The Lost Fort

My Travel and History Blog, Focussing mostly on Roman and Mediaeval Times


29 Jan 2018
  Scarborough Castle, Part 1 - From Roman Signal Station to Tudor Stronghold

After all those obscure German castles and geneaologies of German noble families I've been blogging about those last months - if I blogged at all - I'll be back to some British history and British castles. I still got a bunch of those in my photo archives from my travels to the UK. So here is Scarborough Castle for you - photographed on one of the few days of 'British weather' I've experienced during my travels: fog, drizzle, and an icy wind.

Scarborough Castle; the keep seen from the outer gate

The history of human settlement on the rock promontory overlooking the North Sea goes further back than the Roman signal station, but the late Bronze Age and Iron Age people left few architectural traces behind. An excavation done in the 1920 produced evidence for a hill fort which dates to 900-500 BC. Some pottery finds are even older (2100-1600 BC). There is an anchorage place beneath the promontory which may have attracted interest in the site at such an early time; and the promontory is protected by steep cliffs on three sides which makes it a suitable place for a hill fort.

Scarborough Castle seen from the north bay,
with the usual evening fog coming in

I've already presented the Roman signal station via an interview with our Roman guide Aelius Rufus. The Anglo-Saxon chapel which was built partly into the remains of the signal station about 1000 AD, has been covered in that post as well.

The landside curtain wall seen from the town

There was a settlement on the south bay in the 10th century. It had been assumed to be a Viking foundation, but there is no proof for that. Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla tells about a skirmish at the site: shortly before the battle of Stamford Bridge, King Harald Harđráđa came from Norway via Orkney where he had gathered more men, to push his claim to the English throne after the death of Edward the Confessor. He wanted to secure the surrender of a place called Skarđaborg, but the inhabitants refused. So he had a big fire built on the promontory and threw brands down into the settlement until they gave up and 'ganga til handa Haraldi' (became his vassals). Harald then continued with his fleet up the Humber and landed in Riccall (1). He fell at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, together with his ally Tostig Godwinson. The victor, King Harold Godwinson, marched back south to meet his fate at Hastings.

While the details of the fight at Scarborough may be invented, and there is no archaeological evidence (which would be difficult to find anyway), I think the very existence of a settlement, including the geographically correct description, would not have been made up by Snorri Sturluson. It could have been an Anglo-Saxon foundation as well as a Viking one, though.

The curtain wall on the town side

The first castle on the promontory was built by William Count of Aumale. He was created Earl of York by King Stephan in 1138 after the victory at the Battle of the Standard where he commanded a Norman force. The chronicler William of Newburgh says that Aumale built a tower, curtain wall, moat and chapel. The structure of the castle would likely have followed the Norman motte and bailey style.

But the Count of Aumale could not enjoy his castle for long. When King Henry II ascended the throne in 1154, he firmly reestablished the royal power and reclamied the royal lands which had been given to his supporters by King Stephen, who then often treated the fiefs as their own possession. At first, Aumale refused, but when King Henry II appeared before York with an army, he thought better of it and surrendered.

The - partly destroyed - keep of King Henry II

William Aumale was not the only great noble who initially caused problems; some other earls and Welsh marcher lords closed their - illegally built - castles against Henry as well, but the latter prevailed. It is amazing how fast the king moved his army which consisted mostly of mercenaries between the north and the Welsh border to put out those brushfires. Henry pursued a conciliartory course in those first years of his reign - those who surrendered would keep their titles; thus William of Aumale remained Earl of York (2).

Remains of the keep from the inside

Henry II turned Scarborough Castle into an important stronghold in the north. He knew about the frequent incursions of King David of Scots into England during King Stephan's reign, and while his grandson and successor Malcolm the Maiden was nothing like David, Scotland remained an uneasy neighbour.

Henry demolished some of Aumale's buildings and rebuilt them in much grander and stronger scale. The most impressive feature is the stone keep which looks formidable even today in its half ruined condition. It is placed on the highest point of the promontory, overlooking the town and the barbican, as well as the way up to the castle.

The settlement beneath the castle was given the title of Royal Borough in the mid-12th century.

The keep, upper floor

The architecture of the castle will get its own post, so here is just some basic information about the keep which was over 27 metres (90ft.) high, with walls 3.5 m (12ft.) thick. It had a basement and two storeys, as well as a countersunk roof which made it appear even taller. Attached was a forebuilding which housed a chapel.

Most of the construction work was going on between 1157 and 1169. Henry spent the considerable sum of about £ 680 on the castle - his annual income was about £ 10,000 which had to pay for a migrant royal household, mercenary armies, castle building and other venues.

There was an inner curtain wall and trench around the keep; traces of those still remain, but the buildings inside had been dismantled already during the time of King John.

Remains of the inner curtain wall and trench

King John spent even more money on the castle which served as stronghold against the northern barons: £ 2290 between 1202 - 1212. During his time, the invention of the trebuchet had changed the way of siege warfare; to defend the larger missiles thrown at higher angles, stronger and higher curtain walls were neccesary. John had the entire promontory surrounded with those, though only the ones on the land side still remain. During the baron's war at the end of John's reign, the castle was held for him by Geoffrey de Neville, but never besieged.

King John also built what is called King John's Chambers or Mosdale Hall, a building outside the former inner bailey which sat along the curtain wall. It was a two storey building with a large and a small room on each storey, each warmed by a fireplace. The rooms were still in use at the time of King Edward III.

Remains of King John's chamber block

John's son King Henry III also put some efforts in maintaining the castle, though he never spent time there himself. Henry also built the barbican with the two D-shaped towers. The barbican has been altered considerably during later times. A separate King's Hall was built at some point (it is mentioned in a survey from 1361), but only the foundations remain today.

The storms and saltwater spray from the sea made constant repairs neccesary. Severe storms carried away roofs (1237) and caused parts of the curtain wall to collapse (1241). Erosion of the seaward walls was also an issue. Nevertheless, Scarborough was considered one of the greatest royal fortresses in England at the time.

I suspect that even with fireplaces and at the peak of 13th century living standards, Scarborough Castle was not a comfortable place in bad weather. I for my part was glad I brought some hot tea along to warm myself up, and I love exploring castles.

King John's Chambers, interior

Edward I continued to use the castle; he held court there in 1275 and 1280, and used Scarborough Castle as prison for captives / hostages from his Welsh and Scottish campaigns - I could not find any details, but I don't think it involved hanging them in cages from the barbican towers. *wink*

There is an interesting tidbit: In 1304, Edward I made Isabella de Vesci, a member of the influential Beaumont family, constable of Bamburgh Castle (3). According to some sources, she was constable of Scarborough as well, though maybe later (under Edward II). It was a very unusual position for a woman at the time. If she got Scarborough after Gaveston's death, it would surely have pissed off the Lords Ordainer.

To make a complicated bit of history simple: The Lords Ordainer, led by the Earl of Lancaster, were a group of barons who wanted to curb the power of King Edward II. They forced him to follow a set of Ordinances or rules in 1311, which included the exile of Edward's favourite Piers Gaveston who the barons thought was too close to the king and endangered their own position. Not to mention that he gave them insulting nicknames.

Foundations of the king's hall

Gaveston was used to going into exile by then, it was the third time he left England (early November 1311). But he did not remain absent long, instead he returned in January 1312, probably to visit his wife who had just given birth to their daughter. King Edward II declared the judgement against Gaveston unlawful, restored his lands and made him governor of Scarborough Castle.

Gaveston began to fortify the castle, but during a stay in Newcastle he and the king were set upon by the barons and barely escaped; their baggage was taken, including a number of valuable jewels. Edward fled to York and Gaveston to Scarborough where he was soon besieged by the earls of Pembroke and Warenne. Gaveston had had no time to provision the garrison and thus accepted surrender under safe escort to York where they would negotiate with the king.

After a preliminary meeting in York, Gaveston was left in custody of the Earl of Pembroke who took Gaveston with him to Oxfordshire. One day, as Pembroke was absent, the Earl of Warwick used the chance, captured Gaveston and dragged him off to Warwick Castle where he was subjected to a mock trial led by Warwick and Lancaster. Piers Gaveston was then taken outside and beheaded on June 19th (4).

Whatever Edward II's failures as king and Gaveston's character, this was the deed of a niđing, not a nobleman. The Lords Ordainer lost some of their support over it; especially the Earl of Pembroke who rightfully considered his honour slighted by Warwick's action, turned into a stout ally of King Edward.

View from the keep to the curtain wall

Maintenance of the castle continued to be an issue; often only the absolute neccesary repairs would be done - royal treasuries were not unlimited. There may also have been an element of sabotage like the story about part of the curtain wall that collapsed into a cloud of sand in 1361. *cough* I'd have checked the houses in Scarborough for recent additions of stones.

Lord Henri de Percy who lived in the castle in the mid-14th century had a bakehouse, brewhouse and kitchen built in the inner bailey.

Inner bailey (part of the keep wall to the left)

During the Hundred Years War, Scarborough Castle played a role again in protecting the town which had become an important harbour for the wool trade. King Henry VI ordered major repairs in 1424, though I could not find out what exactly was done.

King Richard III stayed in the castle in 1484 while he assembled a fleet to fight the Tudors. In the end, it was not a fleet he lacked, but a horse; Richard fell at Bosworth August 22, 1485. The Tudor dynasty would rule England for the next generations.

View from the keep to the barbican

Scarborough came into focus again during the Pilgrimage of Grace. This was an uprising in Yorkshire against King Henry VIII's break with the Catholic Church, Thomas Cromwell's politics and the dissolution of the monasteries. It was led by Robert Aske, a lawyer from a well-connected Yorkshire family. Aske tried to take Scarborough which was defended by Sir Ralph Eure who held the castle with nothing but his household servants in October 1536. There was some damage by gunfire, but obviously minor. The rising failed and the leaders - including several lords and knights - were executed. Aske was hanged in chains from Clifford Tower in York.

Scarborough proved attractive for another rebel: Thomas Stafford, grandson of the 3rd Duke of Buckingham who had been executed in 1521 during the reign of Henry VIII. Thomas Stafford did not like the idea of Queen Mary 'the Bloody' marrying Philipp II of Spain and thus securing a Catholic monarchy. He returned from exile in France (5), landed at Scarborough and took the castle obviously without any problems. But within six days, the Earl of Westmorland (whose mother was a daughter of the 3rd Duke of Buckingham) retook the castle; Thomas Stafford was beheaded for treason.

Way from the the castle down to the barbican

Queen Elisabeth established a garrison at Scarborough during the Northern Rising 1569. Several powerful nobles in northern England were Catholics and would have prefered Mary Queen of Scots (who already was prisoner in southern England) to Elisabeth. The rebellion failed, but the garrison remained until the political unification of England and Scotland under James I (IV) in 1603. More about the history of Scarborough Castle can be found in this post.

Keep and curtain wall to the north, with the well in the foreground

Footnotes
1) The events are told in the Heimskringla, chapter 83, Orrosta viđ Skarđaborg. The Old Norse text can be found here (text page 502).
2) Fun fact aside: The title Earl of York was only created twice, once for William of Aumale (1138-1179) and again for Otto, son of Heinrich the Lion, who was made Earl of York by King Richard in 1190. The title became defunct with his death in 1218.
3) Isabella had married John de Vesci of Alnwick who already died in 1289. She was lady-of-honour of Edward's wife Eleanor of Castle and would remain faithful to King Edward II and Queen Isabella against the Lords Ordainer. She later sided with Queen Isabella against Edward II, but abandoned that alliance when Isabella and Roger Mortimer snatched some Beaumont lands. Kathryn Warner only mentions her being governor of Bamburgh Castle, but it is not impossible that Isabella de Vesci was governor of Scarborough Castle as well. Edward II confirmed her for Bamburgh in 1311, and he may have given her Scarborough after Gaveston's death.
4) More details can be found on Anerje's blog.
5) It was actually the second rebellion in which Thomas Stafford was involved; he had joined the - failed - one of Thomas Wyatt in 1554 and escaped to France.

Literature
Frank Barlow: The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042-1216. 5th edition, Edinburgh 1999
Robert Bartlett: England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings 1075-1225. 5th edition, Oxford University Press, 2003
John A.A. Goodall: Scarborough Castle; English Heritage Guidebook, 2010

 


21 Jan 2018
  A Fake Death and a Secret Mistress - The Stauffenburg near Seesen / Harz

Today I'll show you another rather obscure castle in my surroundings: the Stauffenburg near Seesen in the Harz mountain range (1). The castle may have been built by a 'Gerberdus of Stouphenburch', a member or vassal - the sources are not clear about that - of the family of the Counts of Katlenburg who served as imperial reeves. Unfortunately, I must rely on online sources and thus got two contradictory dates for the first mention of the Stauffenberg family: 1050 or 1154. The 1154 date seems more likely since it is connected with a feudal transaction involving Duke Heinrich of Saxony, a rather well documented time. But it is likely that a castle was built much earlier, maybe around 1050. The castle protected the ore mines in the surroundings and the road to Nordhausen.

Stauffenburg, remains of the keep seen from the bailey

The nearby village is called Gittelde. It was in possession of the Billung family in 950, but may go back to an Iron Age Germanic settlement. The Billung family were important vassals of the Ottonian emperors; Margrave Hermann von Billung was administrator (procurator regis) in Germany for Otto I the Great when the latter was staying in Italy in 961-966 (2). The Counts of Katlenburg were likely vassals of the Billung family, or even related by marriage. They died out in the male line in 1130.

Remains of the main gate with one of the gate towers and curtain wall

The castle fell to Duke Heinrich the Lion of Saxony, but the Stauffenburg family, now ministeriales of the duke (3) still held the castle for him. Duke Heinrich pawned out the castle, and there are some stories about it becoming a stronghold of robbers which I could not confirm. That sort of legend gets attached to a lot of castles.

After Heinrich fell from power in 1180, the castle came into possession of the emperor Friedrich Barbarossa. When Heinrich returned from exile in 1189 and regained the former allodial possessions of his family, the Stauffenburg obviously was one of the contested places; there was a long legal shuffle between the emperor, the Welfen, and the archbishop of Magdeburg, though I could not figure out what rights the latter had to the castle. The emperor could at least claim the castle to have been built on former imperial land. It gets even more interesting since the emperor 1209-1218 was Otto IV, of the Welfen family. His successor was Friedrich II of Staufen. The quarrels shows that the castle must have been an important place in the late 12th to 13th century.

Remains of the curtain walls in the inner bailey

The Imperial Steward Gunzelin of Wolfenbüttel who held the castle for some time, managed to get along with both Otto IV and Friedrich II. His father had been a vassal of Duke Heinrich the Lion in the rank of ministeriales, but Gunzelin rose to the rank of higher nobility and expanded his possession to include allodial lands around Wolfenbüttel. The Stauffenburg was one of his responsibilites, and one of his younger sons would later take the name from it: 'Guncelinus de Stoyphonborg' (in 1254).

The gate tower seen from above

The Stauffenburg finally came into uncontested possession of the Welfen family in 1429. It served as widow's seat of Duchess Elisabeth of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel 1503-1522. The castle must have been at the height of comfort for that time, since a dowager duchess would likely not live in a draughty ruin with leaky roofs.

Elisabeth, born 1434, was the daughter of Count Botho of Stolberg; she was betrothed to Duke Wilhelm II of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel - one of the several branches of the Welfen family (4) - already as child and moved with him to Göttingen in 1454. During her time in the Stauffenburg she promoted the advancement of mining techniques for silver and iron in the mountains of the area. She was a busy old lady, and one can imagine the castle must have been a lively place in those years.

The keep

The next tidbit of history connected with the Stauffenburg involves Duke Heinrich II 'the Younger' of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1489-1568; 5). He ruled at a time when the Reformation had split Germany into Catholic and Reformed / Lutheran principalities and duchies. Duke Heinrich was a stout Catholic - the last of the Welfen to remain so; his surviving son Julius would join the Reformation as other branches of the family had already done. Heinrich got involved in various conflicts with the Schmalkaldic League, a military alliance of Lutheran princes, led by the landgrave of Hessia and the prince elector of Saxony. But Heinrich had the support of the emperor Karl (Charles) V.

The Schmalkaldic League conquered Heinrich's lands in 1342. Heinrich fled to Bavaria, returned with an army, but was taken prisoner by Hessian troops in 1545. When Emperor Karl V and his Catholic allies, including forces from Spain, won the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547, Heinrich finally was released from captivity and restored to his duchy.

But what gained him the nickname Wild Hal (der wilde Heinz) were not his wars against Protestant Princes; it was his affair with Eva von Trott.

Zwinger between keep (left) and gate tower (right)

Eva von Trott was a member of the Hessian noble family Trott zu Solz. She came to Wolfenbüttel as the duchess' maid of honour in 1522, aged sixteen. Duchess Maria of Württemberg was Heinrich's first wife with whom he had eleven children.

But Wild Hal was more busy than that. Two years after her arrival Eva was pregnant by the duke. She said she wanted to visit her family, but traveled to the Stauffenburg instead where she delivered a boy. The kid was raised by trusted servants of Duke Heinrich. That was repeated two more times until pretty much everyone got suspicious. Both the duchess and Eva's family pressured Heinrich into ending the affair, and Maria sent the girl away. Eva came as far as Gandersheim chapter where she died of the plague and was duly buried.

Gate tower

But it was a ruse. A sculptor had carved a likeness of Eva's head which was attached to a straw puppet dressed in Eva's fine clothes. I suppose a few people were bribed into not looking too closely at the body in the sarcophagus. The girl herself dressed up as peasant and fled to the Stauffenburg where she lived from 1532 to 1541. Duke Heinrich liked the hunt near the castle and Eva got seven more children. To keep people from prying around, some scary ghost stories were told, including visions of a woman in a white shroud, and so Eva lived in the castle with her children and some trusted servants. Many of the buildings have been lost today, but they had a lot more living space than the remaining keep and gate house.

Remains of the curtain walls in the inner bailey, different angle

Duchess Maria died in 1541, but a marriage of Heinrich with Eva was not possible due to class distinction. When their affair and her survival became publicily know at the diet of Regensburg, and the Schmalkaldic League drove Heinrich from his lands, Eva fled the Stauffenburg in turn. Here whereabouts are difficult to trace. She spent some time in Halberstadt and in various castles. Duke Heinrich finally found her a place in the chapter of Hildesheim in 1558; she died there in 1567.

Heinrich obtained the title 'of Kirchberg' for his surviving children with Eva. He married again in 1556: Zofia Jagiellonka, the daughter of King Zygmunt (Sigismund) I of Poland.

More remains of curtain walls

The Stauffenburg was a widow's seat again 1569-1580 when the eldest daugher of Duke Heinrich, Margaretha of Münsterberg, lived there. Margaretha had been married to the Silesian Duke Johann of Münsterberg, who died after four years of a marriage which remained childless. She turned the castle into a hospital and spent her time caring for the poor. The castle must have been a much different place then than thirty years earlier when children played in the yard during Eva's time.

Another scandal took place in 1587. The Protestant abbess of Gandersheim chapter, Margarethe of Warberg, spent the rest of her - rather short - life as prisoner in the castle. It is said that she had murdered her baby, the result of an illicit affair (6).

Curtain walls on the cliff side

The Stauffenburg was used seat of the administration office and prison of the Welfen dukes since 1600. 1713 the office was moved to the domain in the valley and the castle lost its importance. It was used as quarry, like so many defunct castles in Germany.

The keep and one of the towers have been restored to the first floor level during renovation work, and the remaining parts of the castle are secured against further decay, but the place is one of the more obscure castles today, with only a few visitors even on a nice, warm autumn day.

Different angle of gate tower and curtain wall

An old hollow way leads to the steep-sided promontory on which the Stauffenburg is situated. The upper part of the way is framed by earthen walls which may have been part of the outer defenses. A trench which cut the promontory off the ridge once separated the way from the gate, but it has long been filled in. Remains can be seen in some places, though. The entire castle measured about 200x90 metres, the inner bailey 85x30 metres.

The gate house with its flanking tower has been partly reconstructed. The remains are still impressive. Foundations of another tower remain, as do considerable bits of curtain walls, though not up to their original heigth. Several more buidings, probably some in half timbered style, must have framed the large inner bailey.

Foundations of a round tower

The partly reconstruced keep was not particularly large, it measured 7x7 metres. Main living quarters of the castle was likely a great hall which has been lost when the stones from the castle were used to build the domain in Gittelde. I could not find any information about the original heigth of the keep; maybe it can no longer be estimated. The keep has a cellar which was used as prison (though not in case of the abbess Mathilde who was allowed to move around within the confines of the walls).

Cellar

Footnotes
1) The castle is not connected with the House of Staufen / Hohenstaufen which provided Germany with a dynasty of kings.
2) The story that the Stauffenburg was a favourite castle of Otto's father, King Heinrich I 'the Fowler' († 936), is a legend. The biography by Wolfgang Giese (Darmstadt 2008) doesn't mention either Gittelde or the Stauffenburg. We can't even be sure that Hermann Billung ever stayed in Gittelde; such settlements were mostly a source of income.
3) If they were ministeriales, the Stauffenberg were likely vassals of the counts of Katlenburg and not a branch of the family, who were freeborn nobility.
4) More about the various branches of the Welfen family can be found here
5) In English research literature he is also known as Henry V of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
6) Her case is less well documented and subject to legend; the only proven fact is her captivity in the Stauffenburg.


View from the Stauffenburg

And finally a pretty view from the castle. One can imagine that dowager duchess Elisabeth stood here wondering how much ore was to be found in yonder mountains, that the unhappy abbess Margarethe tried to glimpse the tower of the church in Gittelde where she was eventually allowed to visit and pray, and Eva looked out for her lover Heinrich.
 




The Lost Fort is a travel and history blog based on my journeys in Germany, the UK, Scandinavia, the Baltic Countries, and central Europe. It includes virtual town and castle tours with a focus on history, museum visits, hiking tours, and essays on Roman and Mediaeval history, illustrated with my own photos.


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I'm a blogger from Germany with a MA in Literature and History, interested in everything Roman and Mediaeval, avid reader and sometimes writer, opera enthusiast, traveller with a liking for foreign languages and odd rocks, photographer, and tea aficionado. And an old-fashioned blogger who still hasn't got an Instagram account.
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Stirling
The Wallace Monument

Castles

Doune
A Virtual Tour
History: The Early Stewart Kings
History: Royal Dower House

Duart Castle
Guarding the Sound of Mull

Dunstaffnage
An Ancient MacDougall Stronghold
The Wars of Independence
The Campbells Are Coming
Dunstaffnage Chapel

Stirling
Robert the Bruce

Abbeys and Churches

Inchcolm
Arriving at Inchcolm Abbey

Neolithicum and Bronze Age

Neolithic Orkney
Ring of Brodgar
Skara Brae

Brochs and Cairns
Clava Cairns
The Brochs of Gurness and Midhowe - Introduction

Picts and Dalriatans
Dunadd Hill Fort
Staffa


Wales

Towns

Aberystwyth
Castle and Coast

Caerleon
The Ffwrwm
The Roman Amphitheatre
The Baths in the Legionary Fort

Conwy
The Smallest House in Great Britain

Castles

Beaumaris
History
Architecture

Caernarfon
Master James of St.George
The Castle Kitchens

Cardiff
From Romans to Victorians

Chepstow
Beginnings unto Bigod
Edward II to the Tudors
Civil War

Conwy
History
Architecture

Criccieth
Llywelyn's Buildings
King Edward's Buildings

Manorbier
The Pleasantest Spot in Wales

Pembroke
Photo Impressions
The Caves Under the Castle

Roman Remains

Isca Silurum / Caerleon
The Amphitheatre
The Baths in the Legionary Fort


Denmark

Museums

Viking Museum Roskilde
To come


Norway

Castles and Fortresses

Akershus Fortress in Oslo
Kings and Pirates
The Time of King Håkon V
Architecture

Vardøhus Fortress
History

Museums

The Fram Museum in Oslo


Sweden

Neolithicum and Bronze Age

Gotland
Gnisvärd Ship Setting

Museums

The Vasa Museum in Stockholm


Finland

Towns

Porvoo
Mediaeval Porvoo


Estonia

Towns

Tallinn
The History of Mediaeval Tallinn


Latvia

Towns

Riga
The History of Mediaeval Riga


Lithuania

Towns

To come


Poland

Towns

Gdańsk / Danzig
History of Mediaeval Gdańsk
Mediaeval and Renaissance Gdańsk

Kraków
The Old Town
Jewish Kraków - Kazimierz and the Ghetto

Wrocław / Breslau
The Botanical Garden
The Wrocław Dwarfs

Castles

Ogrodzieniec Castle
A Virtual Tour
First Castle to the Boner Family


Czechia

Towns

Cheb / Eger
The Old Town

Karlovy Vary / Karlsbad
Brief History of the Town

Kutná Hora
The Sedlec Ossuary
The Medieaval Town and St.Barbara's Church


Belgium

Towns

Antwerp
The Old Town

Bruges
Mediaeval Bruges

Ghent
Mediaeval Ghent

Tongeren
Mediaeval Buildings

Roman Remains

Atuatuca Tungrorum / Tongeren
Roman Remains in the Town


Luxembourg

Towns

Luxembourg City
A Tour of the Town


City Trips

St.Petersburg (Russia)
Impressions from the Neva River

Strasbourg (France)
A Tour of the Town


Hiking Tours and Cruises

Germany

Baltic Sea Coast
Flensburg Firth
Rugia: Jasmund Peninsula and Kap Arkona
Rugia: Photo Impressions
Rugia: The Pier of Sellin
A Tour on the Wakenitz River

Lüneburg Heath
Hiking Tours in the Lüneburg Heath

Harz National Park
Arboretum (Bad Grund)
Bode Valley and Rosstrappe Cliff
Devil's Wall
Ilse Valley and Ilse's Rock
Oderteich Reservoir
Rappbode Reservoir
Views from Harz mountains

Nature Park Meissner-Kaufunger Wald
Bruchteiche / Bad Sooden Allendorf
Hessian Switzerland

Nature Park Solling-Vogler
The Forest Pasture Project
Raised Bog Mecklenbruch

Nature Park Reinhardswald
Old Forest at the Sababurg

Thuringian Forests
Oberderdorla and Hainich National Park

Rivers and Lakes
The Danube in Spring
Edersee Reservoir
A Rainy Rhine Cruise
Vineyards at Saale and Unstrut
Weser River Ferry
Weser Skywalk

Wildlife
Harz Falcon Park
Ozeaneum Stralsund: The Baltic Sea Life
Ozeaneum Stralsund: The North Sea Life
Red squirrels

Seasons
Spring Impressions from Göttingen
Spring in the Hardenberg Castle Gardens
Spring in the Meissner
Memories of Summer
Summer Hiking Tours 2016
Autumn in the Meissner
Autumn at Werra and Weser
Winter at the 'Kiessee' Lake


United Kingdom

The East Coast
By Ferry to Newcastle
Highland Mountains: Inverness to John o'Groats
Some Photos from the East Coast

Scottish Sea Shores
Crossing to Mull
Mull: Craignure to Fionnphort
Dunollie and Kilchurn: Photo Impressions
Pentland Firth
Staffa
Summer in Oban

Scotland by Train
West Highland Railway

Wales
Views of Snowdownia

Wildlife
Sea Gulls


Scandinavia

Coast of Norway: Hurtigruten-Tour
A Voyage into Winter
Along the Coast of Norway - Light and Darkness
Along the Coast of Norway - North of the Polar Circle

Norway by Train
From Oslo to Bergen
From Trondheim to Oslo

Wildlife
Bearded Seals
Dog Sledding With Huskies
Eagles and Gulls in the Trollfjord


The Baltic Sea

A Baltic Sea Cruise

The Curonian Spit in Lithuania
Beaches at the Curonian Spit
Geology of the Curonian Spit



Mediaeval History

General Essays

by Country
- Germany
- England
- Scotland
- Wales
- Denmark
- Norway
- Sweden
- Livonia
- Lithuania
- Poland
- Bohemia
- Luxembourg
- Flanders

Roman History

The Romans at War
Famous Romans
Roman Life and Religion

Other Times

Neolithicum to Iron Age
Post-Mediaeval History
History and Literature
Geology


Mediaeval History

General Essays

Mediaeval Warfare

Sieges
Trebuchets

Weapons
Late Mediaeval Swords

Mediaeval Art and Craft

Mediaeval Art
The Choir Screen in the Cathedral of Mainz
The Gospels of Heinrich the Lion
The Hunting Frieze in Königslutter Cathedral
Mediaeval Monster Carvings
The Viking Treasure of Hiddensee

Craftmanship
Goldsmithery
Medical Instruments

Feudalism

The History of Feudalism
The Beginnings
Feudalism in the 10th Century

Special Cases
The privilege of the deditio

The Hanseatic League

The History of the Hanseatic League
Introduction and Beginnings

Hanseatic Architecture
Examples of Brick Architecture
Hall Houses (Dielenhäuser)

Goods and Trade
Stockfish Trade

Towns of the Hanseatic League
Riga
Stralsund
Tallinn / Reval

The Order of the Teutonic Knights

Wars and Battles
The Conquest of Danzig
The Siege of Vilnius 1390

The Vikings

Viking Material Culture
The Viking Treasure of Hiddensee

Viking Ships
The Nydam Ship


Essays by Country

Germany

Geneaology

List of Mediaeval German Emperors
Anglo-German Marriage Connections

Kings and Emperors

The Salian Dynasty
King Heinrich IV

Staufen against Welfen
Emperor Otto IV

Princes and Lords

House Welfen
Heinrich the Lion's Ancestors
The Dukes of Braunschweig-Grubenhagen
Otto the Quarrelsome of Braunschweig-Göttingen

The Landgraves of Thuringia
The Ludowing Landgraves of Thuringia
Albrecht II and Friedrich I of Thuringia

Dukes and Princes of other Families
Duke Otto of Northeim
Prince Wilhelm Malte of Putbus

Counts and Local Lords
The Marshals of Ebersburg
The Counts of Everstein
The Counts of Hohnstein
The Lords of Plesse
The Counts of Reichenbach
The Counts of Winzenburg

Feuds and Rebellions

Royal Troubles
Otto IV and Bishop Adalbert II of Magdeburg

Local Feuds
The Lüneburg Succession War
The Thuringian Succession War
The Star Wars


England

Kings of England

House Plantagenet
Richard Lionheart in Speyer
King Henry IV's Lithuanian Crusade

Normans, Britons, Angevins

Great Noble Houses
The Dukes of Brittany
The Earls of Richmond

Contested Borders

Northumbria
King Stephen's Troubles with King David of Scots


Scotland

Kings of Scots

House Dunkeld
Malcolm III and Northumbria
Struggle for the Throne: Malcolm III to David I
King David and the Civil War, Part 1
King David and the Civil War, Part 2

Houses Bruce and Stewart
The Early Stewart Kings

Local Troubles

Clan Feuds
MacLeans and MacDonalds
A Scottish Wedding

Scotland and England

The Wars of Independence
Alexander of Argyll
The Fight for Stirling Castle


Wales

Welsh Princes

The Princes of Gwynedd
The Rise of House Aberffraw

Wales and England

A History of Rebellion
Llywellyn ap Gruffudd to Owain Glyn Dŵr


Denmark

Kings of Denmark

House of Knýtlinga
Harald Bluetooth's Flight to Pomerania

Danish Rule in the Baltic Sea

The Duchy of Estonia
Danish Kings and German Sword Brothers


Norway

Kings of Norway

Foreign Relations
King Eirik's Scottish Marriages
King Håkon V's Swedish Politics
Beginnings of the Kalmar Union

Feuds and Rebellions

Rebels
Alv Erlingsson of Tønsberg


Sweden

Troubles and Alliances

Scandinavian Unity
Beginnings of the Kalmar Union


Livonia
(Latvia and Estonia)

Contested Territories

Livonian Towns
The History of Mediaeval Riga
The History of Mediaeval Tallinn


Lithuania

Lithuanian Princes

The Geminid Dynasty
Troublesome Cousins - Jogaila and Vytautas

The Northern Crusades

The Wars in Lithuania
The Siege of Vilnius 1390


Poland

Royal Dynasties

The Jagiełłonian Kings
Władysław Jagiełło and the Polish-Lithuanian Union

The Northern Crusades

The Conquest of Pomerania / Prussia
The Conquest of Danzig


Bohemia

Royal Dynasties

The Bohemian Kings of House Luxembourg
King Sigismund and the Hussite Wars


Luxembourg

House Luxembourg
King Sigismund


Flanders

More to come


Roman History

The Romans at War

Forts and Fortifications

The German Limes
The Cavalry Fort Aalen
Limes Fort Osterburken
Limes Fort Saalburg

The Hadrian's Wall
Introduction
The Fort at Segedunum / Wallsend

Border Life
Exercise Halls
Mile Castles and Watch Towers
Soldiers' Living Quarters
Cavalry Barracks

Campaigns and Battles

Maps
The Romans in Germania

The Pre-Varus Invasion in Germania
Roman Camp Hedemünden
New Finds in 2008

The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
Museum Park at Kalkriese

The Battle at the Harzhorn
Introduction

The Batavian Rebellion
A Short Introduction

Roman Militaria

Armour
Early Imperial Helmets
Late Roman Helmets
The Negau B Helmet

Weapons
Weapon Finds at Hedemünden
The pilum
Daggers
Swords

Other Equipment
Roman Saddles


Famous Romans

The Late Empire

Alaric
The Legend of Alaric's Burial


Roman Life and Religion

Religion and Public Life

Religion
Curse Tablets and Good Luck Charms
Isis Worship
Memorial Stones
The Mithras Cult

Public Life
Roman Transport: Barges
Roman Transport: Amphorae and Barrels
Roman Water Supply

Architecture
Roman Public Baths

Domestic Life

Roman villae
Villa Urbana Longuich
Villa Rustica Wachenheim

Everyday Life
Bathing Habits
Children's Toys
Face Pots


Other Times

Neolithicum to Iron Age

Germany

Development of Civilisation
European Bread Museum, Ebergötzen
The Hutewald Project in the Solling
Open Air Museum Oerlinghausen

Neolithic Remains
Stone Burials of the Funnelbeaker Culture
The Necropolis of Oldendorf

Bronze Age / Iron Age
The Nydam Ship

Scotland

Neolithic Orkney
The Neolithic Landscape of Orkney
Ring of Brodgar
Skara Brae
Life in Skara Brae

Bronze Age / Iron Age
Clava Cairns
The Brochs of Gurness and Midhowe - Their Function in Iron Age Society

Scandinavia

Bronze / Iron Age
The Ship Setting of Gnisvärd / Gotland


Post-Mediaeval History

Explorers and Discoveries

Explorers
Fram Expedition to the North Pole
Fram Expedition to the South Pole

Discoveries
Otto von Guericke and the Magdeburg Hemispheres
Raising a Wreck, Now and Then (Vasa Museum in Stockholm)


History and Literature

Germany

The Weimar Classicism
Introduction


Geology

Geological Landscapes: Germany

Baltic Sea Coast
Chalk Cliffs on Rugia
Flint Fields on Rugia

Harz Mountains
Bode Valley and Rosstrappe Cliff
The 'Hübichenstein' Rock
Karst Formations in Southern Harz
The Lonau Falls
The Rhume Springs
Sandstone Formations: Daneil's Cave
Sandstone Formations: Devil's Wall
Sandstone Formations: The Klus Rock

Meissner / Kaufunger Wald
Blue Dome near Eschwege
Diabase and Basalt Formations
Karst Formations
Salt Springs at the Werra

Solling-Vogler
Raised Bog Mecklenbruch
Hannover Cliffs

Geological Landscapes: Great Britain

The Shores of Scotland
Staffa

Geological Landscapes: Baltic Sea

Lithuania
Geology of the Curonian Spit

Fossils and Other Odd Rocks

Fossilized Ammonites
The Loket Meteorite (Czechia)



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