France · 11th century
The ruined castle of Châteauneuf-sur-Epte is in the commune of Château-sur-Epte in the Eure department of France.
The ruins are owned by the Héritage Historique association, which has been restoring it since 2015. It has been listed since 1998 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.
The remains of the castle stand on the edge of the Vexin plateau in Normandy, in the village of Château-sur-Epte (French department of Eure). Situated downstream of Gisors, the castle watched over both the Franco-Norman border and its crossing, a short distance away, by the road from Paris to Rouen.
Building begun in 1097 by William Rufus, King of England, to reinforce the frontier along the Epte River. The castle occupied a site on the border between the Duchy of Normandy and the Kingdom of France.
In 1119, Louis VI the Fat besieged the castle. On the fifteenth day of siege, learning that Henry I had burnt the town of Évreux, he left the siege in a hurry, leaving only the burning huts of his soldiers behind. The castle was defended by Gautier Riblard, as recounted in this passage written in 1612:"Meanwhile, Louis the Fat besieged the Château de Dangu [...]. When Dangu was burnt down, the Fat took his arms to Neuchaftel [Château-sur-Epte], which Guillaume the Red had had built at Faufelmont [Fuscelmont] near the Epte. This plan was not fortunate, as Captain Gautier Riblard and his soldiers resisted him generously and shot him with arrows.
Fifteen days had passed in these exercises of March, when the Gros heard of the misfortune of Évreux and [...] lifts the siege & returns to France to raise new forces [...]."In August 1151, Henry II Planagenet, then Duke of Normandy, transferred the Vexin to Louis VII. Among the castles and fortresses in this area was Châteauneuf-sur-Epte. Louis VII donated the site to the Abbey of Saint Denis in 1153. The purpose of this donation was to remove the castle from the influence of the bishopric of Rouen, which was then under the influence of the King of England. In 1153, Louis VII granted the village around the castle the right to hold a market every Friday.
According to Laurence Bougant, the aim of this favour was "to give importance to this stronghold and allow the village to prosper", proving "the political importance of Château-sur-Epte allowed by its strategic position as a frontier castle".
Text adapted from “Château-sur-Epte Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Château-sur-Epte Castle ranks #6,236 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #559 of the 793 mapped in France. Founded 1097, it is older than 87% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 436 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. 9 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Beauvais, 41 km away. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
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