Peignoir Productions - Fortified Castles (2019)

A look into the great history of castles, exploring and revisiting 500 years of medieval architecture!
Centuries after they first appeared in the landscape, many castles remain intact, complete with cathedrals and symbols of the Middle Ages and the power of their lords and rulers. For five centuries, the creation of these castles was accompanied by a political and cultural evolution during the medieval period.
Over time, the shapes, designs, and characteristics of the thousands of castles built in Europe have changed considerably. These structures represent a world in constant change, and from 1000 to 1500 these castles had three functions: defend the territory, affirm the prestige of their rulers, and serve as housing.
Carriers of myths and legends, fortified castle mark our imaginations, appearing most often as the pivot of a dark and barbaric period. Reality is different … They are full of mystery and grandeur, they are not just an emblematic abstraction of the Middle Ages, they testify to medieval civilization, and cover a complex reality. Around the year 1000, the castles were still built of wood: easy and quick to build … and destroy too!
The very concept of a castle only appears in the second half of the 9th century when construction methods underwent constant evolution. Traveling from castle to castle, "Fortified Castles" retraces a thousand years of medieval military construction.
These two documentaries trace the history of these fortresses using testimonies from experts, researchers, historians, and conservationists, as well as sequences of historical reconstruction and three-dimensional replications of the architectural elements of the castles as they were in the Middle Ages.

Written and Directed by Benoit Poisson ; A Presentation by Toute 'l'Histoire and Peignoir Productions

Part 1: The Origins
Still sprinkling European landscapes today, fortified castles remain in the collective imagination as one of the symbols of the Middle Ages. But how were they designed, built and fitted out? Between the lord and the members of his family, the servants and the craftsmen, how was daily life organized behind their walls? How did the community living there manage conflicts? From Gisors to Vincennes, this episode examines the issues of construction and social organization of medieval castles.
From the first wooden fortresses of the 9th century, to Philippe Auguste's construction of castles with standardized plans in the 12th and 13th centuries, the documentary "Fortified Castles, The Origins" explores three centuries of architectural challenges and innovation. The structures that were built during this period shaped the vast territory that would eventually become France.

Part 2: The Rise and Fall
In order to establish their power, King Philippe Auguste and his successors covered the territory with fortified castles. However, the use of destructive jets at the end of the 13th century forced the fortresses to adapt their architecture.
Fortified castles were primarily intended to protect and defend their occupants against external attacks. With their complex fortifications, they ensured an essential territorial network at a time far from being pacified. How did their inhabitants organize themselves to resist the sieges? This second episode explains the defense system of these fortresses, between the effectiveness of catapults and other siege engines, until the appearance of cannons and the political upheavals of the 15th and 16th centuries, which sounded the death knell for these buildings.
The documentary "Fortified Castes: The Rise and Fall" details the evolution of the defensive systems that the castles acquired in the 14th century. With the invention of powder and cannons, how were these majestic buildings able to maintain themselves in the French landscape?