A number of years ago, prompted by our friend Earl Foell, my husband and I first visited Les Andelys and Château-Gaillard. Foell, former editor of The Christian Science Monitor, loved nothing better than to explore the byways of France. Following his example, Jack and I took to the back roads, thoroughly enjoying our discoveries along the way. We fell in love with numerous places, but it was Château-Gaillard to which we regularly returned, charting its many years of restoration with innumerable slides, photos, and (more recently) digital pictures, as the scaffolding moved from one part of the vast complex to another.
From Gaillard it was natural to follow in Richard Lionheart’s footsteps, whether along his great post-imprisonment dash from Barfleur to the rescue of Verneuil, in Normandy, or the scene of his death at Châlus, in the Limousin. Along the way, we explored castles built by his forebears along the Loire valley, castles over which he held sway in the Dordogne, and his burial place at the Abbey of Fontevraud. We included Eleanor of Aquitaine’s Poitiers in our explorations, as well as medieval remnants in and around Rouen, in whose cathedral Rollo the Viking, William Longsword, and Henry the Younger are laid to rest, as well as the great heart of Lionheart himself. It was easy to be enchanted by Henry I’s favorite hunting grounds, the still-peaceful Forêt de Lyons. But it was along the river Epte, that bloody dividing line between the Norman and the French Vexin, that we found the most fascinating evidence of the long-term struggle between the French and the English crowns—the struggle that culminated in the great clash at Château-Gaillard. Not surprisingly, sometime along the way all of this began to shape itself into a book.
My subsequent research brought me into contact with several local historians, who generously shared their time and knowledge with me. In Les Andelys, I am especially grateful to historian Yvan Parrault and to Christian Letourneur, then assistant mayor for tourism and culture. In Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, I was fortunate to encounter Françoise Henry, then assistant to the mayor, who unlocked the ancient church of Saint-Clair for us, literally and figuratively. Without her generosity, we would not have seen the church’s eleventh-century interior walls or known that the church foundations date from the ninth century—thus were already in existence at the time of Rollo and the 911 treaty.
I love libraries as much as I love the open road, and I am especially grateful to the Library of Congress and to the splendid research facilities of the New York Public Library. In both of these institutions I discovered a surprising wealth of now published manuscripts and chronicles from the period as well as many fine scholarly studies, to which I have given specific acknowledgment in both notes and bibliography.
My deepest thanks to my editor, Susan McEachern, and to my production editor, Jehanne Schweitzer. I am indeed fortunate to have benefited from their endless patience, support, and guidance for this and my previous book, Dawn of the Belle Epoque. Many thanks as well to editorial assistant Grace Baumgartner and to my copyeditor, Catherine Bielitz. I am also indebted to Joanne Amparan-Close and to the late Sally Wecksler, who read this manuscript in its early stages and provided important criticism and encouragement.
My husband, Jack McAuliffe, has once again been my partner in what indeed was a team effort. I am deeply grateful for his steadfast enthusiasm and multiple roles in helping to bring this book to fruition. I could not have written it—or visited all those wonderful places in France—without him.
Lastly, a tribute to my daughter, Mavyn McAuliffe Holman, who in between her demanding roles as engineer, wife, and mom somehow manages to read, critique, and offer support for my various endeavors. Mavyn loves a good story, and so it is especially fitting that I dedicate this book to her.
For further insights into Clash of Crowns and Mary McAuliffe’s other books, see her Facebook photo blog via www.ClashofCrowns.com.
