unmolested and take back Normandy from the English.[27] The city of Rouen surrendered to Philip II on 23 June 1204.[28] After that, the rest of Normandy was easily conquered by the French.[27]

Under French control

In 1314, Château-Gaillard was the prison of Margaret of Artois and Blanche of Brittany, two French noblewomen; they were locked up and had their heads shaved for committing adultery.[29] Following the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333 during the Second War of Scottish Independence, the child-king David II and certain of his court were forced to flee to France for safety. At the time, southern Scotland was occupied by the forces of King Edward III of England. David, then nine years old, and his bride Joan of the Tower, the twelve-year-old daughter of Edward II, were granted the use of Château-Gaillard by Philip VI. It remained their residence until David's return to Scotland in 1341. David did not stay out of English hands for long after his return; he was captured after the Battle of Neville's Cross in 1346 and endured an eleven-year captivity.[30]

During the Hundred Years' War, ownership of the castle changed several times: King Henry V of England besieged Château-Gaillard for six months before capturing it in 1418; the French retook the castle in 1420, but it soon fell into English hands again. In 1449 the castle was taken by the French for the last time.[31] At the request of the French States-General, King Henry IV ordered the demolition of Château-Gaillard in 1599.[32][33] Some of the building material was reused by Capuchin monks who were granted permission to use the stone for maintaining their monasteries. In 1611, the demolition of Château-Gaillard came to an end. The site was left as a ruin, and in 1862 was classified as a Monument historique.[33]

In 1962, a conference on the contribution the Normans to medieval military architecture was held at Les Andelys. Allen Brown attended the conference and remarked that the castle was "in satisfying receipt of skilful care and attention". The journal Château-Gaillard: Études de Castellogie Médiévale, which was published as a result of the conference, has since run to 23 volumes, based on international conferences on the subject of castles.[34][35] In the 1990s, archaeological excavations were carried out at Château-Gaillard; in conjunction with the archaeological work, efforts were made to preserve the structure.[32] Today, Château-Gaillard's inner bailey is open to the public from March to November, while the outer baileys are open all year round.[33]

The grassy outer bailey of Château-Gaillard; the land slopes away to a ditch, separating the outer bailey from the middle bailey. Parts of the wall surrounding the middle bailey still stand. To the right is part of the wall of the outer bailey. In the background the keep rises above the walls of the inner bailey.
The ruins of Château-Gaillard from within the outer bailey to the south. In the background is the keep and wall around the inner bailey; the other ruins are part of the walls of the middle and outer baileys.
The ruins of a castle in grey limestone dominating the landscape. The River Seine is in the background. The castle's keep protrudes above the walls of the inner bailey on the right, with a bridge leading up to the bailey's entrance. To are ruins of the wall enclosing the outer bailey; a tower stands taller than the ruined walls.
The ruins of Château-Gaillard from the west. The keep is on the right and the ruins of the outer bailey, including remains of some of the towers, are on the left.

Innovations and layout

Plan of Château-Gaillard, with north pointing to the bottom-left hand corner. The inner-bailey and keep is at the bottom of the plan and the outer-bailey is at the top.

The castle sits on a high limestone promontory, 300 feet (91 m) above Les Andelys and overlooking a bend in the River Seine. The castle was connected with Andelys through a series of contemporary outworks.[9] Château-Gaillard consists of three baileys – an inner, a middle, and an outer with the main entrance to the castle – and a keep, also called a donjon, in the inner-bailey. The baileys are separated by rock-cut ditches. The curtain walls are studded by flanking towers, intended to provide enfilading fire, were cylindrical, typical of contemporary towers. The design of the inner bailey, with its wall studded with semi-circular projections, is unparalleled.[12] This innovation had two advantages: firstly, the rounded wall absorbed the damage from siege engines much better as it did not provide a perfect angle to aim at; secondly, the arrowslits in the curved wall allowed arrows to be fired at all angles.[36] The gatehouse to the inner-bailey was one of the earliest examples of towers flanking the entrance to remove the blind-spot immediately in front of the gate.[37][38] This was part of a wider trend from around the late 12th or 13th century onwards for gateways to be strongly defended.[39] Military historian Sir Charles Oman wrote of the castle:

Château Gaillard, as we have already had occasion to mention, was considered the masterpiece of its time. The reputation of its builder, Coeur de Lion, as a great military engineer might stand firm on this single structure. He was no mere copyist of the models he had seen in the East, but introduced many original details of his own invention into the stronghold.

— Oman 1991[36]

Allen Brown has described Château-Gaillard as "one of the finest castles in Europe".[12] He also remarks that the design of the castle was advanced for its age, as it used early principles of concentric fortification before it was fully developed during the Crusades in castles such as Krak des Chevaliers.[12][40] Concentric castles were widely copied across Europe, for instance when Edward I of England – who had himself been on Crusade – built castles in Wales in the late 13th century, four of the eight he founded were concentric.[40][41] Château-Gaillard was also one of the first castles in Europe to use machicolations – stone projections on top of a wall with openings that allowed objects to be dropped on an enemy at the base off the wall.[42][43] Machicolations were introduced to Western architecture as a result of the Crusades. Until the 13th century, the tops of towers in European castles had usually been surrounded by wooden galleries, which served the same same purpose as machicolations. An Eastern innovation, they may originate in the first half of the 8th century.[44] There is nothing similar to keep of Château-Gaillard in England, but there are buildings with a similar design in France in the 12th and 13th centuries.[45]

Despite Château-Gaillard's reputation as a great fortress, historian Liddiard highlights the absence of a well inside the castle as a peculiar weakness, and the castle was built on soft chalk, which would have allowed the walls to be undermined. This is attributed to the importance of Château-Gaillard resting not solely as a military structure, but as a salient symbol of the power of its builder, Richard the Lionheart. Liddiard emphasises the importance of the throne room in the keep; one of only two rooms (the other was an antechamber), the throne would have sat in front of a large window.[13] Castles such as Château-Gaillard in France and Dover in England were amongst the most advanced of their age, but were surpassed in both sophistication and cost by the works of Edward I of England in the latter half of the 13th century.[4]

See also

References

Notes
  1. ^ Gillingham 2002, p. 123.
  2. ^ Gillingham 2004.
  3. ^ a b c Gillingham 2002, p. 301.
  4. ^ a b c d e Allen Brown 2004, p. 113.
  5. ^ Gillingham 2002, pp. 304–305.
  6. ^ Turner 1997, p. 10.
  7. ^ Packard 1922, p. 20.
  8. ^ Gillingham 2002, pp. 301–302.
  9. ^ a b Gillingham 2002, p. 302.
  10. ^ Allen Brown 2004, p. 112.
  11. ^ Gillingham 2002, pp. 303–304.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Allen Brown 2004, p. 62.
  13. ^ a b Liddiard 2005, p. 54.
  14. ^ Allen Brown 1955, pp. 355–356.
  15. ^ McNeill 1992, p. 42.
  16. ^ Gillingham 2002, p. 304.
  17. ^ McNeill 1992, pp. 41–42.
  18. ^ Liddiard 2005, pp. 42–43.
  19. ^ Gillingham 2002, p. 303.
  20. ^ Liddiard 2005, pp. 112–113.
  21. ^ Oman 1991, p. 32.
  22. ^ Flori 1999, pp. 200, 208.
  23. ^ Powicke 1999, p. 259.
  24. ^ Oman 1991, p. 35.
  25. ^ a b Oman 1991, p. 37.
  26. ^ Allen Brown 2004, p. 139.
  27. ^ a b Baldwin 1969, p. 1.
  28. ^ Cothren 1986, pp. 211–212.
  29. ^ Caviness 1993, pp. 334–336.
  30. ^ Webster 2004
  31. ^ Kibler 1995, pp. 213–214.
  32. ^ a b Andelys (Les): Château Gaillard (in French), adlfi.fr, retrieved 2009-12-21
  33. ^ a b c Château-Gaillard (PDF), Tourism office of Ville Andelys, retrieved 2009-12-21
  34. ^ Allen Brown 1962–63, p. 304.
  35. ^ The Castle Studies Group – New Publications: New Books on Castles to be published during 2008-9, The Castle Studies Group, retrieved 2009-12-21
  36. ^ a b Oman 1991, p. 33.
  37. ^ Allen Brown 2004, pp. 62, 64.
  38. ^ Friar 2003, pp. 124–125.
  39. ^ Cathcart King 1988, pp. 77–78.
  40. ^ a b Friar 2003, p. 77.
  41. ^ Cathcart King 1988, p. 83.
  42. ^ Friar 2003, p. 32.
  43. ^ Creswell 1953, p. 3.
  44. ^ Cathcart King 1988, pp. 84–87.
  45. ^ Allen Brown 2004, p. 54.
Bibliography
  • Allen Brown, R (1955), "Royal Castle-Building in England, 1154-1216", The English Historical Review, 70 (276), Oxford University Press: 353–398
  • Allen Brown, R (1962–63), "Conference on castles at Les Andelys, 1962", Medieval Archaeology, 6–7: 304
  • Allen Brown, R (2004) [1954], Allen Brown's English Castles, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, ISBN 1843830698
  • Baldwin, John (1969), "Philip Augustus and the Norman Church", French Historical Studies, 6 (1), Duke University Press: 1–30
  • Cathcart King, David James (1988), The Castle in England and Wales: an Interpretative History, London: Croom Helm, ISBN 0-918400-08-2
  • Caviness, Madeline (1993), "Patron or Matron? A Capetian Bride and a Vade Mecum for Her Marriage Bed", Speculum, 68 (2), Medieval Academy of America: 333–362
  • Cothren, Michael, "The Seven Sleepers and the Seven Kneelers: Prolegomena to a Study of the "Belles Verrières" of the Cathedral of Rouen", Gesta, 25 (2), International Center of Medieval Art: 203–226
  • Creswell, K (1953), "Problems in Islamic Architecture", The Art Bulletin, 35 (1), College Art Association: 1–7
  • Flori, Jean (1999), Richard the Lionheart: Knight and King, translated by Jean Birrell, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-2047-0
  • Friar, Stephen (2003), The Sutton Companion to Castles, Stroud: Sutton Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7509-3994-2
  • Gillingham, John (2002), Richard I, London: Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-09404-3 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |orig= ignored (help)
  • Gillingham, John (2004), "Richard I (1157–1199), king of England", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, retrieved 2009-12-22
  • Kibler, William (1995), Medieval France: an encyclopedia, Routledge, ISBN 978-0824044442
  • Liddiard, Robert (2005), Castles in Context: Power, Symbolism and Landscape, 1066 to 1500, Macclesfield: Windgather Press Ltd, ISBN 0-9545575-2-2
  • McNeill, Tom (1992), English Heritage Book of Castles, London: English Heritage and B. T. Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-7025-9
  • Oman, Charles (1991), A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages, Volume Two: 1278–1485 AD, Greenhill Books
  • Packard, Sydney (1922), "King John and the Norman Church", The Harvard Theological Review, 15 (1), Cambridge University Press: 15–40
  • Powicke, Maurice (1999) [1913], Loss of Normandy, 1198–1204, Manchester University Press, ISBN 978-0719057403
  • Turner, Ralph (1997), "Richard Lionheart and English Episcopal Elections", Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies, 29 (1), The North American Conference on British Studies: 1–13
  • Webster, Bruce (2004), "David II (1324–1371), king of Scots", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, retrieved 2009-12-22

Further reading

  • Dieulafoy, Marcel (1898), Le Château-Gaillard et l'architecture militaire au XIIIe siècles (in French), Paris: Klincksieck
  • Héliot, Pierre (1962), "Le Château-Gaillard et les fortresses des XIIe et XIIIe siècles", Château-Gaillard (in French), 1: 53–75
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