That castle is in amazing preservation state, and it's a 10! Really liked the almond shaped towers that are, as you said, very rare. Thank you and cheers.
Thank you. One of the viewers mentioned here in the comments that the almond-shape might have been a Byzantine invention. Hopefully we van check out Byzantine castles someday
Thanks for a straightforward and informative video. I'd love to tour around the castles of France someday and see the variety of designs and histories.
Wonder of the damage to the facing masonry on the center guard tower is the result of a siege engine throwing stones at it to break it. Very interesting place, for sure. It stands as a warning; never trust the English and do not side with Burgundy against the Crown of France. LOL
One often hears that the builders of the 13th century built for eternity whereas in the 14th century they built hoping that it would survive the year. Nevertheless, it's hard to imagine how the building came down to the present in the state you filmed without much maintenance. One supposes they were building with something more durable than the tufa of the Loire Valley. Did your research or the interpretive panels indicate what kind of stone it is?
No, we're sorry. No idea what stone it actually is, seemed like a sandstone. In any case the recent decades the castle did get quite a lot of love to have it looking good again 👍
@@TheHistoryHikers Yes, possibly. Although you have those corridors on most sections of the walls of Rome too dating from the late 3rd century and that most pilgrims or diplomats going to Rome could have seen and imitated, Rome being the best example to follow. You could also argue that in the south-west of France you got those Romanesque churches covered by a succession of cupolas, much like in the Holy Apostles of Constantinople or Saint-Marc in Venice, which were both Byzantine. Again, Roman and Byzantine are not totally separable, but the almond-shaped towers do seem to date rather to the period when the Roman Empire continued only in the East in the 7th century like in the fort of Ankara for example.
The Castle of Châlus. On his return to England, Richard was recrowned at Winchester in 1194, before crossing the channel to defend his various territories against King Phillip Augustus of France. Five years later he died in France during a minor siege of the castle of Châlus against a rebellious baron.
The Burg Montfort, not far away from the Dalburg in Rhineland - Palatinate has an "almond-shaped" keep to. The Earl of Montfort build this castle after he came back from a crusade. So far as we know was Richard Lionheart on crusade too. May be the idea of almond-shaped towers came from the ancient Jerusalem??
@@TheHistoryHikers I found this in Wikipedia : "Jerusalem in the Middle Ages was a major Byzantine metropolis from the 4th century CE before the advent on the early Islamic period in the 7th century" In this case Jerusalem could have buildings and towers from the byzantine period.
Why? Don't get me wrong please, I would prefer a German Imperor too, instead of a president. The reason is clear, the German president has nothing to say, it's just for "decoration" but earns a huge amount of money from the taxpayers. A German Imperor instead has nothing to say too, and is also for "decoration" but is able to live without the money from taxpayers.. Best wishes to France. 😊
@@danielkaufmann15 But whenever any crown got a little short of funds they basically just went out pillaging & plundering to realign the faithful & take their cash ! And most of the current Royal houses own so much property now they are immune from the need for that plundering.
I wonder who the heads in the tower were supposed to represent. Were they real people, saints or important members of the builder's family? Or were they decorative like gargoyles or angels? Something about them looked fantastical, like perhaps they were not representative of real people.
I have a Hardback DORLING KINDERSLEY DK EYEWITNESS GUIDES Book of MEDIEVAL LIFE. Discover medieval Europe - from life in a country manor to the streets of a developing town.
This was definitely one of our favorites! What is your arbitrary subjective 🏰 score?
Hello from Brazil 👏🏼. Beautiful video. I love old medieval castle and history. Congratulations for your work 👏🏼 ☕️☕️☕️☕️
Thanks so much for watching as always ❤️
That castle is in amazing preservation state, and it's a 10! Really liked the almond shaped towers that are, as you said, very rare. Thank you and cheers.
Thank you. One of the viewers mentioned here in the comments that the almond-shape might have been a Byzantine invention. Hopefully we van check out Byzantine castles someday
Definitely a 10+ I will watch again to enjoy this castle!
Super 🤩
Got to give it an 11. So few castles from the early period survive so well.
That is a good way to put it, thanks!
Thanks for a straightforward and informative video. I'd love to tour around the castles of France someday and see the variety of designs and histories.
Thank you. We hope we can inspire you for when you are able to do the tour yourself 👍
CRaaaaZY WiCKEd cOoL, thank you!!!🎉
Thanks 😎❤️
10!
🏰
Wonder of the damage to the facing masonry on the center guard tower is the result of a siege engine throwing stones at it to break it.
Very interesting place, for sure.
It stands as a warning; never trust the English and do not side with Burgundy against the Crown of France. LOL
We didn't read anything about any sieges, so maybe it was just plain old boring time doing the damage. 😅
One often hears that the builders of the 13th century built for eternity whereas in the 14th century they built hoping that it would survive the year. Nevertheless, it's hard to imagine how the building came down to the present in the state you filmed without much maintenance. One supposes they were building with something more durable than the tufa of the Loire Valley. Did your research or the interpretive panels indicate what kind of stone it is?
No, we're sorry. No idea what stone it actually is, seemed like a sandstone. In any case the recent decades the castle did get quite a lot of love to have it looking good again 👍
Funny to see that in medieval castles open to the public there is always - or very often in any case - a random pillory ....
Got to make it look medieval, right? 😅
@@TheHistoryHikers Gotta find out if there is a big workshop somewhere that produces them en masse
Almond shaped towers are indeed rare, they originate from Byzantine fortification.
Interesting. So it probably also came back to France from the Crusades like the corridors in the walls...
@@TheHistoryHikers Yes, possibly. Although you have those corridors on most sections of the walls of Rome too dating from the late 3rd century and that most pilgrims or diplomats going to Rome could have seen and imitated, Rome being the best example to follow. You could also argue that in the south-west of France you got those Romanesque churches covered by a succession of cupolas, much like in the Holy Apostles of Constantinople or Saint-Marc in Venice, which were both Byzantine. Again, Roman and Byzantine are not totally separable, but the almond-shaped towers do seem to date rather to the period when the Roman Empire continued only in the East in the 7th century like in the fort of Ankara for example.
Is this place where King Richard the 1st the Lionheart was Crossbow shot in battle?
No, wasn't that during the Crusades?
The Castle of Châlus.
On his return to England, Richard was recrowned at Winchester in 1194, before crossing the channel to defend his various territories against King Phillip Augustus of France. Five years later he died in France during a minor siege of the castle of Châlus against a rebellious baron.
The Burg Montfort, not far away from the Dalburg in Rhineland - Palatinate has an "almond-shaped" keep to. The Earl of Montfort build this castle after he came back from a crusade.
So far as we know was Richard Lionheart on crusade too.
May be the idea of almond-shaped towers came from the ancient Jerusalem??
Could be. One of the other commenters mentioned Byzantine castles often have almond-shaped towers. So Crusades: yes, but maybe from Byzantium
@@TheHistoryHikers
I found this in Wikipedia :
"Jerusalem in the Middle Ages was a major Byzantine metropolis from the 4th century CE before the advent on the early Islamic period in the 7th century"
In this case Jerusalem could have buildings and towers from the byzantine period.
We are narrowing in on the solution!
I wish France was a Monarch today.
Its such a shame its not anymore. 😞😔🙏👑➕🏰⚜️⚜️⚜️
That's history for ya...
Thanks.
Why?
Don't get me wrong please, I would prefer a German Imperor too, instead of a president.
The reason is clear, the German president has nothing to say, it's just for "decoration" but earns a huge amount of money from the taxpayers.
A German Imperor instead has nothing to say too, and is also for "decoration" but is able to live without the money from taxpayers..
Best wishes to France. 😊
@@danielkaufmann15 But whenever any crown got a little short of funds they basically just went out pillaging & plundering to realign the faithful & take their cash ! And most of the current Royal houses own so much property now they are immune from the need for that plundering.
Amazing, although there are no windows to fly through 🙂
Because back then big windows weren't very smart to defend a castle 😉
I wonder who the heads in the tower were supposed to represent. Were they real people, saints or important members of the builder's family? Or were they decorative like gargoyles or angels? Something about them looked fantastical, like perhaps they were not representative of real people.
I don't think they were supposed to be real people. In other castles it's often like a troubadour or something. It's mostly decorative
I have a Hardback DORLING KINDERSLEY DK EYEWITNESS GUIDES Book of MEDIEVAL LIFE.
Discover medieval Europe - from life in a country manor to the streets of a developing town.
Awesome
Thanks.