Siege!

The castle at Castelnaud-La-Chapelle was for centuries considered nearly unassailable. It was built on bedrock so it could not be undermined. There were steep cliffs on 3 sides. Its defenses oriented to the other side . It had a well in a deep water-table so it had ample supplies of water. It just needed to have enough food on hand.

One thing we learned today is that castles were rarely destroyed in a siege because they were considered too valuable. Each side weighed its strength against the others then if the defenders thought the castle could be taken they would surrender it in exchange for their lives and some cash.

The trebuchets are full size replicas created from various sources as none survived very long.

OK that part was written by Dan and now I'm taking over ...

The castle changed hands 7 times during the Hundred Years war between the English and the French. It finally ended up in French hands during the seige of 1442.

Dan really enjoyed this place especially the demonstration of how the catapult worked. And what about me? I enjoyed the wine I had as a reward for enduring this!Read more