Imbued with mystery and grandeur, the fortified castles testify to medieval civilization and cover a complex reality. By traveling from castle to castle, from the borders of Spain to the mountains of Switzerland, from the Scottish moors to the banks of the Dordogne, and thanks to 3D models, this film retraces a thousand years of medieval military construction...
Construction methods and siege techniques will constantly evolve, in a frantic race for optimal effectiveness against invaders.
In the 11th century, the first castles appear that can be described as "forts", impregnable with their ramparts and their corner towers. But this military building is also the residence of authority, of the lord. It became the symbol of feudalism in full development...
From the 14th century, the fortified castles lost their importance in front of the efficiency of the artillery which now broke all the walls and the military architects adapted the shape of the castles to thwart the new siege techniques.
The 16th and 17th centuries mark the end of fortified castles. The art of war evolved along with social structures. Now fortified cities and numerous armies are more effective in defending the kingdom. The castles gradually became the residence of lords whose authority gave way to that of the King. They are transformed into luxurious residences. The castle then no longer has anything “strong”.
Director: Serge TIGNÈRES & Benoît POISSON
I remember a few years ago I met an American on the beach at Bamburgh in Northumberland (England) and he was in complete awe at the castle rising out of the dunes. Literally he was awestruck - virtually speechless - as he must have walked the beach and wasn’t prepared for this massive imposing castle to appear. It sort of hit home to me that as a native to these parts I have always taken the numerous castles up here for granted. They are just there. Made me appreciate them a bit more when you realise not everyone has them on their doorstep. My favourite up here is Dunstanburgh - total wreck but a great coastal walk to reach it. Need to use your imagination as to how it originally looked but that is half the fun. The intact ones just don’t do it for me. I like the ones that have seen a bit of ‘action’.
I knew England had a few castles but not like a lot of them, just 3,4 and major tourist stops.
@@maehake2791 Most of them are well away from the tourist spots. I think Northumberland on its own has about 60 or 70. Lots of them up here are in ruins as they were either besieged/fought over or the stone robbed from them over the years to build barns/houses and stuff. As I say from up here they are just there - what you grow up with you take for granted I suppose.
Bamburgh, Warkworth, alnwick and Lindisfarne Castle are great too! I live in prudhoe and we have a castle in our small town. The only castle in Northumberland to not be captured by the invading Scots 🏴
I know what you mean - we had a ruined castle [Howley Hall] to play in as kids. then when I moved my neighbour had one in his garden - Wressle Castle. Talking to my American friends is really strange "What do you mean you have never seen a castle??"
@@piccalillipit9211 Probably similar for people who live near giant sequoias that get as big as some of those castle towers.
Why hasn't this come across my feed before? I love medieval history, especially castles, their construction, and functions.
Same. Many yrs ago visited several castles in Portugal and Spain, one was turned into a hotel of sorts and we stayed there, so cool and strange to sleep in such rock rooms, wide dark passageways. I was endlessly fascinated with it all as a teenager, still am. Great memories, incredible building achievements. They are simply captivating from a distance or close up
I actually love when a video pops up out of nowhere. Sometimes it leads to a few other videos I never knew existed.
looks like it's you who'll be coming across your feed haha sorry couldn't resist
during the 80's did just the same in Portugal!
No shit right!!!
I remember that in Spain in the middle of the Iberian peninsula there is a region called Castilla which literally means "land of castles".
And Catalunya, "land of castles" too
Isabelle was from Castilla and Fernadad from Argon, became King and Queen of. Spain ND the 15th century
Fantastic hour-long documentary. Love that chunks of great information like this are just freely available on KZhead.
you're giving them your data so it's not totally free
@@mitchclark1532 Free monetarily. I'll take giving them my data over a damn paid subscription any day.
Carcassone is A MUST see…it’s really close to Toulouse and is as if you entered a modern day inside medieval era! Great restaurants and lodges! Actually I had one of my birthdays there…great memories! …👌👌👌
Agree
The outer walls, the castle itself, and the various other old buildings enclosed in the walls make for a spectacular view from afar. Unfortunately the place has become a complete tourist trap - historic buildings turned into tacky souvenir shops and shitty restaurants.
Is Carcassonne really well preserved or it has been rebuild? Never been there, I'm asking because I have seen some castles that look great but when you look closer you can see the concrete. Castelo de São Jorge in Lisbon is good example of this.
@@samuelgordino been also to Castelo de São Jorge in Lisbon…check out Carcassone…it’s a different level…
@@samuelgordino is an absolutely rebuilt complex, if u look for old photos or ink drawings about 19th century Carcassone u can see that were mostly ruins and lower part of the town walls. But because the rebuilding was done more than one century and half ago if I’m not mistaken, the pass of time made that the stone gets darker and looks practically like the original parts. However if u are there in person u can distinguish the rebuilt part and the original. Another thing that is SO obvious are the roofs, if u visit many castles around Europe (the ones that just have been consolidated or preserved the structure but not rebuilt or at least like this level) u can see that absolutely no one or 99% of them have the original roofs any longer, cause those structures mostly were sustained by wooden beams, and the wood with pass of time rots, so is understandable that those kind of Disney castle tower roofs have been rebuilt in recent times as also the typical French defense wooden structures that in the last were used to protect the towers, that allowed to have more people defending the tower, u can see good example of this structure in Caracassone, and it’s really nice even not been original, which is logical cause if we talked about rot wood protected from rain, inside a tower, u can imagine how would be with an outside wood structure. Even so Caracassone deserves to visit cause the city is really beautiful and the castle itself allows to understand really well how it worked in the past and the landscape of the castle with the surroundings is really amazing. So, is it original ? No. Deserves to visit ? Definitely
i bought a ruined castle and i'm in the process of restoring it ❤😍🏰 🐎 ⚔ 👑 📸 🏰 🐎 ⚔ 👑 🏰😍❤
An awesome project!
Chapeau. Formidable. On en peut beaucoup apprendre. 500 ans. A vrai dire, c'est peu pour bâtir tant de merveilles. Je pensais que les chateaux - fortresses existaient depuis les temps des romans ou des grandes migrations du nord et du lest. Beaucoup serait perdu, mais grâce à Viollet-le-Duc, il ne faut pas rester dans l'effort de l'imagination. Domage que l'enorme église de Cluny en Bourgogne n'ait pas été restaurée jusqu'à nos jours.
Try to imagine just how utterly amazing these Castles looked back in the time they were first created... I mean even today many hundreds of years later they still look quite impressive. Incredible think what mankind was capable of so long ago. Surely I'm not the only person to fantasy about being able to go back in time (temporarily of course...) just to experience the reality the people of different time periods experienced. These Historians do a greet job at deciphering what life was like however.
I am always day dreaming about time travel. Imagining the clothes, the smells, sounds, the attitudes......
Ha, imagine blowing up a dolmen without explosive so you can harvest the stones to build a strong house or tower. Later on churches.. water/ vinegar and fire and ice. It's not like there are many rocks in the Netherlands so people had to make due. I wonder if they wonderd the same thing you are wondering about right now 😉
The castles were apparently plastered and painted white.
One of the best preserved keeps in France is the big round keep at Chateaudun, which dates back to the XIIIth century, and is an absolute marvel to look at and visit. (the castle itself is also superb, although much changed and improved in the XVth and XVIth centuries)
The tallest keep in France was that of Coucy castle, in Aisne. It was blown up by the German army in WW1. a lamentable act of cultural vandalism.
@@Foxglove963 not only the tallest castle keep in France, but in the world
A most interesting and enjoyable documentary. Thank you.
It’s so fascinating to learn and understand the history of castles of different era. I saw Carcassonne castle twice. It’s very impressive.
@@sabrinamurphy4009 Carcassone is massive -but you have to realize that most of it is an 19th century restoration by the great military architect Viollet le Duc who also restored many other French chateaux like the vast Pierrefonds castle further north.
@@kaloarepo288 and then after ... ?!
I have always been in aww at the beauty and granger of the castle. As a craftsman of stained glass the beauty and splendor of the windows is my greatest fascination. i have made many windows, lamps and have been commissioned to build pieces. But in my mind i can never reach the heights of the masters of crafts of old. I have even reproduced Tiffany pieces. but i am still in aww at the beauty of the castle and church works.
Grandeur
If you haven't already, visit the Sainte Chapelle in Paris. Most impressive collection of medieval stained glass I have seen. York cathedral in England also comes to mind.
When they say "France and England" they mean the two French families who were at the helm of these two Kingdoms, the Valois (King of France) and the Plantagenet (King of England). The Plantagenet originate from the city of Angers in France. Richard Coeur de Lion was only known as "Lionheart" by the French following the Crusades and his alliance to the Valois against his father. Although born in England, he only spoke French just like his father and brothers and is buried in the land of his ancestors. So it was very much an all French affair because when the Valois lineage ran short of male heirs, the Plantagenet was the closest lineage and legitimate heirs to the throne of France. Hence the war between the two. The writer of Games of Throne actually pointed that his main Historical inspiration was the feud between the Valois and Plantagenet.
Well pet it was the indigenous British that actually BUILT these castles in Britain not the Lords or nobles.. 🙄🇬🇧
@@Ionabrodie69 They show one castle in Britain, all the others are in France but you cannot look at it from a 20th or 21st Century perspective or even earlier. Social classes are a thing of the industrial era, back in the Middle Age, there were taxes ("la dîme" from which comes the English word dime and "la gabelle") but a Lord had to keep his people fed and safe otherwise he would be quickly overthrown. The knights protected the population against invasions and guaranteed their safety and living, hence the castles. Everybody was cooperating. This protection was incidentally the reason for the only crusade that was truly successful led by Saint Louis, Godefroy de Bouillon and such. The crusaders went there to guarantee a safe passage to the pilgrims in Jerusalem, not to invade. From the moment the Crusades became a divisive war of attrition between Lords who were willing to spread their power in the region, they lost it all and were ultimately defeated by Saladin by the time they had their 3rd Crusade. It was not today's Monarchy were your monarch is just a spoiled crooked figurehead though, they have it easy nowadays. It is like our Cathedrals, there is a reason why Kings and people all walk in through the same door, back then all were equal before God. The French adage adopted by the British Monarchs "Dieu et mon Droit" means God and my right. It means God comes first and your right comes second. Nowadays, your Lords and our Presidents are playing God and that is wrong, except that in a Republic (which I despise by the way) a President is sadly not held by an adage. I don't like our Republic, it produced nothing but crooked politicians but I don't like modern Monarchies either, they all sell their image to the newspapers and come complain there are consequences for it. They are all a bunch of Prima Donnas, thieves and traitors as far as I am concerned.
The English really hate it when you say that :)) They also hate it when you say that half their vocabulary is derived from French after the Norman conquest (also notice how they refer to it as Norman and not French). They also hate it when you point out that their Royal Family is German. :)
@@goldeagle8051 Exact, in the Anglo-Saxon psyche the Norman are somehow Scandinavian because it means Men from the North but the North of Scandinavia is the Arctic, therefore it should be quite obvious the Norman are not people of Scandinavia. They are not, the Norman are from Normandy, France. Their ancestors were half Vikings, half Franks but the Norman themselves come from France and were born in France. William the Conqueror was born in France hence the reason why English is derived from the French language otherwise it would have derived from Danish, Swedish or Norwegian. It is quite obvious to anyone born in France but somehow it is not quite obvious to some Anglo-Saxon people by lack of interest I guess. Although it is easy to understand why, the English do not know their History because it does not fit the narrative of their Empire quite simply. I know for a fact that when I was working in England no English man knew who were the Plantagenet who defined the path to Modern days England with the Magna Carta signed by King John (who was a Plantagenet). Likewise I have never met an Englishman who actually knew what the motto of their Monarchy means and in what language it was written, whereas every Frenchman would know. The point is every time an Englishman mentions the 100 Years War, they ignore it was an all French affair between two French branches of the Kingdom of France one of which invaded England.
@@BonuxCouleur I think it has a lot to do with pride and chauvinism and the centuries long animosity with France. They don’t want to admit that they were actually conquered by France at one point and that it shaped their culture more than for instance the Danish invasions prior to that.
Funny thing: their sense of aesthetics and architecture is superior to many of our modern-day high-tech atrocities. A real testament to their ingenuity, engineering, and back-breaking labor.
our modern cities are built without a will for greatness
Se atenian al construirlos, la necesidad, no la estética. El trabajo de arquitectura e ingeniería, es mucho más notable en las grandes construcciones de los siglos XX y XXI. Muchísimo más sofisticada en todos los aspectos.
@@pavirko3733 Precisamente, entonces se construían por necesidad defensiva. Ahora se construye desde el punto de vista de la grandeza y la estética. Más Alto. Más Grande. Mirar los países árabes que siempre vivieron en Haimas lujosas ( los ricos). Ahora son iguales al modo actual imperante en el mundo.
I enjoyed watching this. Some really nice castles.
There are million dollar houses being built everyday and some would not last ten years these Castle last hundreds of years
Yep. Even though they don't "meet code." 😁
Simplesmente um sonho esse canal!! Eu amo esses vídeos e, a cada vídeo novo é uma viagem nos meus pensamentos!! Obrigada por proporcionar tantas viagens assim!! 🙏 Vim pelo canal do Beto Locão e amei o conteúdo aqui 👏👏👏🙋♀️🌹🌻🌹🌻
Eu também. Conheci agora.
If you are interested in castles the best place in the world to see them is Wales. There are seven within 10 miles of where i live, not royal castles but actual fighting castles in various states of repair.
You can thank my namesake for that one
You can thank the English for most of them
Dude I don’t want to sound disrespectful but Wales has like 500 castles while other countries like France Spain England have more than 2500 each
@@ashenone3050 in wales they’re all very close to each other in comparison and it has some of the best preserved and well built castles in the world. He’s right. It’s one of the best places to go see them.
@@MalleusIudaeorum so. It doesn’t make them any better than Castles in other parts of the UK.. 🤷♀️🇬🇧
Awesome! Great work, this a Huge amount of information put into this short documentary. A great challenge. Well done,!!! Thanks for sharing this nice piece. 👍👍👍
Master James and Gundulph were castle architects. Tall arrow loops allow for a greater range to shoot far or very near to the castle.
A lovely piece of film, thank you.
Great documentary. Enjoy watching much. 🍿🍿🍿
Die Burg von Beynac hat eine interessante Lage und eine wunderbare Architektur - schade, dass es da in deutscher Sprache kein Buch drüber gibt, sowohl kunsthistorisch als auch bezüglich der politischen Geschichte.
The best thing about this documentary is the idealized fantasy that helped, and spirited the restoring of medieval castles. That makes fantasy worthwhile.
What an excellent, interesting show. Thankyou.
Good Docu. They took the time to explain the progression. However I think this should have been named 'a thousand years of French castles '.
It’s a French Docu, dubbed in English.
@@goldeagle8051 yeah which is part of the reason why it should have been called 1000 years of French castles
@@obi-wankenobi5926 On the other hand. The evolution of castle building was pretty similar throughout Europe so what does it matter.
France is Europe, no? What's the big deal. A castle is a castle.
@@brittnyy113 Who's saying it's a' big deal '?
A thousand years of French castles.
I believe it's produced by French producer. The goal was to show the evolution and french castles were a good way to show evolution.
Maybe not intentional but if fits my stereo impression : when the French talk about Europe they mean France. Of course it is a good example.
Is this part of a series? Will posts for the rest of Europe be uploaded? Is England considered part of Europe? Perhaps this post should be re-titled "1000 years of French Castles"
There’s a ridiculous abundance of videos and info about English castles. There is almost no documentaries available about medieval France and French castles. Idk why y’all are complaining, literally every other video on KZhead is about English ones.
@@BobUikder-ig4uqthe complaint is about the false title. I went into this with the expectation of seeing spanish, german, french and so on castles but it was only France. Therefore: disappointment even if the french castles are nice
Amazing piece. Thank you!!
This makes it sound like motte & bailey castles were the start . They weren't. Carcassonne has over 50 turrets, and most of them are Roman in construction. As a citadel, it goes WAY back. It was old by the time of Charlemagne. Motte & Bailey were of Celtic or Germanic origin in northern Europe. I don't believe they were used in either Spain or Italy. I also have never heard of them being built in Eastern Europe - although I could be wrong about that. I think that the wooden motte & Bailey forts were adapted with Mediterranean stone building technology. Northern Europe mostly built stuff of wood, for obvious reasons. This is a fascinating topic.
The Motte are early 11th century and were initially surmounted by a wooden tower, later replaced by a stone built tower. The towers of Carcasonne are medieval, not Roman, though the walls contain Roman stone and tiles. The turrets of Carcassone are 13th to 14th century. Motte and baily castles are not Celtic or Germanic in origin. Los Millares in Spain is a complete NEOLITHIC fortification.
@@Foxglove963 Wiki: " Its strategic importance was quickly recognized by the Romans, who occupied its hilltop until the demise of the Western Roman Empire." When I visited it, the history I learned then was that it was founded by the Romans, and later expanded.
@@Foxglove963it was certainly an influence
I always marvel at how castles and cathedrals were built with no cranes, engines, electricity, power tools etc. it was all done by hand.
The Romans were unbelievable.. and they had massive cranes, levers, technology that is still marveled upon.. the Aqueducts.. they made water run up-hill? .. reverse flow siphon.. 40 mile long stretches with a 3-4 foot drop.. they had under ground mines and used Slave powered water wheels to pump out the water.. 8-10 stories under ground.. 8-10 water wheels in succession.. they did the same thing with water wheels stacked on top of each other to grind grain.. huge production 2300 years ago..
@@artmosley3337 Yes very true. It’s amazing what they did with no engines or electricity. Lots of their technology was lost in the Middle Ages unfortunately. Also, they conquered half the world and walked there to do it!
@@wplains yep building roads and bridges still used today… ya know why they built the roads straight as an arrow? Because they could 😂😂😂😂😂.. and a straight road takes less effort and time to move troops .. also they started a standard wheel with.. so the wheel ruts were the same.. still used today.. the same with as a railroad track… unbelievable 💪🥇❤️
@@wplains here ya go… www.aghost.net/images/e0186601/ahistorylessonofrailroadtracks.pdf
@@artmosley3337 aqueducts may run up hill but the channel inside the aquedect through early but precise plum blob levels it always runs downhill.
The final comments on the history of how these buildings evolved over time was very enlightening, and something I had never considered. They started as ways to protect a Lord from his enemies, being largely a battle hardened place to hide out, then evolved gradually into homes with battle elements, and later by the 19th century became entirely prestige 'fortified' giant mansions designed to impress but retaining all the glorified elements of a castle. 'Real' castles basically became unnecessary at some point but by the 'Golden Age' they were rooted in the romantic notions of chivalry & knights in shining armor, Queen Guinevere, King Arthur etc.....all of our children's stories come from the same history. Now I must remember to ask myself what was this crenellated building built FOR & I think that means I will ignore all the more recent castles, beautiful as they are, & concentrate only on the pre 1700's as being 'real' - ie seriously fortified places. I learn something new every day !
There are still real castles built post 1700 for military use. Castillo De San Marcos is one example
Most Castles have become a prestige object as early as the 1400s. By that time, knights have become a cultural phenomenon with no real use and the same has happened with their castles. Many knights, now lower nobility, moved their domicile closer to their serfs. The castle itself would have been either completely abandoned or only manned by a small garrison to keep it in shape. Wealthy lords would renovate them with stylized elements without real use (like fake machicolations etc). Ofc, some castles have kept their original use for centuries, but those are exception.
Broadly speaking anything after about 1650 was basically not useful.
@@viktordickinson7844those are artillery forts not castles.
@@Matze239that's not true at all even into the 1500s castles we're being used as battle forts.
you can't really understand medieval aristocracy and society without knowing the fortifications the aristocracy lived in.
Yes well when studying any ancient society people look at their architecture and decorative tastes. Now some people shop at IKEA for pressboard garbage and scoff at antiques.
@@annalisavajda252 No, it is because genuine wood is scarce and expensive, antique furniture is even more expensive.
I literally love these old European castles are truly amazing and mind boggling beauty indeed just everything about them how they was designed and all God Bless
The history is very interesting but they were all buildings of war and struggle! Imagine what a high level of architecture, art and culture we could achieve if we lived in peace!
It never works that way. They didn't have much choice and most wanted to work. Guilds an all. The same for the construction of CHURCHES in Europe. Hundreds of which have been burned to the ground by the " religion of peace". Good luck Europe. Your dead soon from all the troons
I grew up in a flat part of north west coast. It was boggy land and off to the left of the main road up to Lancaster the nearest castle. Even our town was only 6 fishermens cottages until the 19th century.
In my first year , living in Australia, maybe a bit longer, what I missed the most, were the Castles, rising on the top of the Mountains, in the Rhine Valley !!! Or everywhere else I had seen them, like Carcassonne...!!
I would give anything to have all of that history right at my doorstep
Interesting video. There are 2 castles where i live in Sweden. Kronoberg Castleruin ( actually a old military fortification from the 1400-s ) and Teleborg Castle, a much newer construction built in 1900, but looks much older.
In my understanding and in the Northern parts of the Netherlands a Borg is a Castle. I assumed this is the same in Sweden?
@@Hooibeest2D Both yes and no actually. Borg ( in swedish ) usually means the type of castle that was built for military purposes. A Castle is called Slott in swedish. But some people dont know the difference and call it one or the other.
@@Mange070 ha in Dutch a Borg is a Castle without defensive purpose. A Castle with a moat is a slot the moat is called a slotgracht. A Castle with several walls around the castle is named a burcht and the towers,walls and ditches without the castle are named bolwerk. In case of the Muiderslot, it was used as part of Dutch defence lines till ww2 😅 guess the forgot about airplanes haha Love Sweden by the way!
All Germanic languages are very similar. the German for borg and slott being burg and Schloss. The English bulwark being from dutch bolwerk.
Watched this! Fascinating castles.. always wanted to knw the Iion heart’s castle !!❤️
For the record Europe actually waaay older than you think to be honest 💪🏻😉
Excellent video on a wonderful subject.
the castles built during Edward I's conquest of wales no? some of the finest medieval castles ever built
Such a nice documentary that focused mostly on French castles and history!
Wonderful !!!! Thank you very much!
This was an ace run through of such an amazing period in European history.
Hola! En esta documentación podrás descubrir que es realista y sitúa a personajes de ficción en escenarios del mundo real. Es muy emocionantes. Muchas gracias por compartir vuestra conocimiento.
Awesome Documentary!
Wow 🤩 that was wonderful 🎉 thanks
I'm surprised that there was no mention of "Coucy le Chateau", according to B.W. Tuchmans' book "A Distant Mirror" it was quite the imposing structure when it was built. It remained so until WW1 when it was destroyed by the Germans (primarily just to be dicks). Still have plans to visit there in the not too distant future.
Love that book!
The lady in the vid says round towers were preferred because these deflected projectiles. But another reason was to thwart mining the walls. The keep of Rochester has four towers on the corners, three are square, the fourth is rounded, it being a replacement for the original square tower which collapsed due to mining during a siege of the castle.
Amazing documentary!
Most of these castles were built on foundations from 13000 years ago or more.
For a cast les play I can its quite lonely but whoever did architect for the background has great artistic style.
It's certainly fantastic to reval at these majestic king castles. The villagers may have had a different time relevant experience back in the "good ole days." They don't build em like they used to.
Belle histoire!❤(Osvaldo Cruz-SP-Brasil)
"Dah ViKANGS wuZ BLECK!"
All European kids dream of living in a castle at some point I'm sure. My personal choice would be more of the Scottish 'Fortified Manor House' type design, such as Glamis, Balmoral, Ballindalloch Castle, or Blair Castle rather than the massive Welsh style such as Conwy or Cardiff or Caernarfon. It's nice to have plenty of space but no need to get excessive. Once you start getting over a certain size, then the staffing costs get to be insane, and then you've also got to employ a private army of Landsknecht warriors just for home defence.
Balmoral is not fortified, it was built in the 19th century as residence for Queen Victoria. The Welsh castles are genuinely medieval, built in the 13th century by king Edward I to subdue the Welsh. These were defended by a small garrison. Caerphilly in Glamorgan was built by a Marcher lord but has also a concentric design with strong gatehouse.
@@Foxglove963 Correct about Balmoral. No idea where I was thinking of, but it was somewhere totally different. I really shouldn't comment on vids in the early hours of the morning when my brain isn't braining properly due to lack of sleep!
Tenían pocos guerreros. 30 máximo. Dependiendo de la extensión del castillo y sus dependencias. La defensa del castillo no era costosa en términos económicos. Defendían la vida de su señor y la de ellos al mismo tiempo.
Check out Caerlaverock Castle in Northern Scotland…small but interesting
Congratulations to the enthusiasts of the 1900's to restore these castles... Let's restore more of them! And make even bigger and more epic ones, like Anor Londo from Dark Souls.
Great history on castles. I enjoyed it 👍😀
Very well made documentary. When will there be a secound part with the history of the european part east of France?
Dude, crazy! Fulk Nerra is one of my great grandparents.
Very well made and informative documentary
What historians like to forget is that even in the age of iron cannonballs, these castles (even ones that could punctured by it) still presented a high and fortified defence from which you could shoot down at your enemies, protected by feet of stone. Despite their vulnerability, this still made them good pieces of war machinery to use, especially for rebels with issues for paying for things. Btw, THAT is why Louis XIV got rid of them: he was paranoid about robbing his nobles of any military power and forcing them to play sick psychological games in Verseilles, beggaring them with ridiculous costs that further starved/impoverished the locals living on their land. Everybody was so busy trying to play Louis' system that they didn't do the obvious: get together, pool military resources and kill him (never ever underestimate assassination as a way to get rid of a tyrant. So... as much as castle-building involved a time of internal fighting between nobles, which is never good (especially for the people actually living there), it also involved a time of funding local infrastructure and providing routine access/transport for all the goods, building materials, and luxuries the upper classes desired, which helped local economies. And local lords guarding their territory simply can't afford to bankrupt the country's treasury (and consequently starve its people) on incredibly expensive palaces, which helps. So this might have been a better time than "peaceful" rule under Kings like Louis XIV - who tended to like waging war on other people anyway,
Superb
Great videos. Are you going yo cover the original old african castle? Gondar castle for example. They are three thousand years "younger". Thx.
We were thought that medieval period was all hardship, mud huts, and poverty, but this video makes me think that there must have been more to it. There must have been thousands of skilled craftsmen in order to construct all these castles, in relatively short period of time. They brought their families with them, and the whole building site would probably become social center filled with people proud of their accomplishments. I can’t see unhappy, malnourished, poor people would put as much effort in building these majestic buildings. Not saying that dark medieval times didn’t existed but just trying to understand the mindset of the builders.
Peasants were always well fed. They were only starving in times of droughts or war. Infact the problem of starving poor only came about in large cities during and after industrial revolution that were working in factories under subhuman conditions.
We have poor starving people now plagues( covid aids drug pandemics) endless wars a very rich class the few who rule the many . Haven't come very far have we? These fortresses were built to withstand an onslaught why are we not building in this manner now? Flooding and tornadoes are the new enemy .
Well in America the Amish are rich and eat well and live like God's serfs working hard and perfecting their craft I would imagine that Europe was somewhat like that but with wenches and alcohol
@@automedoniliad3269 Those sweet sweet wenches
As more and more documents are uncovered, there is greater evidence that what we've thought of as the "Dark" ages and the medieval period were, indeed, quite different than what we've always been taught. I suppose that's the nature of history - to learn more as more is uncovered.
Many Thanks! BRAVO! SALUTE! :)
Wonderful video.
To me no matter whatever updates,the castles are still very middle aged,types of buildings that has lasted through the ages of decades and people are still living and doing business within them,quite interesting,to??!!!!!!!
Well in Europe most castles are considered monumental heritage so they're usually protected in some way. The historical appearance must stay the same, which makes living there very expensive. These buildings are massive so maintaining their appearance is unfathomably costly. Therefore the castles that have no family owning them (who often don't live there), can be bought from a government for a symbolic €1. You're then obliged to either maintain the castle, or host some kind of touristy enterprise. Ik pretty sure though most castles have been replaced several times in the past thousand years, some are impressively old...and some have been rebuild.
If you watch this twice then a thousand years is covered ,a small reference to the Roman era ,I found this documentary really interesting and definitely no need to exaggerate the title ,i.e doubling the number of years of documented castle building. It’s two thirty a.m and I’m not only watching this but commenting on it as well as criticising somebody’s exaggeration. Enough is enough ,I think it’s time to sleep,thanks for a great documentary ( how they used to be on T.V ).
they forgot the german castles. big part of history of europe aswell..
Where i live our city court house is built where the city's castle used to be, the underground holding cells are the same place as the original dungeon. The civil war left it in ruins although it lasted from 1230 to around 1700
Honestly, had a hard time hearing it. I don't know why there needed to be music all the time, and it was turned up so loud I could just barely hear what was being said.
This is so well made.
Lovely Documentary
I always think how long it took to organize the building of a castle. Even now, to build a house, there is so much contact that needs to be done and without phones, they had to wait forever just to get an answer. I can't imagine all the logistical nightmares, language problems, weather issues...
Great video.
The comment of how most of what we now know as France, "being under the thumb of the English King John" (Plantagenet), makes it sound like John was occupying the land. Rather than the truth, that this land, that was "under his thumb," was actually land he'd inherited from his parents. John grandmother's grandfather was William the Conquer, and owned a large portion of land, in Normandy, hense being a Norman. And when John's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine married his father, her dowery held land down to the Pyrenees mountains. So it was hardly, "under the thumb," when at the time, John was there legal King.
"Under the thumb" just means it was under his control or rule, with the added connotation that the rule is oppressive. It doesn't usually mean that the rule is legally illegitimate.
What they call Normans was some sort of blend of people following the conquest of today's Normandy by a Viking tribe. That was for the Early Middle Ages, that's known as a time of decadence and poverty, with poor construction standards. It's no accident if this documentary hardly mentions any structure earlier than the 10th or 11th century. Everything built before, between the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the High Middle Ages was weak and decadent. Someday in the 11th century, when standards of living started to grow better again, a mighty ruler of the province of Normandy named Guillaume le Conquérant (William the Conqueror) invaded England because he was pissed at the English king for some reason. It worked. William conquered England indeed. But he himself was actually a subject of the French king back then. He was a follower of the kingdom of France of his time. So, according to your own mindset, England belongs to France. Not the other round. 😛
@@cabane5347 William was supposedly pissed, because according to him, Edward the Confessor had promised him the throne, when he died. So when Harold II took the throne instead, saying that Edward had named him, as his heir, you can see way William was a little ticked off! 😄 Maybe William was originally a vassal of the King of France, but by the time his great-grandson married, most of what is modern day France was under the Plantagenets. But John didn't hold it all for long anyway. I remember watching Robin of Sherwood, and a line that I can hear in my head, from an episode with John Rhys Davies playing King Richard. in the show, and in RL John was supposed to be regent for Richard, while he was out the country, on Crusade, and John had lost several areas of land in France to the French. And in the episode as the King's man is going through somethings that has happened since being away, in John Rhys Davies deep tones, he demands to know, "What else has my brother given away!" Which is also why John was called, John Lackland, because throughout his rein, he kept losing his estates in France. In 1420 Henry V had married Charles VI of France's daughter, and he and his children were named as Charles's heir. Sadly, for him, this didn't come to pass, as Henry V caught dysentery, and died on 31st of August, leaving his infant son, Henry VI as his heir. Who technically, should have become King of France, on October 21, when Charles VI also died. How things would have been different. The Wars of the Roses, the Princes in the Tower, the rise of Tudors, the Spanish Armada, establishing the American colonies, Guy Fawkes, the Civil War, Charles I beheading, Oliver Cromwell, the Restoration, The Glorious Revolution, Losing America, the French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, the Industrial Revolution, the World Wars. The history of both France and Britain would have completely changed. It wasn't until 1800, after the French Revolution, that the British monarchs stopped claiming the French throne, even though our last foothold in France was Calais, that was taken by King Phillip of France in Elizabeth I time!
Both were French houses lol.
Ah politics...
You gotta remember castles for Americans are like fairy tales so when we see them in person we are awe struck.
Well, when they were in use it was nothing like a happy-ending fairy tale, it was all about gory bloody battles and sieges.
Cele mai multe, falnice și frumoase castele se află în România. ❤✌👍
Da spricht der Nationalismus aus dir. Die schönsten Burgen befinden sich dort wo man sie gerade selbst am schönsten findet.
Nice documentary
...... 🌟🌟🌟 👍 Phil Liverpool UK 🇬🇧
you should add the greatest Malbork Castle
Marienburg
Surprisingly I have an ancestor that died in the dungeon of Fort de Joux France.
They probably farted in His general direction 😞
@@andriandrason1318 those smelly bastards ate only beans for breakfast and dinner.
I visited that border fortress. There is another fort across the ravine.
More surprising that you know about it.
Castellum castellum, i, n. 1. fortress, fortified place, blockhouse, fortified outpost 2. village, hamlet
Crac des Chevaliers is the pinnacle of castle building.
Thanks for everything. Vladimir is a personal favorite. Amen !).
Alternate title - A thousand years of mostly French castles
At 41:14 counter that is amazing a cannon ball still in the wall after all these centuries. Then my mind runs to the people and the fighting. Just astounding how mankind has not changed for greed of power over mankind in 2022.
Come to Malbork and admire the largest fully preserved medieval castle in the world.
Супер репортаж ! ! !🙂😎😀😋
da odlicno jos samo da naprave emisiju ko ih je gradio i kako ,kojom tehnikom su rezali ,dizali i spajali kamene blokove ,a u Francuskoj bi to trebalo biti dokumentovano jel nije bilo ratova kao kod nas.
Very nice
Great documentary indeed. I had visited France, Spain and England several times to see this architectural wonders. It is true that when you are looking at them, the size of those buildings makes your imagination go rampant. I know that part of their status was the defense of the land bit they were also symbols of oppression. However, they are magnificent
Why do you think they are symbols of oppression ?
@@rpara1091 Because in many cases that is exactly what they were there for. The Normans, for example, for at least two centuries specifically built castles to keep the English population subdued. A little later the English under Edward I built castles to keep the Welsh subdued. Subjucation in one form or another has been the primary purpose of castle building in most countries in most eras. As the doco points out, castles have both an offensive and a defensive role.
@@philroberts7238 One need only look at the medieval history of Europe to know that a castle is anything but a symbol of opression. Sieges, bandits, Viking or Arab looters, wolves were opressive. Castles are the opposite. Castles were places of civilization in a world of violence.
@@rpara1091 One needs only look at any history of Europe to know that castles could be both. Sometimes even at the same time! But they were, first and foremost, military installations designed to keep enemies at bay. Quite often these enemies were the local population, such as the defeated English in the early Norman period. (And the Arab "looters", incidentally, were the local inhabitants in the Levant where the Crusader castles were built.)
Wake UP from the woke nightmare, you poor thing.
I like that digital art at 48 seconds. What real building does it represent?
The ancient Palais du Louvre, in Paris, in the medieval times.
I was always wondering how they built castles, no matter where the location, but how they did it?
Meh, It's just about France, isn't it?
OFC, where do you think castles and knight came from ?
@@user-vy7gi8jo1v Lol. not from France, I'll tell you that.
@@karlkarlos3545 rofl. Knight is born in France. it was created in France lol. Castles too. When guillaume conquest England, he bring the french monarchy and the castle to England.
@@user-vy7gi8jo1v Names like Castle and Knight might have have french roots, but the oldest fortifications in Europe were built when there wasn't even a country called France. Like the old Saxon Burgs for example. (I'm talking about post Roman times of course.)
@@karlkarlos3545France or if you prefer ''Kingdom of the Franks'' wich is the same entity until Philippe 2 Augustus changed the name, was the center of Chivalry ''Chevalerie'' in French its also in France that the first ''Castles'' not ''Fortresses'' (u dummy) were created and oh yeah you might have heard of the the gothic style that influenced most of the cathedrales during the central middle ages in Europe guess where it came from 😏
Marvelous
Howdy from Tejas👋🏻 I enjoyed this very much🏰♥️ 😭Comments whine about oppression after the Western Roman collapse....Feudalism was a step to slowly regain social structure order and coordination...Without the monasteries and kings dukes earls castles, education of the masses might not have happened...Many castles and cathedrals took generations to build, requiring guilds to be formed and employment of many generations of labor where the maths and engineering mastered by empires of centuries past were kept alive and passed on and improved upon...everyone was trying to survive, it took tremendous daily consistent effort to do so....So we have what we have today, and are in danger of losing, great nations of peoples that managed to move forward in time with systems we call culture; peoples with shared stereotypes and characteristics that over time proved to help hold them together and advance the quality of life....This is why most migrations are to European based nations---North America Australia GB Europe...
Every period in history has its own culture.