The Lost Fort

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


19 Aug 2019
  A Hansa Town under the Rule of Denmark and the Teutonic Knights - The History of Mediaeval Tallinn

Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, had not always been known by this name. The 13th century chronicler Henry of Livonia called it Lindanisia and the surrounding country Revelia. The latter name would then be used for the town: From the Danish conquest in 1219 until the Estonian independency in 1918, Tallinn was known as Reval. Taani-linna, Danish Fortress, was the Estonian name for the castle on the hill in the town, today the Upper Town or Cathedral Hill.

View for the Upper Town (Toompea Hill) to the Lower Town (St. Olav's Church to the right)

There are traces of prehistoric occupation on the hill at the Gulf of Finland, and settlement of the area seems to have been continuous. Since the mid 11th century, a trading town with a timber castle on the hill and a harbour had been erected by the Estonian tribes.

At the end of the 12th century, German, Danish and Swedish interest in the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea increased, and Popes Eugenius III (in 1147), Coelestine III (1193) and Innocent III (1199) gave the wars against the pagan tribes the full indulgences of a crusade. Duke Heinrich the Lion of Saxony and King Valdemar I of Denmark conquered and Christianised the Slavic tribes along the coast of present day Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Rugia in the 1160ies. A few decennies later, a German bishopric was established in Livonia in 1186.

But conquering was not keeping, so far away from Germany. The moment the crusader army returned home, the local tribes went back to their heathen ways and rebelled. After the bishop of Riga ended up hacked to pieces during such a rising, his successor Albrecht of Buxthoeven created a military order, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword (1202), to protect the German settlements and the trade routes. It was the only military order founded in the north-east, the others all had their origins in the crusades in Palestine, including the Teutonic Knights who would dominate the eastern Baltic states for centuries.

Town walls of Tallinn

By 1208, Latvia (then called Livonia) had been subdued and the crusade moved on to Estonia. The conquest of the six major tribes proved precarious (and the fact that the Republic of Novgorod played cards on both sides didn't help), thus Bishop Albert of Riga asked King Valdemar II of Denmark for help from the sea side. Valdemar defeated the Estonians at the battle of Lyndanisse in 1219, conquering Tallinn and northern Estonia for the Danes. He built a castle and a church on the hill, replacing the former timber structure.

Town walls, seen from the outside

The years to come were a time of conquest, rebellions and shifting alliances in Livonia and Estonia. Tribal leaders like those of the Curonians or Semigallians would ally themselves with the bishop or the Sword Brothers for a time, only to join with some other, still pagan Lithuanian people for the next battle. The Bishop of Riga, who was a landed prince besides, like in Germany, and the Brothers of the Sword who coveted more land as well, became rivals more often than allies, and the king of Denmark was caught in between.

St. Mary's Cathedral in the Upper Town

Denmark could not hold the town and lands against rebellious Estonians and the Sword Brothers both. The latter had the backing of the papal legate and conquered Tallinn in 1227. They received the town and the Danish lands as fief from the pope for a limited time.

The Brothers of the Sword proved to be a troublesome order whose members obviously didn't understand the meaning of the 'obedience' they had sworn. They refused to return those fiefs to the legate three years later. But luck left the knights at the battle of Saulė in 1236, fought between the Order and the Samogitians, a Lithuanian tribe. The Order was thoroughly defeated and lost half of its members including their master - the swampy terrain favoured the light horse of the Samogitians over the heavy cavalry of the knights.

The remains of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were merged with the Teutonic Knights and became their Livonian branch under a master of their own, but responsible to the grand master. One of the conditions of that transaction was the return of Tallinn and the former Danish lands in Estonia to the pope, who granted them to Denmark, creating the Duchy of Estonia. Tallinn, or Reval, is first mentioned as civitas, as city, in those chartes.

The market square in the Lower Town

During the time the Sword Brothers governed Tallinn, they called in settlers and merchants from Gotland in Sweden and from Germany (mostly from Lower Saxony and Westphalia). They got land and tax exemptions to settle in the town below the castle.

The town consisted of two quarters, the 'German' one and another settlement in the northern part of the Old Town which was mostly inhabited by Russians and some Estonians and Danes. Queen Margarethe of Denmark ordered both parts to be enclosed by a town wall in 1265.

The castle and its outbuildings - including the church - on the Cathedral Hill were not included in the city. That quarter had its own walls and its own law.

The Mediaeval town hall

The Kings of Denmark had granted Tallinn the town rights of the Lübeck law which would be valid until 1865, and initiated the first city council. The ruling class in town consisted of German merchants which kept close contact to the Hanseatic League. Until 1889, the official language in Tallinn was German.

Denmark also permitted German merchants to take the overland route via Tallinn / Reval and Narva (now at the Russian border) to the trade centre of Novgorod. In the early 14th century, Tallinn became a hub of trade in the Baltic Sea.

'Olde Hansa', a former storehouse (now a restaurant)

But the Estonians kept causing trouble. After another rising that had to be put down by the Teutonic Knights, and due to the paucity of Danish settlers in the Duchy of Estonia, King Valdemar IV Atterdag decided to accept payment to cede his rights to Tallinn and the duchy in 1346. Valdemar could need the 19,000 marks, since his father had mortgaged a bankrupt kingdom; debts the son paid off successively.

The Teutonic Knights confirmed the privileges the kings of Denmark had givenTallinn / Reval. The Hanseatic League granted Tallinn, together with Riga and Pärnu / Pernau, the staple right which committed all merchants trading with Russia to stop at one of those towns and offer their wares on the market.

Mediaeval houses

Visby on the Swedish island Gotland, one of the leading Hanseatic Towns for a long time, was often a rival to Tallinn, no matter both were members of the League. But Visby suffered a heavy setback when King Valdemar IV Atterdag (the same who sold Danish Estonia to the Teutonic Knights) plundered the town in 1361. That act led to retribution by the Hanseatic League who, allied with Sweden and Norway, drove Valdemar out of Denmark and into exile. In 1370, he signed the Treaty of Stralsund which confirmed the rights of the League, but allowed him to keep Gotland.

The competition of Visby was further removed when the Teutonic Knights conquered Gotland in 1398, driving out the Victual Brothers, a pirate gang which had made the island their lair and harried the trade routes of the Baltic Sea. (The fleet of the Hanseatic League would finally catch their leaders on Heligoland in the North Sea and put an end to them for good in 1401.)

For several decennies, Tallinn would remain the leading trade town in the eastern Baltic Sea, and an important member of the Hanseatic League.

The Coastal Gate

Tallinn's main trade with Novgorod and thus with Russia would suffer setbacks, though. The grand duke of Moscow conquered the Republic of Novgorod in 1478. He then attacked Livonia (by the time the name was often used for both Latvia and Estonia). The town walls of Tallinn proved a safe haven, but the large number of refugees in the town led to an outbreak of the plague in 1481 and again in 1495.

The Teutonic Order put an end to the border wars when they led a successful campaign towards Moscow in 1501 which ended in a peace. The kontor in Novgorod was reopened and trade began to flow again. Tallinn recovered from the loss of inhabitants and saw another period of wealth and importance until 1558. Lutheran Church Order was accepted by the Magistracy of Reval and the Chivalry of Estonia in 1525.

St.Catherine's Passage, Lower Town

The rule of the Teutonic Knights in Livonia came to an end after the the Livonian branch of the Order was defeated by the grand duke of Moscow in 1561 (the Order had already been ousted of Prussia in 1525).

Tallinn asked Sweden for protection. Thus the Swedish rule of Tallinn began, which would last until the Great Northern War in 1710. The special rights of the German citizens were reduced.

The Hanseatic League was on the decline as well, though it would take another century until the last official meeting, the Hansetag, in 1669.

Lane at the town wall

In 1700, the Great Northern War began, a war that would last until 1721 and involved the Scandinavian countries, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Livonia, Prussia, the Russian Empire, Great Britain, and even the Ottoman Empire. Tallinn, together with Swedish Estonia and Livonia, came to Imperial Russia in 1710 at the Treaty of Nystad between the Tsardom of Russia and the Swedish Empire. It retained the autonomy of the local institutions as Governorate of Estonia.

View from the harbour to Tallinn

Literature
Norbert Angermann, Karsten Brüggemann. Geschichte der baltischen Länder; Stuttgart 2018
Eric Christiansen. The Northern Crusades; 2nd editon. First published at Penguin Publ. 1997
Jörgen Brackler, Volker Henn, Rainer Postel (ed.). Die Hanse - Lebenswirklichkeit und Mythos; Lübeck 2006
William Urban: The Teutonic Knights. A Military History, 2003; reprint by Frontline Publ. 2018

 




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.


This blog is non-commercial.

All texts and photos (if no other copyright is noted) are copyright of Gabriele Campbell.

GDPR Privacy Policy


My Photo
Name:
Location: Goettingen, Germany

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.
(See here for Archives for mobile devices)


Historical Places

Germany
- Towns
- Castles
- Abbeys and Churches
- Roman Remains
- Neolithicum and Bronze Age
- Museums
England
Scotland
Wales
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
Finland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Czechia
Belgium
Luxembourg
City Trips

Hiking Tours and Cruises

Germany
United Kingdom
Scandinavia
Baltic Sea


Historical Places

Germany

Towns

Bad Sooden-Allendorf
Historical Town and Graduation Tower
Bruchteiche Reservoir

Binz
A Seaside Resort

Braunschweig
Lion Benches in the Castle Square
The Quadriga

Erfurt
Mediaeval Erfurt

Goslar
Mediaeval Goslar
Chapel in the Klus Rock

Heiligenstadt
Churches St.Martin and St.Mary

Lübeck
St. Mary's Church

Magdeburg
Church of Our Lady: History

Mainz
The Temple of Isis and Mater Magna

Paderborn
Mediaeval Paderborn

Quedlinburg
Mediaeval Quedlinburg
The Chapter Church

Speyer
The Cathedral: Architecture
Jewish Ritual Bath

Stralsund
The Harbour
The Old Town

Treffurt
Mediaeval Lanes and Old Houses

Trier
The Roman Amphitheatre
The Aula Palatina
The Imperial Baths
The Porta Nigra

Weimar
Sites of the Weimar Classicism
The Park at the Ilm

Wismar
The Old Harbour

Xanten
Roman and Mediaeval Xanten
The Gothic House

Castles

Adelebsen
The Keep

Altenstein (Werra)
A Border Castle

Bramburg
Weser River Reivers

Brandenburg (Thuringia)
The Beginnings
Albrecht II of Thuringia

Coburg Fortress
History
Architecture

Ebersburg
The Marshals of Ebersburg
Architecture

Grebenstein
History

Grubenhagen
History of the Keep

Hanstein
Introduction

Hardeg Castle
The Great Hall

Hardenberg
History

Heldenburg (Salzderhelden)
A Welfen Seat

Hohnstein (Harz)
The Counts of Hohnstein
Between Welfen and Staufen
14th-15th Century

Krukenburg
Built to Protect a Chapel

Kugelsburg
The Counts of Everstein
Later Times

Plesse
The Counts of Winzenburg
The Lords of Plesse
Architecture

Polle Castle
An Everstein Stronghold

Regenstein
History

Reichenbach (Hessia)
History

Sababurg
Photo Impressions

Scharfenstein
From Castle to Convention Centre

Scharzfels
History
Architecture

Sichelnstein
History

Stauffenburg (Harz)
A Secret Mistress

Stapelburg
A Little Known Ruin in the Harz

Trendelburg
Photo Impressions

Wartburg
A Virtual Tour

Weidelsburg
History
Architecture
Revisiting the Weidelsburg

Abbeys and Churches

Bursfelde
Early History of the Abbey

Fredelsloh
A Romanesque Basilica

Gehrden
A Romanesque Church

Göllingen
The Byzantine Crypt

Hahnenklee
The Stave Church

Helmarshausen
Remains of the Monastery

Lippoldsberg
Early History of the Abbey
Interior of the Church

Lorsch
The Carolingian Gate Hall

Pöhlde
Remains of the Monastery

Scharzfeld (Harz)
The Cave Church

Vernawahlshausen
Mediaeval Murals

Walkenried
The Monastery - Introduction

Wiebrechtshausen
Romanesque Church and a Ducal Burial

Wilhelmshausen (Kassel)
The Romanesque Church

Roman Remains

Augusta Treverorum / Trier
The Amphitheatre
The Aula Palatina
The Imperial Baths
The Porta Nigra
The Roman Bridge

Colonia Ulpia Traiana / Xanten
Roman Xanten
The Amphitheatre in Birten

Limes Fort Aalen
The Barracks

Limes Fort Osterburken
The Discovery
The Cohort castellum
The Annex Fort
The Garrisons

Limes Fort Saalburg
A Reconstructed Limes Fort
Shrine of the Standards

Romans in North Rhine-Westphalia
Playmobil Romans, LWL Museum Haltern
Varus Statue, Haltern am See

Romans at the Moselle
The Villa Urbana in Longuich

Romans at the Rhine
Boppard - The Roman Baudobriga
The Villa at Wachenheim

Neolithicum and Bronze Age

Neolithic Burials
Neolithic Burials in the Everstorf Forest and Rugia
The Necropolis of Oldendorf

Bronze Age
Bronze and Iron Age Remains at the Werra

Museums / Reconstructed Sites

Palatine Seat Tilleda
The Defenses

Viking Settlement Haithabu
The Nydam Ship

Open Air Museums
European Bread Museum Ebergötzen
Open Air Museum Oerlinghausen

Post-Mediaeval Exhibits
Historical Guns, Coburg Fortress
Vintage Car Museum, Wolfsburg


England

Towns

Chester
Roman and Medieaval Chester

Hexham
The Abbey - Introduction
The Old Gaol

York
Clifford Tower
The Guild Hall
Monk Bar Gate with Richard III Museum
Museum Gardens
Houses in the Old Town
York Minster: Architecture

Castles

Carlisle
History

Richmond
Conquest to King John
Henry III to the Tudors
Architecture

Scarborough
Romans to the Tudors
Civil War to the Present
Architecture

Roman Remains

Eboracum / York
Roman Bath in the Fortress

Wall Fort Birdoswald
The Dark Age Timber Halls

Wall Fort Segedunum
Museum and Viewing Tower
The Baths

Other Roman Sites
The Mithraeum at Brocolita
The Signal Station at Scarborough


Scotland

Towns

Edinburgh
Views from the Castle

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)



Powered by Blogger