Richard, le roi du Angleterre

Les Andelys actually goes back to the Merovingian dynasty when around 500, King Clovis converted to Christianity and his queen, Clothilde was so happy she founded a monastery here which interestingly enough educated girls. That did not last long and was defunct by the time the Vikings came through. Richard, le couer de lion, resurrected the importance of the region when he seized this land from the Bishop of Rouen to build defenses. He could tell this region was key to protect his dukedom of Normandy and he set about fortifying this river bend so that he would always know if King Phillip-Augustus was headed to attack him.

Here the French do admit that Richard was King of England, but you are much more likely to see his Duke of Normandy title and the history of Castle Gaillard begins with the comments that Richard's grandmother, Mathilda, was the granddaughter of William the Conqueror and that his grandfather, Geoffrey, was Count of Anjou and Maine and that his mother controlled the Aquitaine. This basically means that he controlled 75% of France although he had to do homage to the French King for his lands.

Angry with Philippe-Augustus who had been a bad partner during their Crusade and a worse ally when Richard was taken prisoner during his return trip, Richard seized the Andeli are in 1196 and started building his castle of the rock. During this time, most castles took a decade to build, Richard finished this in two years! Richard is considered the architect and it was based on castles he saw during the Third Crusade, notably in Syria. It was considered the finest castle of its time. Richard called it his beloved daughter and said he could defend it if the walls were made of butter.
That last statement was likely based on it's location as one climbs up and up and up to the top of a cliff along the Seine to visit the castle-120 meters. All that is left now are the ruins but the walls in some parts remain more than 3-4 meters thick. It was built by 2300 workers and used 4700 tons of stone.

It appears to have been Richard's favorite castle during his reign but he did not see much of it as he was killed at Challus the year after it was finished. Three years after his death, Phillip attacked King John's Normandy and the castle fell in 1204. The story of the final battle includes a tale of how townspeople fled to the castle when French troops approached. Although initially allowed in, the were ultimately forced from the castle during winter and as neither the English would let them in the castle, nor the French back to their town, they spent the winter in the moat and suffered mightily.
In 1314 the castle was used to imprison King Phillips daughters in law and during the Hundred Years' War it was besieged repeatedly. In the 1600's monks were allowed to take stones and Cardinal Richelieu ordered the keep demolished in 1630. In 1862, the French reclaimed their history and named the castle a national monument. Today she sits above the river welcoming visitors to walk around the large outer wall and to peak into her dungeon or food cellars and recall her prior glory.