On August 3, 2021, Sam is at home for the week and we decide to visit the medieval war museum in Castelnaud-la-Chapelle (at the Château de Castelnaud more precisely). Some photos will therefore have different lighting and weather. It's because I returned to Castelnaud on August 3, 2022 (one year later) accompanied this time by Sam, Nanasse, Pauline and Noé. It is this second visit that will be described here.
We leave early because there is a bit of road to do, but the slightly overcast weather prevents us from dying of heat. It's perfect weather to make the trip because when you arrive, the sun is beating down. We quickly find a place to sit down and eat the homemade pans bagnat that we had prepared the day before. The meal takes place quietly with a view of the castle.

Castelnaud is a very beautiful castle founded in the 12th century. He will frequently go back and forth between the crown of France and that of England between 1214 when the castle is taken from the Cathars during the crusade against the Albigensians and the siege of the castle by Charles VII in 1442.
Returned to the Caumont family (linked by marriage to the last heiress of the Castelnauds in 1368), the castle, reinforced at that time, was entrusted to the great Huguenot captain Geoffroy de Vivans. It was at the end of the reign of Henry IV that the castle saw the addition of its last fortifications.
The castle, abandoned during the revolution, served as a stone quarry until 1966 when the mayor of Beynac-et-Cazenac, Philippe Rossillon, bought the castle in order to restore it.
Fun fact, the castles of Castelnaud and Beynac (later merged with Cazenac) very often clashed during the Hundred Years War (one was English, the other French and vice versa), and it's from the mayor of Beynac-et-Cazenac that will come the restoration of the castle of Castlenaud!
The restoration will be completed in 2012. While the museum of war in the Middle Ages will open in 1985 with 250 pieces of arms from Europe, from the 13th to the 17th century. Today the museum has more than 300 pieces: swords, halberds, maces, armor, crossbows of all kinds, artillery pieces of different calibers (even a bombard!) and siege engines!
There are also rooms decorated with period or reconstructed furniture. And even a room with a model of the region on which the history of the siege of the castle of 1442 is projected.

But before boring everyone with the history of the place, here is the visit itself!

We begin the visit with the artillery tower, whose narrow steps do not facilitate movement.
We see a Veuglaire cannon, a culverin, Ribaudequins (or organ) with several (12!) cannons, powder flasks and fire pots. In the display case with the fire pots is also a German bronze alarm cannon on which is written in Gothic letters (and in German) ''My name is Dulin von Efentur, I eat gunpowder and spit fire''.

We then exit to the top of the artillery tower to enjoy the view and see Beynac and its castle a little further along the Dordogne which also flows below Castelnaud.

We also welcome the flag of Castelnaud and a fairly huge crossbow! It is capable of sending a tree trunk a thousand miles! No, in real life, she can shoot bolts at 200m, pierce 3 men, a horse and end up planted in a wooden door... just that!

Then head to the painting room with the fresco of the Nine Preux:
Hector (of Troy), Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Joshua (successor of Moses), David (3rd king of Israel and father of King Solomon), Judas Maccabee (2nd century Jewish leader and hero), King Arthur, Charlemagne and Godefroi de Bouillon (leader of the first crusade to retake Jerusalem, he will recover it but not wanting to be crowned with gold where Christ was crowned with thorns, he refused to become king and will become Advocate of the Holy Sepulcher).
Here are the Nine Valiants, nine warrior heroes, 3 are pagans, 3 are Jews and 3 Christians. They represent and embody the ideal of chivalry in 14th century Europe (greatly inspired by the Golden Legend).

This same room has several armors, including horses as well as period clothing.

The rest of the visit passes through several rooms filled with crossbows: jallets, mittens, hooks, crowbars, cranequins, hunting, war… several are decorated. There are also different tiles.

We then go out for a walk on the 13th century curtain wall. On which is a breastplate, a pull-type jet machine. Opposite, on the 16th century bastion, we see other war machines… much larger than these!

In the distance, we see the castle of Beynac-et-Cazenac. Needless to say, the view is still super beautiful!

The descent towards the siege weapons room is via an old frame.

In this double-room, we have a small video on the presentation of siege engines. There are also many models of siege engines: trebuchets, couillards, perrières, mangonel with quarry wheels. There is even a belfry, a battering ram and a small catapult. The catapult, despite its strong presence in toys, films and games, was a siege engine that was not very present in reality. The Romans preferred to use ballistae while later trebuchets easily replaced it. A catapult uses the torsion force of a bundle of ropes where the arm of the catapult is fixed. There are no strings as you often see that run from the top of the catapult to pull the arm. This machine did not exist historically speaking. (Sorry to break dreams like that ^^'')

The rest of the visit takes us to the arms room. Here are more or less well preserved period weapons. Some rowel daggers or swords are very damaged, while some polearms or morgenstern are in very good condition.
There are one-handed, one-and-a-half-handed (bastard swords), two-handed shortswords, flails, daggers, rowel daggers, poleaxe, polehammer (with its beak of Corvus), etc.

Next to it is also jousting equipment, with tournament spears and jousting armor.

We then descend the stairs with other display cases, swords, a magnificent morgenstern, caltrops…

On the side, there is a dark room with a large model in the center: the siege of the castle in 1442. Here, thanks to audio and a set of projectors, is reconstituted the episode of the siege of the castle in October 1442. At that time, the English held the castle, while the French, under the orders of King Charles VII besieged the castle for 3 weeks. The English will eventually capitulate, in exchange for their lives and 400 crowns.

A little later, the main room of the castle (for me): the kitchen! There's even a boar hanging on the wall!

Then head to the upper courtyard with the well, where you can still see the water at the bottom.

Under the arcades of the high court, there is an armor forge with an explanatory video.

And we go out into the barnyard (not that of the gallinaceae but the one located between the curtain wall and the dungeon). There is the beginning of the guided tour (where Pauline will join the group to listen to the information) as well as the blacksmith where we will see the work in the forge (nail and small Celtic knives). He will explain the basics of the extraction of the ore, its transformation into blast furnaces and its work in order to make usable metal. He will then explain to us the work of the forge and some basic techniques. It's very interesting !

Right next to it, facing the plain, there is a small stone thrower. Where I pose.

On the top of the bastion, there are life-size siege engines reconstructed in a historical manner: a mangonel, a trebuchet, a couillard and a bombarde (whose long cooling time after each shot allows you to fire only once per hour !).
The machines are very impressive!

The suite is below in the pas d'armes, right next to the aromatic garden, where the medieval spectacle takes place. A well-acted and funny performance!

One last quick look at the castle at the end of the show and that's the end of the visit. We go out quietly, a quick look at the memories and head to a bar to taste a local beer (which we had already enjoyed the previous year Sam and I).

Then we take the way back to the house, on the way, we fall asleep, except Sam who is driving.