Re: St. Clair sur-Epte, France

["John S. Quarterman" <jsq@quarterman.org>]

Susan,

>       Recently I sent you a message stating that I read about the castle in
>St. Clair-sur-Epte, France in the book "A Genealogical History of the St.
>Clair Family" by L.A. de St. Clair, written in 1905.  You asked me what
>source he used to back up his statement that the structure is a "castle." 
>The statement the author makes about the castle is in Part One  1.  The
>Origin of the Name St Clair.  I have this part of the book translated into
>English.  The translation was done by Mr. Tim Wallace-Murphy in 1998.  If you
>ask him, he may have the whole book and I am sure he would be glad to tell
>you the source for the author's statement about the castle.

He's on the list, so I think you just asked him.

>       The reason I believe that the structure is a castle is that I have a
>very informative and well-written brochure "Tour Guide St. Clair sur Epte in
>Normandy" written by you and my very good friend H. S. Cummings, Jr. (who,
>sadly is deceased) in 1996.   This brochure states that the structure is a
>castle.  When my husband and I went to St. Clair-sur-Epte in June 2002 I took
>two copies of this brochure with me, one of which I gave to the mayor of St.
>Clair-sur-Epte.

The only source I had for that was Pete Cummings.  I don't know what his
source was.

>       I have a French painting of the early medieval walls, some even
>Visigothic, around the southern walled city of Carcasonne, France.  The label
>of the painting calls these fortified walls "a chateau."
>
>       Anyone who has toured the great chateaux of the Loire Valley knows the
>term encompassed both castles such as that at Chard
>the Lionhearted (He died there.) and ornamented royal palaces such as
>Azay-le-Rideau.

Indeed.

>Sincerely,
>
>Susan M. Grady

John S. Quarterman <jsq@quarterman.org>
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