Chateau des Baux
Chateau des Baux is a medieval fortress located on the Les Baux plateau in the South of France. The first mention of the castle is in the 10th century (900s) when it was ruled by a lord called Pons de Jeune, though evidence indicates the plateau has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The legend says that the original ruler was descended from Balthazar, of the Three Magi who brought gifts to the baby Jesus. The Wars of Les Baux began in the 12th century when the Lords of Baux resisted their incorporation into the Kingdom of Catalan. By the 14th century, Les Baux came under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of France, which the lords also resisted, to the point of burning and pillaging the surrounding area between 1386 and 1398. During the 12th century, the castle was largely reconstructed Read more…
Fort Saint-Andre
For Saint-Andre is located in the south of France on the opposite side of the Rhone River from Avignon. The fort is a medieval fortress built by Phillipe le Bel, the King of France. In the Middle Ages, Avignon was a border city and not part of the Kingdom of France. Although Philippe had ceded control of Avignon to his cousin, Charles of Naples in 1292, he wanted to maintain control of the Rhone River, so he was granted permission by monks who’d built a monastery on a bluff opposite Avignon to build a fortress around their monastery. Once the Pope officially moved the papal state to Avignon, the fortress acted as a visible reminder of the power of Philippe, should the papacy make decisions unfavorable to the French crown. Philippe also built a tower at the end of the Read more…
Aigues-Mortes
Located on the south coast of France, Aigues-Mortes is a fortified city built by the kings of France to be a port on the Mediterranean. The name Aigues-Mortes comes from Latin and means ‘dead water’ or ‘stagnant water’. Although it was possibly founded as long ago as 102 BC by a Roman general, the first tower was erected in 791 by Charlemagne as protection for the fishermen and salt workers. In 1240, Marseille was controlled by the King of Naples, and King Louis of France was determined to have his own access to the Mediterranean. He built roads and a canal in order to ferry troops to the sea. He launched both the eighth and ninth crusades from Aigues-Mortes. Still visible today are the 6 towers and walls of the city, encompassing 1640 square meters. Also, King Philippe, King Louis’s Read more…
The Kingdoms of France
You might ask, and reasonably so, why a blog about medieval Wales would be posting about the kingdoms of France in the Middle Ages. The main reason is that it’s hard to understand the Norman conquest of England (and Wales and Scotland), without reference to the fact that they were Norman. That means, they came from the Kingdom of Normandy, a region on the north coast of France. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Aquitaine ‘France’ wasn’t ‘France’ as we know it today until after the Edwardian period. As the map dating from 1154 to the right shows, the King of France controlled a relatively small portion of the country. Edward I was the Duke of Aquitaine, whose lands are comparable in size to what the King of France held. The dispute of the control of France and these kingdoms, in fact, was one of the Read more…
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