After the Conquest the castle came into the hands of the great William de Braose, lord of Braose, near Falaise in Normandy, who received such great estates in England from the Conqueror.

We found it most pleasant to start, after lunch, from the Place de la Mairie, turning up the Rue Gambetta past the market and on to the "Falaises," where the sea-breeze blows fresh and free.

The rest of the journey in the cool of the afternoon was very pleasant, but our route was the same till reaching Bidart, where we curved to the left, and came by a branch road (previously mentioned), viá the Villa Marbella and the Falaises, back to our hotel.

At various times, Madame Aubain received a visit from the Marquis de Grémanville, one of her uncles, who was ruined and lived at Falaise on the remainder of his estates.

Near Falaise he was met by the bishop of Worcester, who had supported him at Northampton.

The lively Frenchman observed him patiently; at last he turned to the king, "How like you are now," he said, "to your cousins of Falaise!"

And he reminded them of his ancestress, the peasant girl Arlotta of Falaise, where the citizens were famous for their working in skins.

This famous prince was natural son of Robert, Duke of Normandy, by Harlotta, daughter of a tanner in Falaise

He took Bayeux by storm, after an obstinate siege: he made himself master of Caen by the voluntary submission of the inhabitants; but, being repulsed at Falaise, and obliged by the winter season to raise the siege, he returned into England, after giving assurance to his adherents, that he would persevere in supporting and protecting them.

The greater part of the prisoners were sent over to England; but Arthur was shut up in the castle of Falaise.

Falaise was first besieged; and Lupicaire, who commanded in this impregnable fortress, after surrendering the place, enlisted himself with his troops in the service of Philip, and carried on hostilities against his ancient master.

In Normandy particularly, whose constitution was most likely to be William's model in raising his new fabric of English government, the states were entirely composed of the clergy and nobility; and the first incorporated boroughs or communities of that duchy were Rouen and Falaise, which enjoyed their privileges by a grant of Philip Augustus in the year 1207

On his return he was taken ill, and appointed an illegitimate son his successor, whose mother was the daughter of a dealer in skins at Falaise, and this son became that celebrated William of Normandy, our renowned conqueror!

He was born at Falaise, in Normandy, and was the son of Jean Ribel, professor of theology at Geneva.

La Falaise mysterieuse.

La Falaise mysterieuse.

Une lieue au-delà on trouve une gorge qui vous oblige de passer sur une falaise au haut de laquelle est une tour.

Nine or ten years before, at Falaise, his favorite residence, Robert had met, according to some at a people's dance, according to others on the banks of a stream where she was washing linen with her companions, a young girl named Harlette or Harleve, daughter of a tanner in the town, where they show to this day, it is said, the window from which the duke saw her for the first time.

At a little later period, when a burgess of Falaise drew the attention of the Lord William de Bellesme to the gay and sturdy lad as he played amongst his mates, the fierce vassal muttered between his teeth, "Accursed be thou of God!

William did not hesitate; he got up, ran to the stables, saddled his horse with his own hands, started off, followed a road called to this day the duke's way, and reached Falaise as a place of safety.

William showed no more hesitation at Falaise than at Valognes; he started off at once, repaired to Poissy, where Henry I., king of France, was then residing, and claimed, as vassal, the help of his suzerain against traitors.

Between 1417 and 1419 he successively laid siege to nearly all the towns of importance in Normandy, to Caen, Bayeux, Falaise, Evreux, Coutances, Laigle, St. Lo, Cherbourg, &c., &

It lasted nearly three hours; the English were forced to fly at three points, and lost thirty-seven hundred men; several of their leaders were made prisoners; those who were left retired in good order; Bayeux, Avranches, Caen, Falaise, and Cherbourg fell one after the other into the hands of Charles VII.; and by the end of August, 1450, the whole of Normandy had been completely won back by France.

IX Quand elle fut rentrée au logis, la falaise Blanchissait; près du lit elle prit une chaise Et s'assit toute pâle; on eût dit qu'elle avait Un remords, et son front tomba sur le chevet, Et, par instants, à mots entrecoupés, sa bouche Parlait pendant qu'au loin grondait la mer farouche.

FALAISE (8), a French town in the dep. of Calvados, 22 m. SW. of Caen; the birthplace of William the Conqueror.