Castle Secrets & Legends

Castle Secrets & Legends
Also known as Mysteries at the Castle
Genre Documentary, Reality
Narrated by Ted Stewart
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
Production
Executive producer(s) David E. Gerber
Nicola Moody
Domininc Stobart
Producer(s) Amanda Abel Desai
Editor(s) Ed Kaz, Marc Senter, Jacob Serlen, Sak Costanzo, Nigel Filson, Fred Heismeyer, Michael Lioce, Leigh Anne Sides, Gerard Sztabnik
Running time 60 minutes
Production company(s) Optomen Productions
Broadcast
Original channel Travel Channel
Original run January 19, 2014 – present
Chronology
Related shows Church Secrets & Legends
Hotel Secrets & Legends
External links
Website

Castle Secrets & Legends is an American reality television series that premiered on January 19, 2014, on the Travel Channel. The series features the secrets and legends "behind the gates and walls" of castles, mansions and manor houses around the world. The first season episodes aired on Sundays at 10:00pm, while the second season episodes were moved to Fridays at 9:00pm EST.

Note: In season 2, which premiered on January 2, 2015, the series name was changed to Mysteries at the Castle.

Premise

Each episode includes dramatic recreations featuring actors re-telling the most mysterious, secret and strange stories and legends from a castle's history. These stories have either have occurred inside the fortifications or near the many famous and even infamous castle's in Europe and America.

Series Overview

Season Episodes Originally aired DVD and Blu-ray release date
Season premiere Season finale Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
1 5[1] January 19, 2014 February 23, 2014 N/A N/A N/A
1 13 January 2, 2015 March 27, 2015 N/A N/A N/A

Episodes

Season 1 (2014)

Ep. # Title Original air date
1.1"Real Frankenstein; Mummy Curse; Man in the Iron Mask[2]"January 19, 2014
In the series premiere, a scandalous affair between a British government minister, a showgirl, and a Soviet spy begins at Cliveden House in Taplow, England. Frankenstein Castle, now in ruins on a rocky hilltop in Darmstadt, Germany is the home of scientist, Johann Conrad Dippel who conducted experiments to bring the dead back to life and was the inspiration behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Highclere Castle in Hampshire, one of the most famous country manor houses in England holds Egyptian treasure when after the home's owner, the fifth Earl of Caranrvon is cursed when he unearths the long-buried tomb of Tutankhamun. The legend of the Man in the Iron Mask's place of imprisonment is revealed at the forbodding Fort Royal on the island of Île Sainte-Marguerite apart of the Lérins Islands, a half a mile from France's coast off Cannes. A visit to Hammond Castle in Gloucester, Massachusetts where inventor John Hays Hammond Jr. and psychic medium Eileen Garrett experimented with a Faraday Cage proving if ESP exists.
1.2"Crown Jewels Heist; Marquis de Sade; Enigma of Kaspar Hauser"January 26, 2014
The Tower of London in London, England, built in 1066 as a royal residence is where the crown jewels are securely kept until an attempt by Irish rebel Thomas Blood who tried to steal the regalia in 1671. The Morris-Jumel Mansion in New York City, New York is still home of the ghost of Eliza Jumel who is believed to have let her wine merchant husband die by bleeding to death in their home in 1832. The Château de Miolans, an impenetrable bastion in St. Pierre d’Albigny in the South of France is where the French aristocrat-turned writer Marquis de Sade was imprisoned after an out of control party in 1772 landed him an attempted murder charge. The Karlsruhe Palace in Karlsruhe, Germany erected in 1706 kept a centuries-old secret about a mysterious teenage boy, Kaspar Hauser who was found claiming to have spent his life locked in a windowless room there. With his passion for fast cars, William Vanderbilt's idea to build a raceway while at his Spanish-style mansion, Eagle’s Nest in Centerport, New York paves the way for America’s modern age. A plot to kill the protestant Queen Elizabeth I is hatched by Catholic conspirators in the secret passageways of Thrumpton Hall, a 16th century country manor in Nottinghamshire, England.
1.3"Hound of the Baskervilles; Lord Gordon-Gordon; Escape from Colditz"February 9, 2014
Cromer Hall, a British manor house on a remote moor inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write his classic novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles of his Sherlock Holmes stories. When Scottish aristocrat Lord Gordon-Gordon gets a share in the Erie Railroad, it results in a scandal from a scheme by Wall Street robber baron Jay Gould, and owner of a castle known as Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, New York. An escape attempt by British captain Pat Reid unfolds inside the stone walls of Colditz Castle in Colditz, Germany that served as a Nazi-run POW camp during World War II. Berkeley Castle in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia was built by Colonel Samuel Taylor Suit for his young bride, who after his death, was believed to be involved in her lovers' deaths. In 1885, the history of Tour Magdala, a remote citadel in the medieval village of Rennes-le-Château becomes a treasure hunter's dream when a priest, Bérenger Saunière finds parchments from Blanche of Castile's hidden 8th century gold. Marble House, a neoclassical mansion in Newport, Rhode Island set the stage of a famous mother-daughter conflict of the Gilded Age when social-climber, Alva Erskine Smith locks up her daughter in her room when she refuses an arranged marriage.
1.4"The Tichborne Claimant; Washington Resurrection; Loch Ness Hoax"February 16, 2014
Castello di Malaspina in Fosdinovo, Italy becomes a tomb for Bianca Malaspina, an albino girl who defied her noble parents when she fell in love with a stable boy, causing them to brick her up alive in the dungeon. Upton House in Poole, England was a part of an inheritance dispute when a man from Wagga Wagga, Australia claimed to be English aristocrat Roger Tichborne, the family's sole heir who drowned in a shipwreck 10 years prior. On Friday the 13th, December 1799, George Washington falls ill, and after doctors try to treat him with bloodletting, he passes away the next day in his home, Mount Vernon in Mount Vernon, Virginia, however, Dr. William Thornton proposes a radical procedure to reanimate him. When French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte is exiled on the small island of Elba, 7 miles off Italy's coast, his plans to escape are born in his 17th century manor, Villa dei Mulini. Sightings of the Loch Ness Monster date back to the 6th century when Irish missionary Saint Columba spotted the creature on Loch Ness near Urquhart Castle in Inverness, Scotland. Washington Times-Herald owner, Eleanor "Cissy" Patterson makes Mount Airy Mansion in Upper Marlboro, Maryland her home after fleeing her womanizing husband.
1.5"The Black Dinner; Voynich Manuscript; Seward Attack"February 23, 2014
In 1440, the boy king, James II takes revenge on the rebellious Earl of Douglas for wanting his throne by inviting him to a banquet at Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland, later known as the "Black Dinner", inspiring one of the most brutal scenes in the Game of Thrones. When a wealthy widow of railroad millionaire Mark Hopkins falls ill and dies after marrying Edward Searles, the designer of Searles Castle in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, the community believes he poisoned her for money. Gradara Castle in Gradara, Italy was at the center of two warring families—the Malatestas and the Polentas—who married off their beautiful daughter Francesca to the ugly Giovanni Malatesta, starting a tragic tale of love between her and his brother, Paolo. Danesfield House in Marlow, England was once the headquarters of the British CIU where RAF officer Constance Babington Smith discovered of an aerial recon photo of Nazi V-1's, causing Operation Crossbow during World War II. After an attempt on his life by conspiritor Lewis Powell in the Lincoln assassination conspiracy, Secretary of State William Seward retires at his beloved home, today called the Seward House Museum in Auburn, New York. Villa Mondragone in Rome, Italy remains the place where the mystery of the Voynich Manuscript began when antique book dealer Wilfrid Voynich discovered an ancient book written in a cryptic cipher in 1912.

Season 2 (2015)

Note: Episodes in this season aired under the changed title name Mysteries at the Castle.

Ep. # Title Original air date U.S. viewers
2.1"Dracula; Queen and the Mistress; King Arthur"January 2, 2015680,000[3]
After impaling his Turkish enemies at Bran Castle in Bran, Romania, the bloodthirsty prince, Vlad III (aka Vlad the Impaler) inspires Bram Stoker's Dracula, one of the most notorious characters in modern literature. Glastonbury Abbey in Glastonbury, England was once the setting of the mythical tale of King Arthur and the legendary love triangle of Sir Lancelot and Guinevere. When an ailing U.S. Army medic is pronounced dead from meningitis, he makes a miraculous recovery, and doctors use his blood for a cure, inspiring him to live a long life building his dream home, Loveland Castle in Loveland, Ohio. Castle Predjama in Predjama, Slovenia was once the center of an epic siege between Erasmus Luegar, a murderous knight and Emperor Fredrick III's army who are sworn to bring him to justice. Château de Chenonceau in Loire Valley, France plays an important role in a three-way war raged between King Henry II, his vengeful queen Catherine de' Medici, and his materialistic mistress Diane de Poitiers that made for an explosive marriage. Wealthy businessman Henry Flagler and his idea of creating an overseas railroad to Key West are engineered at his tropical palace, Whitehall in Palm Beach, Florida.
2.2"Henry 8th; Bannerman's Castle Curse; Mechanical Turk Hoax"January 9, 2015N/A
King Henry VIII's uncontrollable obsession to retain his reign by producing a male heir with his three wives paves the way for a tale of tragedy taking place at Hampton Court Palace near Surrey, England. Carlisle Castle in Carlisle, England was a home to King William II, who's suspicious death led many to believe he was murdered by Walter Tirel, a possible assassin hired by his younger brother Henry I to ascend the throne. Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria becomes the showplace of inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen's creation "The Turk", a chess-playing automaton made for Empress Maria Theresa. When wealthy heiress Lucy Aldrich travels to China, it quickly turns into a harrowing journey when she gets kidnapped by bandits, and it all started at the Aldrich House in Providence, Rhode Island. Ammunitions dealer Francis Bannerman's beloved bastion, Bannerman Castle on Pollepel Island in New York was reduced to ruins after his global empire came crashing down in an explosion of greed, betrayal and the sinister curse of a tugboat captain. Knole Park Estate in Almondsbury, England once became a safe haven for exotic foreign Princess Caraboo after her daring escape from pirates, but her story quickly turns into a tall tale.
2.3"Faust; Pirate Queen; First Versailles"January 16, 2015N/A
Alchemist astrologer Johannes Faust's desire for knowledge leads him into a pact with the devil with his demon Mephistopheles at Waardenburg Castle, Waardenburg, Netherlands. Rockfleet Castle, a strategic stronghold in Newport, County Mayo, Ireland becomes the center of Pirate queen Grace O'Malley and powerful chieftain Richard Burke who clash in a tale of passion, betrayal, and later, love. During the English Civil War, captured King Charles I plans an escape from at Carisbrooke Castle in Carisbrooke on Isle of Wight, England. W.K. Kellogg Manor House in Hickory Corners, Michigan hides a bitter family feud that paved the way for a culinary revolution when an accidental discovery was cooked up by the mansion’s owner. Jean-Baptiste Colbert's plan to he backstab his rival, the Minister of Finance Nicolas Fouquet by telling King Louis XIV that the treasurer used state funds to build Vaux-le-Vicomte in Maincy, France. On the brink of defeat, a young patriot comes up with a perilous plan and it all centers on New York's Fort Ticonderoga in the Adirondacks.
2.4"Green Lady; Count of Monte Cristo; Robin Hood"January 23, 2015N/A
Trapped in a loveless marriage, Charlotte de Breze seeks affection by having a secret affair, but when her brutal husband Jacques de Breze finds out, it results her vengeful ghost at the Château de Brissac in Loire Valley, France. After toy production is banned for the holidays during World War I, A.C. Gilbert becomes "the man who saved Christmas" with his invention of the Erector Set, inspiring the design of his home, Maraldene Mansion in New Haven, Connecticut. The tragic tale of Pierre Picaud becomes the inspiration of Alexandre Dumas's novel The Count of Monte Cristo when he plotted revenge while a prisoner inside the foreboding prison at Fenestrelle Fort in Fenestrelle, Italy. Brewer Henry Meux digs himself out of bankruptcy after a large vat at the Horse Shoe Brewery caused a tidal wave of beer that flooded the streets of London, leaving a lasting legacy at the Theobalds House in Hertfordshire, England. Nottingham Castle in Nottingham, England will forever be linked to the legendary outlaw Robin Hood's epic escape from the dungeons of the Sheriff of Nottingham. After the sudden death of his wife inspires Samuel Morse to invent the telegraph, he reaps the rewards in building Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, New York.
2.5"House That Saved a King; Joan of Arc; Hamilton Sex Scandal"January 30, 2015N/A
In 1651, Moseley Old Hall near Staffordshire, England becomes the hiding place of the future King Charles II who escaped Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War. The heroic story of German officer Claus von Stauffenberg, who came up with a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler during World War II started at his birthplace inside Jettingen Castle in Jettingen-Scheppach, Germany. Hamilton Grange in New York, New York is the setting for a sordid scandal involving one of America's founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton and his mistress Maria Reynolds. The unsolved mystery of the Green Children all took place on the grounds of Wyken Hall in Suffolk, England. The Royal Fortress of Chinon in Loire Valley, France was where peasant girl, Joan of Arc met with King Charles VII and left a warrior who drove back the English army during the Siege of Orléans, forever changing the course of French history. Inventor Thomas Edison's experiment with concrete housing was first developed at his home, Glenmont Estate in West Orange, New Jersey.
2.6"Royal Baccarat Scandal; Soleste and Moroello; Franz Ferdinand"February 6, 2015N/A
Playboy prince, Edward VII becomes embroiled in a scandal while playing an illegal game of baccarat at Tranby Croft near Hull, England that almost cost him the throne. The legend of Moroello and Soleste, a heartbreaking tale of ill-fated love and its haunting aftermath plays out behind the walls of Bardi Castle in Bardi, Italy. Artstetten Castle's crypt in Artstetten, Austria becomes the final resting place of Austro-Hungary's archduke, Franz Ferdinand when his motorcade takes a fateful wrong turn after into global disaster, he and his wife, Sophie are assassinated by Black Hand member, Gavrilo Princip. When longshoreman union leader Harry Bridges starts a city-wide strike in 1934, it makes Sacramento's California Governor's Mansion a constant reminder of the labor movement. Astronomer William Parsons builds a great telescope at his home, Birr Castle in Birr, Ireland and with it, discovers the Whirlpool Galaxy. During the Civil War, a Confederate spy longs to visit his beloved at Carlyle House in Alexandria, Virginia, however, the mansion is in Union territory.
2.7"Book Chest; Miracle of Anne Greene; Hemingway's Last Cent"February 13, 2015678,000[4]
The prison at Oxford Castle in Oxford, England was where a lowly servant, Anne Greene overcame a shocking injustice by her employer and returned from the dead after being hanged in 1650. When his young son was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, Italian immigrant Candido Jacuzzi's innovation of the Jacuzzi tub help ease his pain and funded the Jacuzzi Family Home in Sonoma, California. When philosopher Hugo Grotius is imprisoned for life after writing controversial papers on Arminianism, he stages a stunning escape from Holland's Loevestein Castle near Poederoijen. After journalist Charles Fletcher Lummis gets his dream job at the Los Angeles Times, he decides to take death-defying journey through America in order to get there, inspiring his L.A. home, the Lummis House. When struggling painter, Geert Jan Jansen turns to art forgery, he dups the art world and reaps the rewards, but his outlandish operation comes to a head at Zeist Castle in Utrecht, Netherlands. The Hemingway House in Key West, Florida becomes the setting for Ernest Hemingway's second martial meltdown, when his soon to be ex-wife Pauline Pfeiffer literally takes him for his last cent and encases the penny at the foot of the pool she built for him.
2.8"Book Thief; Bigamist Dutchess; Patent-ly Absurd"February 20, 2015699,000[5]
A book thief pulls off an incredible heist that unfolds at the mountaintop retreat of Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey in the Vosges Mountains of France. York Castle in York, England was where infamous highwayman Dick Turpin was incarnated after being caught in a manhunt that ended his long crime spree. After Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston is charged with bigamy by marrying in her youth Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol and then Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, her rags to riches story ends in scandal, exiling her from Thoresby Hall in Nottinghamshire, England. When an art conservator discovers a portrait of former First Lady Mary Lincoln is a fake in 2010, he pinpoints its origins to vaudeville actor Lew Bloom who created the hoax, which hung in the Illinois Executive Mansion in Springfield, Illinois. Trifels Castle in Annweiler, Germany becomes the place of King Richard the Lionheart's imprisonment, and if it wasn't for his mother's ransom payment, he would have been kept there by his usurper brother's bribes. A chemist creates a cure-all tonic that enthralls the ailing public, making him believe his medicine is truly a miracle, when the funds construct the Seelye Mansion in Abilene, Kansas.
2.9"Martin Luther Kidnapping; Witches of Belvoir; Secret Queen"February 27, 2015N/A
After the Earl of Rutland's two sons die at their family estate, Belvoir Castle near Grantham, England, he believes they were cursed by the Witches of Belvoir. When the Catholic Church arrests revolutionary monk Martin Luther, his protestant supporters rescue him and escape to Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, Germany. The Highlands Ranch Mansion in Highlands Ranch, Colorado was once the home of socialite Isabel Springer, whose affair with two men at the same time led to the 1911 shooting. Château de Maintenon in Maintenon, France becomes the secret setting of the scandalous royal romance between King Louis XIV and his mistress, Françoise d'Aubigné. When German officer, Gunther Plüschow is captured, he makes one of the most daring escapes in history from Donington Hall in Derby, England, once a POW camp during World War I. Railroad baron James J. Hill's plan to run a train line through some of America's toughest terrain all began at his home, the James J. Hill House in St. Paul, Minnesota.
2.10"The Real Beauty and the Beast; Birdman of Scotland; Master of Diguise"March 6, 2015705,000[6]
The Château de Blois in Blois, France was the boyhood home of a "monster", who with his wife, inspired one of the most famous fairy tales of all time, Beauty and the Beast. As the most wanted man, Confederate States Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin sparks a chase across America, seeking refuge at the Gamble Mansion in Ellenton, Florida. Eccentric Italian alchemist John Damian de Falcucci launches an experiment of human-powered flight when he tries to fly off the battlements of Stirling Castle in Stirling, Scotland. La Fortaleza in San Juan, Puerto Rico becomes the scene of a life-or-death stand-off when a man armed with a knife enters, putting Governor Sila María Calderón's life on the line. When freedom fighter Robert Emmet plans to attack Dublin Castle in Dublin, Ireland, the English seat of government, it makes history as the site of the Irish Rebellion of 1803. The once spirited young poet, Emily Dickinson mysteriously withdraws from society and only the walls of the Emily Dickinson Homestead in Amherst, Massachusetts know the reason why.
2.11"Irish Art Heist; Dickens Affair; Prince of Porcelain"March 13, 2015TBA
Russborough House in County Wicklow, Ireland becomes the scene for one of the biggest art heists in the world when members of the IRA, including English radical Rose Dugdale stole 19 paintings from owner Alfred Lane Beit in 1974. The story of sizzling stage star Josephine Baker's mission to free France from Nazi occupation during World War II all started at her home, Château des Milandes in Périgord, France. Literary titan Charles Dickens conceals an illicit affair with 18-year-old actress Ellen Ternan, giving in to temptation on the grounds of Château d'Hardelot in Condette, France. After a sword fight between French soldiers break out over a lady's honor, the disappearance of the slain leads to the haunting discovery of his headless body at Old Fort Niagara Castle in Youngstown, New York. When alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger's quest to turn base metals into gold is a fraud, he is held captive by Augustus II the Strong at Albrechtsburg Castle in Meissen, Germany, where he discovers the formula of porcelain. Industrialist Henry Ford along with test pilot Harry J. Brooks set records in aviation with his small plane the "Ford Flivver", but fails to land at his winter retreat, The Mangoes in Fort Myers, Florida.
2.12"Making of an Artist; Secret Sonar; Fairy Flag"March 20, 2015699,000[7]
Wealthy widow Mary Eleanor Bowes falls prey to a scheme by fraudster Andrew Robinson Stoney who plotted marriage to steal her fortune at Glamis Castle in Glamis, Scotland. Lonely outcast-tuned-famous painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec changes the art world forever and it all began at his childhood home, Château du Bosc in Aveyron, France. Architectural genius, Frank Lloyd Wright designs Graycliff Estate in Derby, New York, drawing inspiration on his time in Tokyo when he developed an earthquake-proof building. When a chief of the Clan MacLeod weds a fairy princess, a legendary love story and a magical flag unfurls through the generations at Dunvegan Castle in Isle of Skye, Scotland. Casa Loma in Toronto, Canada becomes a covert site of an ultra-top secret operation to develop sonar devices during the Second World War. After the new United States places a tax on whiskey, radical leader David Bradford forms a militia causing a conflict that comes to a head at his home, the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana.
2.13"Battle to Cross the Channel; Royal Matchmaker; Boettcher Kidnapping"March 27, 2015644,000[8]
Château de Maillebois in Maillebois, France becomes the launch pad for a contest between French aviators, Louis Blériot and Hubert Latham to be the first pilot to cross the English Channel. When his beloved Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon refuses his marriage proposals, the lovelorn Prince Albert has a secret cupid in Margaret Greville inside her estate, Polesden Lacey in Great Bookham, England. A kidnapping of a millionaire carried out by Verne Sankey, America's first public enemy #1 is connected to the Boettcher Mansion in Golden, Colorado. When mathematician Émilie du Châtelet loses her fortune playing a high-stakes game of cards at Château de Fontainebleau in Fontainebleau, France, she develops a contract to pay it back. After sailing to find the island of Bimini's Fountain of Youth, explorer Juan Ponce de Leon accidentally discoveres the state of Florida, affording him to build La Casa Blanca in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The story of Mars Candies founder Frank Mars', success in creating the Milky Way Bar results in the Milky Way Farm in Pulaski, Tennessee.

References

External links