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France's most extravagant castle (designed in part by Leonardo da Vinci), a female-owned chateau, and the Spanish castle from which Columbus was sent to the Americas are examined in the three episodes of this installment of the Learning Channel's
Great Castles of Europe series. Narrator Lary Lewman gives historical context as viewers see dialogue-free reenactments and footage of the castles' interiors and exteriors. The first castle, Chambord, is a Renaissance structure begun in 1520 by Francis I--with the help of his good friend da Vinci--and packed with so many turrets, towers, and dormers that it's compared to a chessboard. Surrounded by a 21-mile wall, the castle and grounds take up an area the size of Paris. On a much smaller scale, Chenonceau began as a fortified mansion with a mill on the Loire River before it was taken over by a succession of seven women. The mistress of King Henry II turned it into a profitable farm before her lover died in a joust, and his wife, Catherine de Medici, took it from her. A later owner added a bridge, which became an irreplaceable crossing to the town and saved the property--and its owner--during the French Revolution. Finally, the 71-minute video looks at Alcazar of Segovia in Castille, where young Isabella's fiancé, brother, and stepbrother all died mysteriously after eating meals, paving the way for her ascent to the crown and marriage to her cousin Ferdinand of Aragon. Together, from this lofty rock perch 300 feet above the crossing of two rivers, they formed Spain, began the Spanish Inquisition, and financed Columbus's ocean journey.
--Kimberly Heinrichs
