William the Conqueror, the son of Duke Robert of Normandy, was born at an earlier castle on the same site in about 1028.

Because of his association to the location (though not the existing physical structure) it is also known as Château Guillaume le Conquérant or William the Conqueror's Castle.

Not content with his inheritance of the town of Exmes and its surrounding area, Robert rebelled and took up arms against his brother, and he captured the castle of Falaise.

[1] Robert fathered an illegitimate son by a woman named Herleva, who was from the town of Falaise and the daughter of a chamberlain.

The construction was started on the site of an earlier castle in 1123 by Henry I of England, with the "large keep" (grand donjon).

In 1424, the constable of the Castle of "Faleys" was recorded as John Walkare, son of Robert Walker of Bedale.

The castle suffered due to bombardment during the Second World War in the battle for the Falaise pocket in 1944, but the three keeps were unscathed.