Castle of William the Conqueror

Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy, had no wife, but his concubine bore him a son named William in 1028 AD in Falaise, Normandy. Although scoffed at as an illegitimate son, William became Duke of Normandy at the age of 7 when his father perished returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The picture above is of the castle of the Duke of Normandy in Falaise, and where William was born and raised by his commoner mother.


Protected fighting position, as seen from inside the castle walls, just large enough to fire a crossbow/bow through.


Walls surrounding the castle at Falaise. The first construction of the site likely began in the 5th or 6th century AD in the Gallo-Roman period. The current castle was reconstructed in the 11th and 12th centuries, but likely utilized much of the original existing castle structure. Additions were made again in the 14th and 15th centuries.


From a break in the wall, one can peer down on the well-preserved church outside, which was built in 804 AD.


Outside of the castle walls.



Bust of William the Conqueror. From illegitimate son to Duke of Normandy, William continued to gain respect as he aged. After Edward the Confessor, King of England died, William amassed a large fleet and sailed his army across the English Channel to challenge the newly crowned King Harold for the throne of England. In 1066, at the battle of Hastings, William became known as William the Conqueror when he took the crown of England and became the first Norman King of England.


His reign was marked by the construction and repair of many castles throughout not only England, but also back in Normandy, France where he was born and raised, such as the additions to the castle in his hometown of Falaise.

At the time, the entire of town of Falaise was situated inside the ~4 acres of the castle site (save for the large Church and some commoner homesites outside the walls).


The modern town of Falaise extends far outside the castle walls.


Stairways inside the castle.


Statue of William the Conqueror, with his castle at Falaise in the background.



The church outside the castle walls was built in 804 AD, and is well-preserved for its age.






Further into town, another centuries old church is preserved.


The city gate is still usable.


Just a short distance from the city gate was our rental house, the one with blue shutters at the top of the picture, in sight of both the castle and the city walls.


Castle and present-day city homes as viewed from the city walls. In the years following William's rule, other kings' families used the castle on occasion. Richard the Lion-heart spent Christmas in the castle when he was just 2 years old, with his mother, father and brother John. The castle was besieged many times in its history, most notably in the time period between William's reign and the end of the hundred years war between France and England in the 15th century. In 1944, Falaise was the site of tremendous shelling in advance of the Allied D-Day invasion, and after the invasion 60,000 German troops were surrounded in the city by Allied troops. 10,000 German soldiers were killed in the town and 50,000 taken prisoner as the Allies swept northeast towards Germany to end the war.

As for William the Conqueror, he died at the age of 59, having reigned as King of England for 21 years and as Duke of Normandy for 52 years. He died while on a military conquest further east into France. He was buried near Falaise, in Caen, where his burial monument still stands.