visit montaigne's tower

Montaigne's Tower

Top ways to experience nearby attractions

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Montaigne's Tower Guide - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

• Thu - Thu 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
• Fri - Wed 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
• (0.56 km) Relais de la Renaissance
• (2.66 km) D'Emilion de Sens
• (8.30 km) Chateau Du Palanquey and spa
• (12.49 km) Chambres en Vigne
• (0.94 km) The Chamboul Tour ...
• (8.07 km) Bucket's Auberge Inn
• (6.42 km) Le Chaudron du Pere Marches
• (14.70 km) Restaurant Le Tertre
• (14.65 km) L'Huitrier-Pie - Camille & Soufiane
• (13.83 km) Le Clos Mirande
• (0.47 km) Église Saint-Michel
• (1.24 km) Domaine de Perreau
• (14.66 km) The Wine Buff
• (13.87 km) Château Beaurang
• (15.25 km) Château Laniote

Montaigne's Tower

Top ways to experience nearby attractions

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Montaigne's Tower - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

• Thu - Thu 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Fri - Wed 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
• (0.56 km) Relais de la Renaissance
• (2.66 km) D'Emilion de Sens
• (8.30 km) Chateau Du Palanquey and spa
• (12.49 km) Chambres en Vigne
• (0.94 km) The Chamboul Tour ...
• (8.07 km) Bucket's Auberge Inn
• (6.42 km) Le Chaudron du Pere Marches
• (14.70 km) Restaurant Le Tertre
• (14.65 km) L'Huitrier-Pie - Camille & Soufiane
• (13.83 km) Le Clos Mirande
• (0.47 km) Église Saint-Michel
• (1.24 km) Domaine de Perreau
• (14.66 km) The Wine Buff
• (13.87 km) Château Beaurang
• (15.25 km) Château Laniote

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The History Hit Miscellany of Facts, Figures and Fascinating Finds

Montaigne Castle

Bergerac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

The 14th century Château de Montaigne is a castle mansion situated on the borders of Périgord and Bordelais in the small commune of Saint-Michel-de-Montaigne in the Dordogne département of France.

14 Jul 2021

@histluketomes.

About Montaigne Castle

The 14 th century Château de Montaigne is a castle mansion situated on the borders of Périgord and Bordelais in the small commune of Saint-Michel-de-Montaigne in the Dordogne département of France.

History of Montaigne Castle

The structure originated in the 14th century and was the family residence of the Renaissance philosopher and thinker Michel de Montaigne.

Built in the heart of a majestic park designed by the philosopher himself, the residence was acquired in 1477 by the great-grandfather of Michel, Ramon Eyquem, a Bordeaux trader, who thus acquired the hereditary title of Seigneur de Montaigne (‘Lord of Montaigne’).

In 1584, Montaigne entertained in his castle the king of Navarre, Henri de Bourbon, the future Henry IV, and thus became a close royal friend at the same time as Condé, de Rohan and Turenne. From 1571 until his death in 1592, Michel de Montaigne wrote his famous Essays (French: Essais), major works of humanism of the renaissance, and fruits of a lifetime of reflection and reading.

After Montaigne’s death, his widow Françoise de La Chassaigne continued to reside in the castle. She entertained there Marie de Gournay, whom he had befriended in 1588 during a voyage to Paris, and to whom he had sent an annotated copy of the Essays requesting that she take care of its publication (which did not happen until fifteen months later).

In 1860, Pierre Magne, minister of Napoleon III, bought the castle. He withdrew there after the 16 May 1877 crisis and became generally distant from the meetings of the Senate. He died of disease on 17 February 1879. The castle was completely rebuilt after a fire that seriously damaged it in 1885.

Montaigne Castle today

The architecture of the extant chateau has a neo-renaissance flavour. After crossing the gate, one arrives in a square court surrounded by ramparts. The round tower of the library is the only vestige of the 16th century and is a popular location for visitors of the castle.

Since 2009, Château de Montaigne has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.

Getting to Montaigne Castle

The closest city to Monatigne Castle is Bordeaux. From here, vistors can either take a 45-minute train from Bordeaux Saint-Jean station, or a 1 hour bus to the small town of Bourg, where a taxi service runs directly to the medieval castle.

If travelling by car from Bordeaux, simply take the N89 eastbound before merging onto the D1089 outside of Libourne. Once at le Verdet, take the D670 southbound before merging onto the D936. Turn off onto the D9 at Lamothe-Montravel and head northward straight to Montaigne Castle. This all-round trip should take no more than 1 hour and 15 minutes.

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Michel de Montaigne Castle

Michel de Montaigne Castle Castles in Périgord in Saint Michel de Montaigne

Château Michel de Montaigne 24230 Saint-Michel-de-Montaigne

Phone : 05 53 58 63 93

GPS coordinates

44° 52'33.91"N, 0° 1'48.58"E

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In the Footsteps of Montaigne

One of the most important Renaissance philosophers and the inventor of the essay, Michel de Montaigne was also a keen traveller

In 1571, the French nobleman Michel de Montaigne sold his seat at the Bordeaux Parliament, retired from public service, sequestered himself in the circular tower of his family castle, and began to write the Essais .

Known today as one of the most influential authors of the French Renaissance , Montaigne initiated a new genre of writing, the essai , from the French verb essayer , meaning trial or attempt. Concentrating on his own thoughts and experiences, Montaigne’s Essais covered a wide range of subjects, including vanity, virtue, idleness, marriage, babies, the custom of wearing clothes, his dietary preferences, his kidney stones, the art of conversation and even cannibals. Montaigne stated: “I have embarked on a long road which I shall travel without toil and without ceasing as long as the world has ink and paper”. Without Montaigne’s influence, there would be no Pepys or Boswell, nor, perhaps, Facebook or TikTok: he was, in many ways, the first blogger.

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne was born into an upwardly mobile family whose status hung by a thread: his great-grandfather had been a wealthy herring merchant who in 1477 bought the Château de Montaigne and the title of lord that came with it. Unwittingly, the classically-educated Montaigne was thrown into a life of civic duty when his father relinquished his seat at the Bordeaux Parlement to him in 1557.

Place du Parlement in Bordeaux

Quest for knowledge Montaigne’s motto, Que-sais je ? (What do I know?), illustrated a certain apathy that he felt towards the judicial system, but despite his cynicism, he gained entry into the French court, travelling to Paris on behalf of the Bordeaux Parlement and negotiating the welfare of the city with the royal administration. He was in regular diplomatic contact with Catherine de’ Medici and her sons, Charles IX and Henri III. With a knighthood of the Order of Saint-Michel under his belt, Montaigne could now rest on his laurels.

Withdrawing from public life at the age of 38, he moved a chair, a table and a thousand books into the tower of his family château near the Dordogne river. With the benefit of his vast collection of tomes, he spent a decade writing his essays: Montaigne could see more books spread out in his circular tower than earlier scholars had seen in a lifetime of travel; nevertheless, travel he did.

Michel de Montaigne can be imagined on horseback, riding in his satin breeches from his estate to Bordeaux, as well as elsewhere in France – Blois, Rouen, Paris, and even further afield.

Geographical details and regional idiosyncrasies greatly interested him. Travel, he said, was a very profitable enterprise, employing the soul in observing new and unknown things. Montaigne wrote that the purpose of travel was to “rub and polish our brains against the brains of others”. A naturally inquisitive ethnographer, Montaigne was keen to speak to people at all levels of society and extended his curiosity to the inhabitants of the New World, three of whom he met in 1563, when Brazilian natives were brought to Rouen by a French explorer. The suffering and humiliation imposed on these indigenous South Americans provoked his indignation and compassion.

Found 178 years after his death, Montaigne’s travel journal reveals a lively description of his adventures © Bodleian Library Oxford

Montaigne’s tour of Europe

Disillusioned by constant civil and religious wars in his homeland, in June of 1580, after the publication of his first two books of Essais , Montaigne embarked on a European tour. He and his entourage travelled through France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland to arrive in Rome, a city central to his classical education. The journey was partly for pleasure and partly for health: he was plagued by kidney stones throughout his life and sought relief by taking the waters at various spas.

Despite the pain he endured, Montaigne’s cheerfulness was contagious and his attendants followed him gladly in his pursuit of unknown roads and unseen sights. In 1770, 178 years after his death, a manuscript was discovered at his château in an unexamined chest – the Journal du Voyage de Montaigne . He had spoken of his travels in his Essais , but it was thought he hadn’t kept a record of his travels. This lucky find contained a lively description of life on the road, detailing prices, food, lodgings and customs he encountered, alongside some scandalous tales.

After delivering his Essais to King Henri III, Montaigne began the French leg of his journey near Beaumont-sur-Oise. He visited Meaux, a small fortified town on the Marne which he considered very beautiful, noting its great stone walls and the riverside market which exists today in the south quarter of the old city. He also saw the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne, a beacon of Gothic architecture.

Montaigne’s path continued through the wine villages of Charly-sur Marne and Dormans. At Épernay, he visited the Église Notre-Dame and Saint-Martin’s gate, which today is all that remains of the original building. Montaigne thought the large town square at Vitry-le-François was one of the handsomest in France. The town was a crucible of gender politics where a group of young women habitually dressed as men: days before Montaigne’s visit, one such impersonator had met their end at the gallows.

Montaigne passed through the small villages of the Meuse and Vosges departments and stayed at Domrémy, the birthplace of Joan of Arc; the 15th-century building she grew up in has been restored and is now a visitor centre.

The roman baths in Plombière-les-Bains where Montaigne spent several days © Compagnie des Thermes de Plombières-les-Bains

Claiming never to travel without books, Montaigne acquired a few along the way too. He examined the well-stocked church library at Neufchâteau but found nothing rare; of greater interest, it appears, was the town’s new waterwheel.

Montaigne frequented mineral spas all the way along his route, their waters soothing the pain he suffered as a result of his kidney stones. He stopped at Plombières-les-Bains to take advantage of the thermal springs and spent his 11-day stay at the Angel Inn, the best in town where the landladies were very good cooks. The Angel is now the Residence des Bains at 7, rue Stanislas. The thermal baths bearing Montaigne’s name have been protected as a historical monument since 2001. Montaigne also visited the silver mines at Bussang, the last French-speaking village before crossing the Alsace border into Switzerland. His ultimate destination was the Vatican Library where he was delighted to see ancient Roman and Chinese manuscripts, the love letters of Henry VIII and the classics of history and philosophy. While in Italy, Montaigne was surprised with the news that he had been elected mayor of Bordeaux in absentia. The news didn’t hasten his return, however: instead he took a leisurely 45 days to return home, a journey which the courier had made in less than a month.

Montaigne returned to France via the mountainous Savoie region. Attempting Mont-Cenis was impossible for his horses, so he hired eight burly men to carry him up the mountain in a sedan chair. He travelled back down on a sleigh.

On the return trip to Bordeaux , Montaigne passed through many small, mercantile towns set among the mountains, where he enjoyed good views and good wines, collecting and polishing ideas for his third book of essays.

After spending eight days in Lyon , Montaigne stopped overnight at an assortment of villages in central France, including Thiers, which at the time was renowned for the manufacture of playing cards and carved knives. Four hundred years later, the town is still the capital of French knife-making.

Lyon © Wikimedia Commons

The Chemin de Montaigne

Established in 2015, the GR89, aka the Chemin de Montaigne , is a long-distance (326km) hiking route that faithfully follows Montaigne’s footsteps from Lyon to the village of Felletin, through the small towns he encountered on his route back home. It’s quite likely he was cooling his heels in these hamlets to delay his return to public life as Bordeaux’s mayor as long as possible.

After a journey lasting 17 months and eight days, Montaigne returned to his château on November 30, 1581. His later travels included a one-day incarceration at the Bastille, and vagabond days avoiding the plague.

He died in 1592 at the Château de Montaigne . He was 59. To this day, he remains an inspiration to get out, travel in the face of adversity, and to embrace new cultures and customs.

From France Today Magazine

Lead photo credit : Portrait of Michel de Montaigne © Wikimedia Commons

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By hazel smith.

After experiencing an epiphany at the Musée d'Orsay, Hazel Smith is currently a mature student of art history at the University of Toronto. Blogger and amateur historian, she has also written for the online travel guide PlanetWare.com and for davincidilemma.com. Fascinated with the lives of the Impressionists, Hazel has made pilgrimages to the houses and haunts of the artists while in France. She is continually searching for the perfect art history mystery to solve. She maintains the blogs Smartypants Goes to France and The Clever Pup (http://the-clever-pup.blogspot.ca)

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Exploring the bastides of South West France

Virginia woolf visits montaigne’s tower.

• Post published: 13 September 2020
• Post category: Remarkable People / Road Trip

On holiday in France in 1931, Virginia Woolf and her husband Leonard experienced the worst April weather for 50 years.  Crossing at night on the car ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe on 16 April they would return on 30 April.  In her diary, Woolf describes spinning along the wet roads, breaking their journey in Saumur and La Rochelle on the way to the Dordogne. 

The Woolfs stayed for a couple of nights at Castillon-La-Bataille in the Gironde where the weather improved and became more spring-like. Virginia wrote many letters and postcards to friends describing how much she was enjoying her travels in the region.

In a letter to Ethel Smyth she describes staying overnight at a rural inn in Castillon with ‘a lovely river, poplars and vineyards‘ and visiting Montaigne’s tower, ‘a bare, ragged room with three windows on top and his old saddle, a chair and table …..’, an experience which impressed her and which she commented on to all her correspondents during the visit.

Montaigne’s Essais

The Woolfs were particularly interested in Montaigne’s essays.  Leonard regarded Michel Eyquem de Montaigne as the first civilised modern man and Virginia kept a copy of the essays on her bedside table. Her essay on Montaigne had been published on 31 January 1924 as a leading article in the Times Literary Supplement.

In her diary she describes her visit to the Château de Montaigne , 7 or 8 miles to the west of Castillon, on 23 April. From Bergerac she sent a postcard of the Château to Mary Hutchinson sending ‘thoughts of Montaigne whose tower we have just seen …. ‘.

The Woolfs would have passed through the bastide of Sainte-Foy-la-Grande on their way to Bergerac, where they lunched on pâté and eggs and drank Monbazillac . They continued on to Périgueux and Brantôme where Virginia wrote to her sister, Vanessa, about her excitement at being in Montaigne’s tower, her enjoyment of the countryside and her desire to live in France …’it is a perfect country’.

Virginia Woolf in the Périgord

The places mentioned by Virginia Woolf in her correspondence:

• Castillon-La-Bataille (A)
• Montaigne’s Tower (B)
• Bergerac (E)
• Périgueux (F)
• Brantôme (G)

The places that we recommend including on this road trip into the Périgord:

• Sainte-Foy-La-Grande (C)
• Monbazillac (D)

For more information about Virginia Woolf and her journeys in France, visit:

International Virginia Woolf Society

Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain

Société des Études Woolfiennes

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'Pardon our appearance': Photos show Trump Tower mostly empty and in disrepair

A recent visit to Trump Tower where former president Donald Trump has set up camp while attending his 34 felony count trial in a nearby Manhattan courtroom revealed empty public spaces, lagging construction lagging construction and a massive waterfall the Trump Organization is proud of turned off and silent.

In a collection of startling photos taken by the Daily Beast's Nell Scovell, accompanied by some of her wry commentary, at least the first two stories of the so-called Trump "crown jewel" appear mostly empty with shuttered retail shops undergoing construction, a currency exchange booth looking abandoned and a Trump Tower gift shop cluttered with "Trump 2020" campaign posters.

As Scovell wrote and documented with her photos, "With the owner and former president back in residence, you might think they’d spruce up the abutting commercial and retail space. You’d be wrong."

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Noting the massive lobby waterfall promoted by the Trump Organization as "One of the most notable features of Trump Tower is the breath-taking 60-foot waterfall embellishing the eastern wall of the building," Scovell reported, "Today, it’s notable that there’s no water in the waterfall. And a waterfall without water is just a wall."

She also reported the Trump Cafe is currently under construction (signage pleading "Pardon our appearance"), reporting it, “'most likely open the second week of May,' said an elderly security guard. Then he wiggled his hand in a 'give or take' gesture, suggesting not even he believes that will happen."

"Both public terraces appear to be permanently closed to the public. The lack of public outdoor spaces may be in violation of a deal with the city which traded additional square footage for these gardens. In the smaller exterior space, what’s visible through the window looks sparse and untended," she wrote before adding, "The large glass doors which once opened up to a second, grander terrace are now mirrored over and locked."

On a final note, Scovell photographed a forlorn black trash receptacle sitting among the planters, polished brass and glass with only a few Trump Tower visitors to be seen.

You can go here to see the stunning photographs .

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Montaigne's Tower

Top ways to experience nearby attractions

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

MONTAIGNE'S TOWER: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

• Thu - Thu 09:00 - 18:00
• Fri - Wed 10:00 - 18:00
• (0.35 mi) Relais de la Renaissance
• (1.66 mi) D'Emilion de Sens
• (5.19 mi) Chateau Du Palanquey and spa
• (7.80 mi) Chambres en Vigne
• (0.59 mi) The Chamboul Tour ...
• (5.04 mi) Bucket's Auberge Inn
• (4.02 mi) Le Chaudron du Pere Marches
• (9.19 mi) Restaurant Le Tertre
• (9.16 mi) L'Huitrier-Pie - Camille & Soufiane
• (8.64 mi) Le Clos Mirande
• (0.29 mi) Église Saint-Michel
• (0.78 mi) Domaine de Perreau
• (9.16 mi) The Wine Buff
• (8.67 mi) Château Beaurang
• (9.53 mi) Château Laniote

Montaigne's Tower

Top ways to experience nearby attractions

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Montaigne's Tower - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024) - Tripadvisor

• Thu - Thu 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
• Fri - Wed 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
• (0.56 km) Relais de la Renaissance
• (2.66 km) D'Emilion de Sens
• (8.30 km) Chateau Du Palanquey and spa
• (12.49 km) Chambres en Vigne
• (0.94 km) The Chamboul Tour ...
• (8.07 km) Bucket's Auberge Inn
• (6.42 km) Le Chaudron du Pere Marches
• (14.70 km) Restaurant Le Tertre
• (14.65 km) L'Huitrier-Pie - Camille & Soufiane
• (13.83 km) Le Clos Mirande
• (0.47 km) Église Saint-Michel
• (1.24 km) Domaine de Perreau
• (14.66 km) The Wine Buff
• (13.87 km) Château Beaurang
• (15.25 km) Château Laniote

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On this tour you take in some of Moscow's most important and highly decorated stations. Carrying up to 7 million passengers a day and covering almost the entire city, the Moscow Metro is one of the most extensive mass transit systems in the world. It's famous for the fine examples of social-realism which decorate many of its stations.

Visit some of the most important stations and get the chance to admire spectacular baroque-style ceilings, marble statues, busts of Communist heroes, stained glass windows, and ceiling mosaics depicting the bright Soviet future. Visit the most remarkable stations like Komsomolskaya, Kurskaya, Kievskaya and others, with the experienced guide who will bring you a full insight into their fascinating history.

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Did Richard III Kill the Princes in the Tower?

Philippa Langley devoted years to the search for Richard III’s remains. Now, she’s trying to crack a 15th-century cold case: Did he really assassinate his nephews?

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By Amelia Nierenberg

Reporting from Edinburgh and the Tower of London.

For over 400 years, Richard III has been seen as Britain’s most infamous king — a power-hungry usurper who killed his young nephews to clear the way to the throne.

In Shakespeare’s “Richard III,” the king tells an assassin, “I wish the bastards dead,” referring to the princes Edward V and Richard. “And I would have it suddenly performed.”

But the king’s murderous image, drawn from history books and cemented in literature and lore, is just not true — or, at least, it has not been proven true, argues Philippa Langley, an author and independent historian.

“Maybe there is evidence,” she said over a cup of tea in Edinburgh earlier this year. “But there seems to be no evidence.”

Langley is, perhaps, Richard III’s most dedicated living defender. A prominent member of the Richard III Society , an organization that has been working since 1924 “to secure a more balanced assessment of the king,” she has made a career of researching — and rehabilitating — a man who ruled for two years, from 1483 to his death in 1485.

In 2012, she spearheaded a project to find his remains , which were under a parking lot in the city of Leicester, as she believed they would be, and give him a dignified burial. Once she had laid Richard III to rest, however, she found she couldn’t quite let him go. After all, he was still seen as a murderer.

So she took on the case of the princes’ disappearance . Is there, she wanted to know, enough archival evidence to say beyond a reasonable doubt that Richard III ordered the assassinations of the boys? Was the king a murderer — or a victim of centuries of rumor and prejudice?

These are the questions at the heart of Langley’s most recent book, “ The Princes in the Tower ,” published in late 2023. In it, she takes a true-crime approach to the mystery, using what she describes as “the same principles and practices as a modern police inquiry.”

She wanted to find the truth, she said, even if it meant finding evidence that suggests that he was, indeed, a killer.

“It’s about making sure that the story we tell about this country is correct,” Langley, 62, said, adding, “Whether that is today or tomorrow or 500 years ago, evidence, truth, facts — rather than stories and lies — are really important.”

To the reading public in Britain and historians around the world, Langley is something of a curiosity. She did not attend university. And yet she became the face of one of the splashiest historical events of the century.

For finding Richard III’s body, she was awarded an M.B.E. , a national honor. She is recognized at train stations, though not terribly often, she said. And she has earned the respect of many university scholars.

“I don’t think she got lucky with Richard III,” said Sebastian Sobecki, a professor of late medieval English literature at the University of Toronto. “She did very good research.”

He is one of many academics who acknowledge that Langley, who formerly worked in marketing and advertising, understands how to excite people about the past — more so, perhaps, than most academics (How many historians can say they were played by Sally Hawkins , as Langley was in the film “The Lost King”?)

But even if some professors think of her work as worthy, many also see it as fundamentally unacademic. Serious scholars do not usually probe the past to find or exonerate long-dead kings, they argue.

“The reason that archaeologists hadn’t looked for him in the past is that archaeologists don’t go looking for famous dead people,” said Philip Schwyzer, a specialist in early modern English literature at the University of Exeter.

A few critics even see Langley as a charlatan. But most just think that she is naïve, blinded by her own rosy image of the king.

That outlook builds on a longstanding skepticism of the Richard III Society. “It is frankly partisan in a war that ended more than 500 years ago,” said Spencer A. Strub, a humanities researcher at Princeton University, of the organization.

Langley knows what her detractors say about her, she said: She doesn’t have the right credentials. She’s emotional, a woman with a 15th-century crush.

But Langley fought for legitimacy well before discovering Richard III. For decades, she has lived with chronic fatigue syndrome , a condition that has long been met with skepticism from doctors and colleagues alike.

That’s part of what binds her to Richard III, Langley said. Studies of his skeleton showed that he had scoliosis — a physical condition long portrayed (and mocked ) on the stage as a motivation for his rage across the centuries. “He would have been dealing with something that he had to hide,” she said. “And I was the same.”

And her work speaks for itself, Langley said: She did find his grave. And now, she thinks she has cracked a major historical cover-up.

The story stems from Richard III’s coronation, which happened amid a swirl of scandal.

His brother, King Edward IV, had died in the spring of 1483. Richard was made protector of the realm until the king’s eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V, came of age. But before the boy was crowned, his parents’ marriage was declared illegitimate and his coronation was suspended.

Richard III was proclaimed king instead. Soon after, the boy and his younger brother, Richard, 9, disappeared from where they had been held, the Tower of London.

That, Langley argues, makes it a missing persons inquest, not a murder case. “This was all we knew for certain, based on the available evidence,” she writes.

She argues that the dominant narrative — that Richard III had the princes killed to take the throne — is little more than rumor that calcified into fact over 500 years. Instead, she suggests, the boys were alive when Richard was crowned.

Richard III was the last king in England’s Plantagenet line. Henry VII, who ousted him, was the first Tudor king; he had a dynasty to establish, a reputation to build. So, Langley argues, Henry VII cast his predecessor as a villain.

It would also have been useful for the Tudors if people thought the boys were dead, unable to fight for the throne, Langley writes in the book. Rumors of their deaths started under Henry VII, she notes, pointing to texts from Richard III’s reign that talk about his nephews in the present tense.

That’s why she thinks that the boys weren’t killed — at least not in the Tower of London, in 1483. Instead, she argues, they were smuggled out of the British capital. Then, after Richard III was killed and the princes were made legitimate again, she argues that they both tried to retake the throne, Anastasia-like .

She weaves her argument out of archival material gathered over seven years by a team of over 300 independent researchers . The evidence includes receipts for weapons; a witness statement describing the boys’ flight; royal seals and more. To complicate matters, Langley also argues that both of the princes were later given false identities by the Tudor government : They were described as impostors trying to pose as princes, not the real thing.

“Apparent red herrings seemed to litter the story,” she writes. “The project could not afford to miss anything, no matter how seemingly insignificant.”

Langley also tries to debunk some of the historically accepted pieces of evidence in support of the view that the nephews were assassinated, the so-called eyewitness testimonies. One, from Sir Thomas More, was written decades after the fact — under the Tudors. She argues that another, penned by an Italian monk who was in London in 1483, does not say the boys were murdered — only that he didn’t know what had happened to the older boy.

The accounts are not proof, she says.

Many top academics agree that the often cited accounts for the princes’ murder are thin. “People realize how flimsy the evidence is,” said Schwyzer, the scholar of early modern English literature. “The most reliable reports say they went into the tower and were seen less and less often, and people thought they were dead.”

For Langley’s argument to prevail, she must first explain the skeletons of young children that were found in the tower in 1674. The bones were examined in 1933. They are interred at Westminster Abbey as the supposed remains of the princes.

“How many children would have been put in a box and buried under a staircase in the tower?” said Raluca Radulescu, a professor of medieval literature and a cultural historian at the University of Bangor, in Wales. “Like, why?”

Langley has an answer there, too.

The remains have not undergone modern scientific analysis or DNA testing, she notes. That would require approval by the Dean of Westminster in consultation with the royal household.

“The view of previous deans has always been that the mortal remains of two young children, widely believed since the 17th century to be the princes in the tower, should not be disturbed,” said Victoria Ribbans, a spokeswoman for the Abbey. “There are no current plans to change this.”

Within the Tower of London itself, speculation is afoot.

Julian Jennings, a warden who has worked there for over 18 years, is fascinated by the history he protects. He even traveled to Leicester when Richard III was reinterred in 2015 , just to be present.

He’s been following the debate about Langley’s book, and he’s bursting to talk about it. When asked for directions — with no mention of the princes — he brought up the debate. “It’s an absolute minefield,” he said.

Jennings is still making up his mind on the matter, he said. But a few stories below, the longstanding narrative is codified on a plaque : “The tradition of the tower has always pointed out this as the stair under which the bones of Edward the 5th and his brother were found.”

The research Langley put forward, he said, could well be the biggest historical shake-up in a long time. He and his colleagues are abuzz with wonder: What if the princes actually lived?

The question is a testament to Langley’s influence.

“It’s good to keep an open mind,” he said, during a recent shift. “At least I do, anyway.”

Amelia Nierenberg writes the Asia Pacific Morning Briefing , a global newsletter. More about Amelia Nierenberg

• International

Day 8 of Trump New York hush money trial

By CNN's Kara Scannell, Lauren Del Valle and Jeremy Herb in the courthouse

Graff says she assumed Stormy Daniels' visit to Trump Tower was regarding "Apprentice" casting

Graff says she was under the impression a Trump Tower visit from adult film star Stormy Daniels had to do with Trump's interest in her as a potential cast member for "The Apprentice."

"You understood she was there to discuss being cast for 'The Apprentice'?" Necheles asked.

"I assumed that," Graff says.

Daniels said in her recent documentary that she had conversations with Trump about potentially appearing on "Celebrity Apprentice."

This post has been updated with additional information from Stormy Daniels' documentary.

After questions about Trump's interest in the casting of "Celebrity Apprentice," prosecutors object

After a series of questions about Trump's interest in the casting of "Celebrity Apprentice," prosecutors object. Lawyers are at the bench.

Necheles next brought up Graff's mention of seeing Stormy Daniels at Trump Tower.

"I vaguely recall hearing him say that she was one of the people that may be an interesting contestant on the show," Graff testified.

Trump's attorney went into a line of questioning about how Trump was very involved in finding contestants for the "Celebrity Apprentice," confirming with Graff that Trump looked for "colorful" or "interesting" candidates to cast.

"He would vocalize" sometimes people Trump was interested in having as "Apprentice" contestants to members of his staff, she said.

Trump is smiling as Graff describes working with him

Trump is smiling and watching Graff speak as his attorneys begin to ask questions of his former longtime assistant.

"I never had the same day twice in all that time," Graff says, as she describes her time at the Trump organization. "It was a very stimulating, exciting, fascinating place to be."

Asked if Trump respected her intelligence, Graff says she wouldn't have worked there for 34 years if he didn't. Trump laughed at the comment.

Asked if Trump was a good boss, Graff says, "I think that he was fair, and, what’s the word I’m looking for, respectful boss to me."

"Sometimes he would peek his head in and say, 'Go home to your family,' which I thought was very thoughtful of him," Graff testifies.

Graff says Trump invited her to the inauguration and she got to sit up close. She says it was a "unique" experience to sit on the platform with her husband.

She testified that "The Apprentice" elevated Trump to "rock star status."

Trump attorney Susan Necheles is now asking questions

The prosecutor has wrapped her direct examination of Graff.

Trump attorney Susan Necheles is now beginning her cross examination.

Jurors are seeing who Trump met with over 3 days in January 2017, according to his calendar

Hoffinger shows calendar entries for Trump from January 16 to January 19, 2017, from the Trump Organization appointment calendar, including an entry for a "teleprompter practice session" on the 25th floor of Trump Tower on January 16, 2017.

Another entry shows Trump had an appointment with Ainsley Earhardt from Fox and Friends on January 17, 2017.

On the same day, he also had an appointment for a photo shoot for Mike Allen for the Washington Post.

Graff confirms that the entries show Trump was working at Trump Tower at that time.

According to the calendar, Trump was expected to be wheels up from LaGuardia Airport to Reagan National Airport on January 19, 2017, the day before the inauguration.

Trump continues to falsely claim he can’t comment on his criminal trial as he rails against gag order

From CNN's Kate Sullivan

Former President Donald Trump on Friday continued to falsely claim he cannot “comment on” or “answer questions” about his New York criminal hush money trial as he railed against the gag order from Judge Juan Merchan. 

Trump frequently comments on and answers questions about the trial. The gag order prohibits Trump from publicly discussing witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff or family members of prosecutors and court staff. 

Speaking in the third person, Trump posted on Truth Social, “45th President Donald J. Trump is again the Republican Nominee for President of the United States, and is currently dominating in the Polls. However, he is being inundated by the Media with questions because of this Rigged Biden Trial, which President Trump is not allowed to comment on, or answer, because of Judge Juan Merchan’s UNPRECEDENTED AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL Gag Order.”

“His Opponents have unlimited rights to question, but he has no right to respond. There has never been a situation like this in our Country’s History, a Candidate that is not allowed to answer questions. Even Crooked Joe Biden is talking about the Sham Case, and others inspired by his Administration. We request that Judge Merchan immediately LIFT THE GAG ORDER, so that President Trump is able to freely state his views, feelings, and policies. He is asking for his Constitutional Right to Free Speech. If it is not granted, this again becomes a Rigged Election!” Trump posted. 

Merchan has scheduled another hearing on the gag order for next Thursday.

Graff recalls seeing Stormy Daniels in the reception area at Trump Tower before Trump ran for office

Graff recalls seeing Stormy Daniels in the reception area at Trump Tower before Trump ran for president.

Graff confirms she kept contact info for Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels

Graff confirms that two contacts she maintained at the Trump Organization were for Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels.

Partially redacted exhibits in court show a contact entry in the organization's system for Karen McDougal, with a phone number, email address and two addresses.

Graff confirms she believes she created the contact for Trump.

The next contact Hoffinger shows in the Trump Org system is listed as "Stormy." It just lists a cell phone number.

Graff confirms that the Stormy contact was Stormy Daniels.

Analysis: Why Rhona Graff is a "valuable" witness

From CNN's Kaanita Iyer and Ramishah Maruf

Prosecutors have called Rhona Graff, Donald Trump's former longtime assistant, to the witness stand.

Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker in his testimony Tuesday described sitting in Trump's office Graff walked in and gave him invoices and checks to sign.

CNN previously reported in 2022 that Graff was subpoenaed as part of the separate New York attorney general's investigation into the Trump Organization’s finances.

CNN analyst Gloria Borger said that Graff was very close to Trump.

Graff can also reveal how the Trump organization worked, Borger said, and even provide a glimpse into Trump's life and speak on the relationships between Trump and his children.

Assistants also make powerful witnesses because they can see who is coming in out of the office.

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Poland’s president becomes the latest leader to visit Donald Trump as allies eye a possible return

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump meets with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump greets Poland’s President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

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NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump met Wednesday in New York with Polish President Andrzej Duda , the latest in a series of meetings with foreign leaders as Europe braces for the possibility of a second Trump term.

The presumptive Republican nominee hosted Duda at Trump Tower, where the two discussed the war in Ukraine and Duda’s push to boost NATO members’ defense spending, according to a readout from Trump’s campaign. Duda, who has long expressed admiration for Trump, is also a staunch supporter of Ukraine and has encouraged Washington to provide more aid to Kyiv amid Russian’s ongoing invasion . That funding has been held up by Trump allies in Congress.

As he arrived, Trump praised the Polish president, saying, “He’s done a fantastic job and he’s my friend.”

“We had four great years together,” Trump added. “We’re behind Poland all the way.”

Following the almost 2 1/2 hour meeting, Duda said only that it was a “friendly meeting in very nice atmosphere.”

His aide, Wojciech Kolarski, also in attendance, described it as an “excellent meeting” of “two friends who reminisced on the time when for four years they cooperated while holding presidential offices,” a time that was “very fruitful for Polish-U.S. relations.”

Duda is the latest foreign leader to meet with Trump in the weeks since he locked up the Republican nomination. U.S. allies across the world were caught off guard by Trump’s surprise 2016 win, forcing them to scramble to build relationships with a president who often attacked longstanding treaties and alliances they valued. Setting up meetings with him during the 2024 campaign suggests they don’t want to be behind again.

Even as he goes on trial for one of the four criminal indictments against him, Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden are locked in a rematch that most observers expect will be exceedingly close in November.

While some in Poland worried the visit might damage the country’s relationship with Biden, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. — a Biden ally and a major voice in his party on foreign affairs — said such meetings make sense.

“The polls are close,” he said. “If I were a foreign leader — and there’s a precedent attached to meeting with candidates who are nominated or on the path to being nominated — I’d probably do it too.”

Murphy noted that former President Barack Obama did a lengthy international tour and met with foreign leaders when he first ran for the White House. So did Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who challenged Obama in 2012 and whose trip included a stop in Poland’s capital, Warsaw.

Duda’s visit comes a week after Trump met with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, another NATO member and key proponent of supporting Ukraine, at the former president’s Florida estate.

In March, Trump hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán , an autocrat who has maintained the closest relationship with Russia among European Union countries. Orbán shared a montage of footage of the visit on his Instagram feed, which included an image of him and his staff meeting with Trump and the former president’s aides in a scene that looked like an official bilateral meeting.

Trump also met briefly in February with Javier Milei, the fiery, right-wing populist president of Argentina who ran a campaign inspired by Trump , complete with red “Make Argentina Great Again” hats. Milei gave Trump an excited hug backstage at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, according to video posted by a Trump campaign aide.

Biden administration officials have been careful not to weigh in publicly on foreign leaders’ meetings with Trump, acknowledging he has a real chance of winning the race.

While some officials have privately expressed frustration with such meetings, they are mindful that any criticism would open the U.S. to charges of hypocrisy because senior American officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meet frequently with foreign opposition figures at various forums in the United States and abroad.

Security and policy officials monitor the travel plans of foreign officials visiting the U.S., but generally don’t have a say in where they go or with whom they meet, according to an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss protocol.

Trump has been back in his hometown this week for the start of his criminal hush money trial , which has dramatically limited his ability to travel and campaign. While in town, aides have been planning a series of events that began Tuesday evening when Trump, after court adjourned, stopped by a Harlem bodega where a man was killed to rail against crime, and to blast the district attorney who made him the first former president in U.S. history to stand criminal trial.

Duda, a right-wing populist who once proposed naming a military base in his country “Fort Trump,” described the dinner earlier Wednesday as a private get-together between friends at Trump’s former residence while he is in town for meetings at the United Nations, where Duda is to deliver a speech.

“I have been invited by Mr. Donald Trump to his private apartment,” Duda told reporters, saying it was “a normal practice when one country has good relations with another country” to want those relations to be as strong as “possible with the representatives of various sides of the political stage.”

“We know each other as people. Like two, I can say in some way, friends,” said Duda, whose term ends in 2025.

Duda’s visit comes as House Republicans wrangle over a $95 billion foreign aid bill that would provide new funding to Ukraine, including money for the U.S. military to replace depleting weapon supplies. Polish leaders have been urging the House to approve the aid bill and ease domestic concerns.

Many Trump allies in the House are fiercely opposed to aiding Ukraine, even as the country warns that it is struggling amid a fresh Russian offensive . Trump has said he might be open to aid in the form of a loan.

One area where Trump and Duda agree when it comes to the conflict is a desire to push NATO members to increase their defense spending. Duda has called on fellow members of the alliance to raise their spending to 3% of gross domestic product as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. That would represent a significant increase from the current commitment of 2% by 2024.

Trump, in a stunning break from U.S. precedent, has long been critical of the Western alliance and has threatened not to defend member nations that do not hit that spending goal. That threat strikes at the heart of the alliance’s Article 5 , which states that any attack against one NATO member will be considered an attack against all.

In February, Trump went even further, recounting that he’d once told leaders that he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to members that are — in his words — “delinquent.”

Trump’s campaign said the two discussed the NATO proposal during the meeting. The two also discussed Israel and the Middle East, Trump’s 2017 trip to Warsaw, “and many other topics having to do with getting to world peace,” the campaign said in its readout, which described the men as “great friends.”

The visit was met with mixed reaction in Poland , where fears of Russia run high and Duda’s friendly relationship with Trump has been a source of controversy.

Poland’s centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Duda, was critical of the dinner but expressed hope that Duda would use it as an opportunity “to raise the issue of clearly siding with the Western world, democracy and Europe in this Ukrainian-Russian conflict.”

Scislowska reported from Warsaw. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Zeke Miller and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.

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Gaza aid flotilla halted after vessels flag removed, activists say

A humanitarian aid flotilla destined for Gaza was halted after Guinea Bissau decided to remove its flag from two vessels, activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition said on Saturday.