The Château de Caen is a castle in the Norman city of

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

in the Calvados ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' (

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

). It has been officially classed as a ''

Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' since 1997.

History

The castle was built by

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

(William of Normandy), who successfully conquered England in 1066. His son Henry I then built the Saint George's church, a keep (1123) and a large hall for the ducal Court. On Christmas 1182, a royal court celebration for Christmas in the

Aula Aula may refer to: *Avola, a city in Sicily (''Àula'' in Sicilian) *Aula, Eritrea, a village in western Eritrea *Aula (river) Aula is a river of Hesse, Germany. The 22.6-km Aula is a 22.6 km long tributary of the Fulda, joining it in Niederau ...

of Caen Castle brought together

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

and his sons, the future kings of England

Richard the Lionheart Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

and John Lackland, receiving more than a thousand knights. Caen Castle, along with all of Normandy, was recaptured by the French Crown in 1204. Philip II reinforced the

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

s. The castle saw several engagements during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

( 1346, 1417, 1450). The keep was pulled down in 1793 during the French Revolution, by order of the

National Convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...

. The castle, which was used as a barracks during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, was bombed in 1944 and seriously damaged. In 1946, Michel de Boüard, an archeologist from Caen, decided to start excavations in the area of the castle to bring to the light medieval traces. The '' Musée des Beaux-Arts'', which was installed in 1967, opened in 1971. Now, you can gain access to a pass and tour the large castle, and visit the university located in the centre of the area.

Structure

The castle was constructed on a hillock and is now in the middle of the city. With an area of 5.5 hectares, it is one of the largest castles in Western Europe. It remained an essential feature of Norman strategy and policy. Today, the castle serves as a museum that houses *the

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen is a fine arts museum in the French city of Caen, founded at the start of the 19th century and rebuilt in 1971 within the château de Caen, ducal château. History Opening On September 1, 1801, the Minister o ...

(Museum of Fine Arts of Caen) *the Musée de Normandie (Museum of Normandy) along with many periodical exhibitions about arts and history, in the castle residence; *Saint George's church; *the ''Échiquier de Normandie'' (

Exchequer In the Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's ''Transaction account, current account'' (i.e., mon ...

of Normandy), used as a temporary hall of exhibitions, which seated the

Court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

of Normandy; * a garden showing plants cultivated in the Middle Ages. The

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

, now razed, had a large square section with round towers at each corner. As the castle, it was also surrounded by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

. The dry moat still provides a circuit for walkers. The top of the

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

s offers a splendid view of Caen. Some parts of the curtain walls were built during the 12th century, but most of them date from the 15th century. The castle has two main entrances: the ''porte sur la ville'' ('gateway to the town') and the ''porte des champs'' ('gateway to the fields'); they are reinforced by two

barbican A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...

Recent works

Since March 2004, the town of Caen has undertaken the restoration of the ramparts, with the financial help of the ERDF (consolidation, opening of

arrow slit An arrowslit (often also referred to as an arrow loop, loophole or loop hole, and sometimes a balistraria) is a narrow vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows or a crossbowman can launch bolts. The interi ...

s walled-up during the 19th century) . 6,000 m³ of earth are being removed, in order to give a better view of the north-west wall of the 12th century. This operation has revealed the cellar of a private house of the 15th century which still has its firehouse, a powder magazine and two walls of a forge of the 14th century. Traces of the stables have also been found. The base of the keep has been cleared, and people are still working on excavations around it.

Bibliography

* Joseph Decaëns and Adrien Dubois (ed.), ''Caen Castle. A ten Centuries Old Fortress within the Town''. Publications du Centre de Recherches Archéologiques et Historiques Médiévales), Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2010,
Publications du CRAHM
* B. Guillot (éd.), Forges médiévales et écurie de la Renaissance au château de Caen. Publications du Centre de Recherches Archéologiques et Historiques Médiévales), Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2015 ()

References

External links