Falaise

Falaise rises above the valley of the Ante in southern Normandy, its castle perched on the rocky height from which the town takes its name. The fortress is associated with the birth of William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and later King of England. Its great keeps and walls guarded a town on the roads between Normandy and Maine.

English forces captured the castle in 1418 and held it until 1450 during the long Hundred Years' War. More than a century later, the Wars of Religion brought another siege: Henry IV took Falaise in 1590. The castle subsequently lost its military role, although its massive towers remained a striking and conspicuous reminder of the dukes and kings who had once held this Norman stronghold.