France 2008 - Le bataille du donjon

Of what use would a journey to the major castles of the Loire river valley be without visiting the historical theme park Le Grand Parc at Puy du Fou? Exactly: none. Having visited Chartres, Orléans, Chinon and Angers - all cities of huge medieval importance - we thus end up in this park witnessing "le bataille du donjon" (Battle of the Keep), symbolysing the Hundred Years' War between the English and French nations. About Puy du Fou "Puy du Fou is a historical theme park in Les Epesses in the heart of the Vendée region of Western France. The park brings in some 1.2 million visitors every year, making it the second most popular attraction in France after Euro Disney[1]. (...) The Battle of the Keep is based around a French Donjon in the year 1429 during the Grand Chivalry Festival when an attack by English Knights disrupts the tournament. This show features Jousting, trick-riding, horseback duels and a movable, flame-throwing castle!" ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puy_du_Fou About the Hundred Years' War "The Hundred Years' War (French: Guerre de Cent Ans) was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne, vacant with the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings. The two primary contenders were the House of Valois, and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou. The House of Valois claimed the title of King of France, while the Plantagenets from England claimed to be Kings of France and England. The Plantagenet Kings in England had their roots in the French regions of Anjou and Normandy. French soldiers fought on both sides, with Burgundy and Aquitaine providing notable support for the Plantagenet side. The conflict lasted 116 years but was punctuated by several brief periods of peace, and two lengthy periods of peace, before it finally ended in the expulsion of the Plantagenets from France (except the Calais Pale). Subtracting the two long periods of peace from 1360--69 and 1389--1415, the war was fought for about 81 years. The war was in fact a series of conflicts and is commonly divided into three or four phases: the Edwardian War (1337--1360), the Caroline War (1369--1389), the Lancastrian War (1415--1429), and the slow decline of English fortunes after the appearance of Joan of Arc (1412--1431). Several other contemporary European conflicts were directly related to the conflict between England and France: the Breton War of Succession, the Castilian Civil War, and the War of the Two Peters. The term "Hundred Years' War" was a later term invented by historians to describe the series of events. The war owes its historical significance to a number of factors. Though primarily a dynastic conflict, the war gave impetus to ideas of both French and English nationality. Militarily, it saw the introduction of new weapons and tactics, which eroded the older system of feudal armies dominated by heavy cavalry. The first standing armies in Western Europe since the time of the Western Roman Empire were introduced for the war, thus changing the role of the peasantry. For all this, as well as for its long duration, it is often viewed as one of the most significant conflicts in the history of medieval warfare. In France, the English invasion, civil wars, deadly epidemics, famines and marauding mercenary armies turned to banditry reduced the population by two-thirds.[1]" ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Years'_War Device used Sony Ericsson K850i