Castle of Vincennes

History of the castle

In his "reasoned Dictionary of medieval architecture", the French architect Eugene Viollet the Duc describes with a care meticulous person the incredible fortress of Vincennes. We leave the word with this expert.

The art of the fortification which had made, at the beginning of XIIIe century, a great step, and which had remained about stationary during the course of this century, made new progress in France during the wars of 1330 to 1400. When Charles V had brought back the order in the kingdom, and taken again a considerable number of places to the English, it made repair or rebuild almost all defenses of the cities or castles reconquered, and in these new defenses it is easy to recognize a method, a regularity which indicate an art advanced and based on fixed rules. The castle of Vincennes in is an example. Built in plain, there was not to benefit there from certain particular provisions of the ground; also its enclosure is it perfectly regular, as well as the keep and its defenses. All the towers are barlongues or square, but high, thick and provided well at their top of projecting watch towers flanking the four faces; the keep is also flanked with the angles of four turrets; the distances between the turns are equal; those are closed and can be defended separately. The castle of Vincennes was started with Philippe de Valois and was completed by Charles V, except the vault, which was finished only under François Ier and Henri II.