1

How much do you know about the castle?

This questionnaire is designed to sum up the basic and important facts about the

castle. It is should be completed after the guided tour so that the students can recall

what they just heard during their visit.

On the timeline below, place these three important dates in William’s

life and write down what they stand for :

�1027 : William is born in Falaise, from Duke Robert the Magnificent and Arlette.

�1066 : William is king of England following his victory at the battle of Hastings.

�1087 : William dies near Rouen from abdominal injuries following a successful

siege against the king of France.

1050 1100 1000 1200 1150

The Great Keep is the oldest part. Do you remember when it was built? Place

the date on the timeline, along with the name of its builder : Henry I Beauclerc,

William’s own son.

� Introduction

1027 1066 1087

2

How much do you know about the

castle?

� The Great Keep

What does the Great

Keep look like from the

outside ?

Draw a picture of it in-

side the box.

So as to make it a typi-

cal Anglo-Norman

keep, here are items

that you can depict :

• An entrance at the

first floor

• Large bay windows

• Flat buttresses

along the walls

• A forebuilding

Do you know other examples of keeps like this one in England? Name

two:

1 The Tower of London (built by William in 1078, using imported Caen stone)

2 Norwich Castle (Norfolk, built during the same period as the Great Keep of

Falaise - 1120 - by the same king, Henry I Beauclerc), Castle Rising Castle

(Norfolk, built in about 1150 by William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel),

Rochester Castle (Kent, built in 1127 by William of Corbeil, the Bishop of Can-

terbury to whom Henry I had granted the estate).

3

How much do you know about the

castle?

� Inside the Great Keep

The living quarters are located on the first floor. Why is

that ? The access is more difficult this way, so the keep is better protected.

There are three rooms at this level,

which is typical of keeps of this period.

Fill in the boxes and circles

with the numbers of the rooms.

AULA

.1.

CAMERA

.2.

CAPELLA

.3.

�

�

�

This is the public area, where noblemen

exercised their official duties and where

banquets took place.

.1.

This is where the religious services took

place. It was restricted to the king, duke,

baron or lord, hence its size.

.3.

This a place of rest and privacy, fit for

the comfort needed by a royal-ducal

court. .2.

4

How much do you know about the

castle?

� The Lower Halls

This is the room

that you saw at

the end of the

tour.

It is located at

ground level.

It is a dark

room, with a

cool tempera-

ture.

What was it

used for?

Mainly for

storage : food,

drink, clothes,

weapons etc.

You saw a large circular hole in the floor of this

room. This hole was actually a tank built to collect

rain water. Name three possible uses for this fresh

water : 1 Rinse out meat that was kept in salt

2 Put out fires

3 Boil and use as a defensive weapon

5

How much do you know about the

castle?

� The Lower Keep

The Lower Keep was built by a rich and famous king, Henry II

Plantagenet, circa 1150, during Normandy’s golden age. This place

was thought of as a luxury-class royal residence.

Can you remember 2 items that

made this place very pleasant to

live in ?

1 A luxury chimney fitted with brick

2 Bay-windows fitted with stone-

benches.

Did you know...? A century before, a small

group of Norman mercenaries

had travelled down to Italy and

Sicily. By the time this keep

was built, they had created a

whole Norman kingdom there,

which remains are still visible

today.

6

You have the last word:

As you saw during your tour, there are many parts of the castle that were

missing and that we sometimes restored in a modern way. What materials

did you see? What did you think of it ? Would you have done it differently?

...........................................................................................

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How much do you know about the

castle?

� Inside the Round Tower

Do you remember who built it ?

The French king Philip-Augustus in 1207

Why is it round ? There are no blind angles (no corners) and a circular structure is more resistant against missiles.

Remember what you saw at the top of

the tower. What did strike you up

there?

There were holes showing the foot of

the tower

Why was the top designed this way?

(circle the right answers)

1 - Its design was considered « cool »

at the time.

2 - You could watch over the base

of the tower, in case of an at-

tack

3 - You could shoot arrows or drop

rocks on the enemy below.

4 - You could hang out clothes to dry

from there.