GUEDELON, France—Castles in medieval times dominated the village landscape. If a castle was to be built, villages would spring up near the site, populated by craftsmen and their families. A forest, a quarry, and earth with layers of clay were necessary to provide the materials to build.
One man launched a project to help us understand how a medieval castle was built: He called his project Guédelon.
Guédelon castle was the brainchild of Michel Guyot, a man called quite mad when the idea was first conceived: a 13th-century castle to be built in 21st-century France. If it could be done, why would anyone want to? It took Mr. Guyot’s singular focus and desire to bring medieval life to the public that brought Guédelon to life.
The building of Guédelon was projected to take 25 years. Artisans dressed in period clothing were committed to the nearly 30-year process and the methodic, slow, but determined pace of stone block construction. Hens and geese freely pecked the ground, and the penned sheep patiently waited for their winter coats to be shorn for the weaver. The sound of the stone being worked with a hammer and chisel or the iron being forged with sparks flying had a rhythmic quality that blended with the organic surroundings. The past was present at every turn at Guédelon.
Guédelon was to be an example of experimental archeology of massive proportions to better understand the work of 13th-century master builders. The 13th-century was chosen for Guédelon as it was considered the “Golden Age” of medieval times. The climate was good for harvests, there was good weather for building, prosperity, and it was a peaceful time with fewer warring factions. It was a time of great innovation much of which is still used today.
Man With a Mission
Mr. Guyot developed his passion for castles growing up in 1950s France when ancient crumbling ruins were plentiful and a destination for family vacations. However, sullen Mr. Guyot did not find it very entertaining at the time. If you have seen one ruin, you have seen them all, he thought, yet despite his apathy, a spark had been lit to see an entire castle brought to life. Could he build one? It was a big dream, but big dreams were plentiful in his hometown of Berry in the Loire Valley of France; Berry was also home to Joan of Arc.
At the École de Beaux Arts in Paris, Mr. Guyot studied an eclectic mix of courses, painting, art history, and geometry, and then took an interest in horses and the equestrian arts. He took the funds earned from teaching riding lessons and, coupled with his unbridled enthusiasm, was able to convince the bank to loan him the money to purchase his first castle, La Roche. La Roche would be the first of many castles for Mr. Guyot but the only one in his home ground of Berry.
In 1979, the caretakers of a dilapidated castle from the 15th century, Château Saint-Fargeau, thought he was the perfect candidate to take over the restoration of their neglected burden in the Puisaye region of France. Saint-Fargeau lies in the north of Burgundy, just a two-hour drive south of Paris, halfway between the City of Light and Dijon.
The castle at St. Fargeau would be the perfect location to develop the medieval pageant Mr. Guyot had conceived. Each year in July and August, 600 actors and 60 horses re-enact a spectacle of history spanning 1,000 years that brings attention of the medieval age.
With successful castle renovation under his belt and Saint-Fargeau completed, his next challenge would have to be more substantial. Saint-Fargeau had convinced him of the public’s romance with the Middle Ages and that an experimental medieval building site, authentic in every detail, would appeal to a broad audience.
Lady of the Castle
Mr. Guyot needed someone to help guide the project and acquire the land, fund the building, and then hire a crew to build it. Ms. Martin became to be known as the “lady of the castle.”Ms. Martin had recently founded Emeraude, a rehabilitation association specializing in the maintenance of riverbanks, a project that helped a number of local unemployed people get back to work. To make the most of the enterprise, she went back to school to study forestry. Through her work, she met Mr. Guyot and brought some of her workers to the Guédelon project.
What was missing was the land for the crew to build on. A geographic map of the area turned into a treasure map leading them to the largest deposit of sandstone in the area. Privately owned, the land had no commercial value, but it was a gold mine for providing the stone, wood, water, and sand needed for the construction.
Construction
Jacques Moulin, the chief architect of historic monuments in France, designed the blueprint for the castle specific to 13th-century canons, the rules for building set by the Catholic church. Authenticity was key to Guédelon, starting with the rich materials the land provided like the old oak trees to the ferruginous sandstone hauled from the quarry.
Artisans were trained in the methods of castle building used eight centuries ago. The ability to adapt was the one required quality to become part of the project. People with backgrounds from bakers to electricians were schooled on the job to become part of the team of 13th-century craft workers.
One of the attractions for the crew was job security. They had at least 23 years of building ahead of them and they would be learning a new craft. Housed on the premises to begin with, their living expenses would be at a minimum.
Construction Techniques
Work began with the tools the blacksmith forged, lumber was cut and milled by hand, and rubble from the quarry (stones broken into workable sizes) was painstakingly moved into place by hand. Masons set stones with the most basic of tools using pendulum levels and plumb lines.Materials were tied with hemp ropes and hauled in hand-made horse-drawn carts. To construct the fixed bridge used to cross the compound, 57 oaks were felled from the Guédelon forest, squared off, and sawed by the woodcutters, cut to size, and assembled by carpenters with 670 nails forged one at a time by the blacksmith.
Head mason Patrice Stephane explained the use of mortar to visitors in 2006, “This mortar is different than what is used in modern building. It is slow drying which allows for flexibility in the walls something that is very good if warring factions batter them. It takes years to fully dry.” One might also call it medieval earthquake-proofing.
To make the mortar, limestone was needed, one of the few materials not found on the Guédelon site. A neighboring quarry supplied the stone. The stone was then fired in a kiln to produce the lime necessary for the mortar and limewashing the walls. The limestone method is being studied today to use in modern-day construction rather than cement.
Although the project required 13th-century building tools and methods, modern additions were allowed for safety purposes. Construction law in France requires safety goggles and steel-toed boots, even for building a medieval-style castle, and reinforced ropes were attached to the treadwheel winch to hoist the one-ton stones.
Volunteer participants paid a small fee to learn craft skills to come to Guédelon. As a young woman from Sweden worked on stone hewing, she said, “I feel privileged to be involved with such an endeavor that will provide the public, especially the children, a view of 13th-century life.”
Guédelon has been a tremendous scientific experiment providing a new means of using the earth’s resources in a better way; this was part of what Mr. Guyot had wanted, along with providing educational value for future visitors.
Guédelon was one-third complete when it celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2007. The castle is expected to be completed by 2033, then construction will begin on a chapel and a village, providing another generation the opportunity to see the Middle Ages come to life.
