CRITICISM – In a rich and lively documentary, based on the famous Guedelon site, Serge Tignères retraces the history of medieval fortresses, symbols of power. The golden age of castlesa film not to be missed, this Tuesday, December 20 at 9:10 p.m. on RMC Découverte.
This is the whole history of medieval fortresses, these impressive symbols of the power of the lords, which Serge Tignère and Benoît Poisson brilliantly retrace in their beautiful documentary The Golden Age of Castles. A particularly lively film because it follows, to support and illustrate its point, the famous construction site of Guédelon. Since 1998, the workers of this place located in Burgundy have been building a fortified castle typical of those erected in the 13th century.e century, under Philippe Auguste. To achieve this pure creation, masons, carpenters or even blacksmiths scrupulously use the techniques of medieval constructions. Enough to visualize perfectly what these fortresses looked like at the time of their apogee.
Castle mounds
The excellence of these Philippine castles is all the more apparent when their presence is placed in the evolution of feudal fortresses since the year one thousand. At this time, the first buildings were made of wood. These were castle mounds, consisting of a tower placed on an artificial mound, surrounded by palisades. But these constructions are very vulnerable to fire. So much so that, little by little, the sufficiently rich, and therefore powerful, lords had stone towers built. These develop in the XIe and 12e centuries.
Strongly defended castles appear. This is to react to the threat of increasingly destructive engines of war, such as catapults. And to build these defensive buildings, craftsmen and specialized workers came to work in large numbers. This is thanks to a rural exodus which pushes some peasants to join the towns and change jobs. This is due to progress in agricultural yields in the twelfthe century.
Feudal organization
Under Philippe Auguste, the fortified castles multiplied in a striking way. They are built according to a standard plan, with round stone towers, including a master. At the beginning of XIIIe century, the defense of fortresses becomes active. With a door installed between two towers, a crenellated perimeter wall, a walkway and increasingly deep ditches.
The seven centimeter wide arrow slits pierced in the wall, like those shown on screen in the circular shooting range at Guédelon, illustrate the concept of active defense well. The archery world champion, Chantal Porte, demonstrates, by shooting with formidable precision through these slits, the virtuosity of the builders of yesteryear.
It is ultimately the whole organization of feudal society, with a skillfully structured and hierarchical life around the suzerain and his vassals, which is revealed by this documentary.
