Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

The Siege of Chateau-Gaillard in 1204…

Richard the Lion Hearted’s crowning masterpiece is often thought to be the castle at Chateau-Gaillard. It was a magnificent castle built in a short period of time between 1196 and 1198 and it is the prototypical castle. When we think castles and medieval things this castle, with its round towers and three concentric walls of defense exactly define what we think.

It also defines the romantic thoughts of castle in the times of the knights of the round table and Robin Hood. Richard saw it’s completion but died shortly afterward and never saw it fall. It was only a few short years (1203-1204) later that Philip, the King of France successfully took it.

It was referred to as the cheeky castle because, being built on the Seine river, on an overlook of France it was considered to be an insulting gesture to the French.

The castle had three major walls of defense and in the period of siege Philip of France methodically broke through each of these defense. In 1203 he camped his soldiers outside the castle and built ditches for cover. He then dug a mine under the first wall of defense which brought it down. The second line of defense posed a difficult problem but a flaw in the design of the castle caused its fall. There was an unguarded toilet chute that lead into a chapel inside this second line of defense. French troops entered the chute and tool control of the inner bailey.

The third line of defense, or innermost wall, was surrounded by a moat that was crossed by a natural rock bridge. The French used the rock bridge as cover to work and mine a tunnel under the wall and the final defense was broken.

The castle, with its remaining 20 knights and 120 men-at-arms surrendered to King Philip on March 8, 1204. The whole siege lasted approximately 8 months.

The whole siege encompassed many techniques that we are familiar with today and the castle, being situated on a river was assaulted both by land and by water. An interesting tactic the French used was that they built siege towers right on top of warships and then sailed these up against the castle to make assaults.

The Siege of Chateau Gaillard is one of the most famous sieges in history. It had everything that we think of when we think middle ages combat and castle sieges. Although the castle isn’t a functioning castle anymore much of it still remains and you can actually take tours of the site.

If you are interested in learning more about combat in the middle ages this siege and this castle would be a great place to start your research.

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