in the late 13th century, four of the eight he founded were concentric. The keep was inside the inner bailey and contained the king's accommodation. It had two rooms: an antechamber and an audience room. While Allen Brown interpreted the audience room as the king's chamber, historian Liddiard believes it is probably a throne room. A throne room emphasises the political importance of the castle. In England there is nothing similar to Château Gaillard's keep, but there are buildings with a similar design in France in the 12th and 13th centuries. Allen Brown described Château Gaillard as "one of the finest castles in Europe" and the military historian Sir Charles Oman wrote that: Despite Château Gaillard's reputation as a great fortress, Liddiard highlights the absence of a well in the keep as a peculiar weakness, and the castle was built on soft chalk, which would have allowed the walls to be undermined. But other sources evoke the presence of three wells in the three different baileys and the soft chalk does not really weaken the very thick walls. Its weakness is more the result of its location (higher hill behind), its extension (more than ) on a long narrow ridge and the difficulties in linking up the different baileys to allow a good communication and to secure an efficient defence without a large garrison. Château Gaillard was important not solely as a military structure, but as a salient symbol of the power of Richard the Lionheart. It was a statement of dominance by Richard, having reconquered the lands Philip II had taken. Castles such as Château Gaillard in France, and Dover Castle in England, were amongst the most advanced of their age, but were surpassed in both sophistication and cost by the works of Edward I of England in the latter half of the 13th century. See also List of castles in France References Notes Bibliography External links The sad secret of Château Gaillard - more on the tragic short lives of Blanche and Margaret, locked up here by the King of France. Plus pics Medieval History of Navarre.- Château Gaillard and the Queen of Navarre French Ministry of Culture database entries for Château Gaillard: , Château Gaillard, history and pictures Château Gaillard, 3D reconstitution with a link to the english page Buildings and structures completed in the 12th century Castles in Eure Monuments historiques of Eure Landmarks in France