Private Tours NORMANDY Middle ages in Normandy
Advised tours : THE MIDDLE AGES IN NORMANDY
These programs are given as an example, they can be modified depending on the pick up location and on your interests.
TOUR 1 : WILLIAM AND THE MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE
Bayeux / Honfleur / Rouen
TOUR 2 : Coming from or going to Paris
Bayeux / Honfleur / Rouen
TOUR 3 : William the Conqueror TOUR GUILLAUME le CONQUERANT
Bayeux / Caen / Falaise
THE MIDDLE AGES IN NORMANDY
Following the founders of Normandy, the Vikings, William the Conqueror became the Duke of Normandy in the 11th Century. His thirst for fame and the military strength of his Kingdom allowed him to push his influence to the other side of the English Channel. The Battle of Hastings in 1066, one of the best-known and most historically consequential battles of the last millennium, was depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry which can still be seen to this day in the town from which it takes its name. This masterpiece is today classified by Unesco as aWorld Heritage Piece. The architecture of Normandy and the image of its prosperity are shown in the majestic buildings, churches and cathedrals to be found in even the smallest of villages. William the Conqueror founded and developed Caen, the Capital of lower Normandy, by the building of two abbeys where he and his wife, Matilda, are buried, as well as the castle found in the very centre of the town. His birthplace, as the illegitimate son of Robert the Magnificent, can still be seen in the castle of Falaise, twenty miles south of Caen. The Middle Ages were a turbulent time with various wars and conflicts being fought in the area, such as the Hundred Years War during which Joan of Arc was judged and condemned to burn to death in Rouen. The majority of the towns in Normandy still preserve their medieval character with winding, narrow streets bordered by ancient timber-framed houses, as can still be seen in Bayeux, Honfleur, Rouen and other towns in the area.
Advised toursBAYEUX :
Although it was the first large town liberated by the Allies in Normandy in 1944, Bayeux escaped serious damage during the Second World War, much of the delight of lovers of History. All different styles of architecture from antiquity through the Renaissance up to the modern day are represented in this town that was, until the 11th century, the capital of lower Normandy. Without a doubt, one of the most impressive sites is the cathedral which sits at the heart of this historic town built between the 11th and 13th centuries under the order of Odon, bishop of Bayeux and half brother to William the Conqueror. This monumental architectural wonder using both roman and gothic styles continued to evolve right up until the end of the 18th century. You can’t hear of Bayeux without mention of its famous tapestry, an embroidered cloth over 200 feet long and about 18 inches high which tells the story of William the Conqueror between the years of 1064 and 1066, retracing all the events which led William, Duke of Normandy to invade England in October 1066 and depose its King, Harold, thus giving him the title William the Conqueror, King of England. This 11th century “comic strip” is one of the best and most complete sources for historians to learn about and analyse medieval costumes, boat building and strategies that were employed in Norman and British camps leading up to the battle of Hasting. Bayeux also wrote its own page in French history in June 1944 at Place du Chateau when this became the first spot visited in newly liberated France by General Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French, who announced officially the liberation of the first French town after four long years of German occupation.
CAEN :
The Capital of Lower Normandy and 85% destroyed in World War Two, the town of Caen has managed to recover and now displays a mixture of both history and modernity, from William the Conqueror to the microchip. Opposite the University you will find the Castle of William the Conqueror, which was started by him, but finished by his son. From these ramparts you can get a good view of this “Town of 100 Steeples”. To make his wedding official with the Pope at the time, William the Conqueror and his wife, Mathilda, were ordered to build two abbeys in the town, which can also be seen from here. William saw from this the opportunity of developing Caen, at this time a very small town, but much more central to his purpose than Lisieux or Bayeux. So his wife built the Women’s Abbey, the “Abbaye aux Dames” with the Church of the Trinity and he built the Men’s Abbey, the “Abbaye aux Hommes”, nowadays the town hall, and its adjoining church of Saint Etienne. The Duke and his wife are now buried in their respective abbeys. The town of Caen had to be largely re-built after the devastation of the Second World War and it earned the title of “The Most Beautiful Reconstructed Town in France”. You can admire its modern street system but it is not hard to find the surviving small medieval streets that used to make up the main layout of the town.
FALAISE :
Constructed on an outcrop of rock to take advantage of its natural defences, the castle of Robert the Great, Duke of Normandy from 1027 to 1035, towers majestically above the town of Falaise. Having fallen in love with Arlette, the daughter of a mere tanner of modest means, he founded, in this castle, a family that would give birth to William. Initially known as “William the Bastard” as he was illegitimate, he would go on after 1066 and the conquest of England to be known as “William the Conqueror”. This masterpiece of medieval workmanship is a rare example of a castle that was not just designed to be a defensive position but was also designed to be a place to be lived in by a family. The interior has been restored recently to show how the castle would have looked when it was being lived in.
ROUEN :
Known as the “Town of a Hundred Steeples”, the eastern part of Rouen itself is an open-air museum to be walked. With representations of the different eras of history to be seen everywhere, from painting and art to literature and architecture, as well as being the town where some of France and Europe’s most important historical events and characters lived and died. You can see the marvellous architecture of this capital of Normandy, including Claude Monet’s favourite, the Cathedral. This towers up to nearly 500 feet above the plaza making it the tallest Cathedral in France. The richness of its design is evident, down to the intricate sculptures over the entrances, where scenes from the bible have been brought to life by the medieval craftsmen. Inside the Cathedral no matter where you go, from the nave to the crypt, it shows itself to be among the most ornate and beautiful in France. To the east of the Church of St Maclou there is the Aitre Saint Maclou, a 16th century Gothic structure built during the Plague of the Black Death which killed over a third of the population of the town. The carvings on the exposed wooden beams of the building depicting skulls and bones betray its former grisly purpose, as a place where those who had died of the plague were brought to be burned. Take time to wander through this historic town, and think of its famous inhabitants such as the writers Gustave Flaubert and Corneille. Don’t forget Joan of Arc, one of France’s greatest heroines, burned to death as a witch on the 30th of May 1431 by the English Army during the 100 years war at the “Place du Marche”, where the “Eglise de Jeanne d’Arc” now stands. It is the “Rue du Gros Horloge”, however, which best encapsulates Rouen, with it’s half timbered medieval houses, narrow cobbled side-streets and famous clock over the 14th century entrance gate through the old town walls of Rouen.
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