Was there a Castlegard France in the year of 1357?

Answer 1

"Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle is on the Dordogne I assume that this is the Medievial castle they talk about in Timeline. It sounds about right although I am not 100%."

Actually, Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, is a town. The castle that it accompanies is Castlenaud. In the book it references a town, La Roque. It is near, but not as depicted in the movie. There is also some research that shows that it wasn't even founded until after the 100 Year War(not for sure).

Castelnaud is geographically accurate to suit Creighton's book, as it was on the English side of the river. The Dordogne was a divisive line through much of the "100 Year War". To put the book in to accurate terms, the castle that would have made more sense is Beynac, however it was under French rule, due to its location on the south side of the river. It is located high above the town. That is another point of interest. The castle in "Timeline" is high on a cliff, as is Beynac. Glaring similarity.

Rambling, sorry. a quick synopsis and points:

-La Roque is maybe 7-10km up the valley and there for not a likely area for the town in the book. It does not have a Castle in its proximity.

-Beynac is actually across the river from Castlenaud and more a representation of what Creighton was explaining.

-Ultimately, this is a story of fiction and it would make sense to scramble and piece lots of real places and not have a conflict with real historical happenings.

I hope this helps, but I'm sure it will most likely confuse anyone who reads this.

This is a cool area in France, with lots of large Chateaus and castles. Most of the big ones are public, but there are a large number of private ones as well(some are still open to the public)

Some links:

http://www.castelnaud.com/uk

and a picture of Beynac-

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/00/13/8c/b0/beynac-castle.jpg