The Other France: Calvados

Chapter 1: The Castle on the Rock 11 centuries later, when the people of Caen desperately needed somewhere to hide from Allied bombs. But that is a story for a later chapter. Back to the château. What William built was a classic motte-and-bailey arrangement, though on a scale that dwarfed most contemporary fortifications. The keep, or donjon, sat at the highest point of the rock. The bailey, enclosed by massive walls, contained everything a ducal court required: a chapel, a great hall, kitchens, stables, barracks, and the administrative buildings from which Normandy was governed. The Échiquier, or Exchequer Hall, still stands in part. It is one of the oldest surviving civic buildings in Normandy, the place where the Duke's financial accounts were settled and his justice dispensed. The English word “exchequer” comes directly from this Norman French term, a reminder that the administrative machinery of England was built by men who thought and argued in the language of Caen. The château changed hands repeatedly over the centuries, and each new occupant left their mark. Henry I, William's youngest son, strengthened the defences. Henry II Plantagenet, who held both England and vast swathes of France, used Caen as one of his principal residences. Philip Augustus of France seized the castle in 1204, ending Norman independence and bringing the duchy firmly under the French crown. The English came back during the Hundred Years' War, capturing Caen in 1346 during Edward III's devastating chevauchée and again in 1417 under Henry V. The English held the city for over thirty years the second time, The Other France: Calvados 12 and their occupation left deep scars on the relationship between Caen and its conquerors. The 1346 siege was particularly brutal. Edward III's army, fresh from landing on the Cotentin peninsula, descended on Caen with ferocious intent. The city was wealthy, poorly defended, and stuffed with goods that an English army short on supplies found irresistible. The sacking of Caen was savage even by medieval standards. Thousands of civilians were killed, and the plundering went on for days before Edward could restore order among his own troops. The memory of that sack lingered for generations. Henry V's occupation from 1417 was a more calculated affair. He intended to hold Normandy permanently, not merely raid it, and Caen was central to his plans. English settlers were encouraged to move to the city. English law was imposed. The university, founded in 1432 under English rule, was one of the few lasting positive legacies of the occupation. When the French finally recaptured Caen in 1450, they inherited a city that had been shaped by decades of English administration, a city that remembered what occupation meant. The château survived all of this, though not unscathed. The keep was gradually dismantled over the centuries, its stone repurposed for other buildings. The fortifications were updated, modified, and in some places demolished as military technology evolved and the castle's strategic importance diminished. By the time of the French Revolution, the château was functioning primarily as a