My Travel and History Blog, Focussing mostly on Roman and Mediaeval Times
25 Oct 2010
Walkenried - From Monastery to Museum
Walkenried, remains of the choir
Adelheid had met them in Kamp at the lower Rhine. She invited some monks to move to the Harz foothills and offered them a suitable piece of land, sufficiently distant from settlements, with water access and chances of agricultural development. A first convent moved in and started building the first church on the grounds, in the older Romanesque style. They got additional money from Emperor Lothar of Süpplingenburg (the one who founded the church in Königslutter), and in 1137, Pope Innocenz II officially confirmed the foundation.Read more »
Walkenried was founded as Cistercian monastery by Countess Adelheid of Clettenberg in 1127, member of one of the smaller and more obscure noble families in the Harz area.
The Cistercians were an enclosed order which means they had to stay within the confines of the land belonging to the monastery. Other orders, like for example Benedictines and Franciscans, enjoyed more freedom of movement. Cistercians were a fairly new order that started in Citeaux / Burgundy in 1098 out of the Benedictine rule which they still fowllowed in a purified version.
Adelheid had met them in Kamp at the lower Rhine. She invited some monks to move to the Harz foothills and offered them a suitable piece of land, sufficiently distant from settlements, with water access and chances of agricultural development. A first convent moved in and started building the first church on the grounds, in the older Romanesque style. They got additional money from Emperor Lothar of Süpplingenburg (the one who founded the church in Königslutter), and in 1137, Pope Innocenz II officially confirmed the foundation.
7 Oct 2010
Some Experimental Photos
Which is a fancy way to say, 'I just pressed the shutter release and wondered what would come out of it.' It also makes for a lazy post because I had a busy week.
Sometimes it looks like modern art.
Vertigo
A staircase inside the keep of Plesse Castle. The stairs aren't Medieaval, of course. The keep tower has been restored to its original height; the upper part was in ruins in the 19th century. Read more »
Which is a fancy way to say, 'I just pressed the shutter release and wondered what would come out of it.' It also makes for a lazy post because I had a busy week.
Sometimes it looks like modern art.
A staircase inside the keep of Plesse Castle. The stairs aren't Medieaval, of course. The keep tower has been restored to its original height; the upper part was in ruins in the 19th century. Read more »
1 Oct 2010
Castles of the Welsh Princes - The Rise of House Aberffraw in the 12th Century
Reading up on Welsh history makes me suspect it was the Princes of Gwynedd who invented the dysfunctional family and the Plantagenets only copied them. There was a lof of brothers fighting each other, one ending up in exile from where he would promptly return with a fleet (Irish/Norse in most cases), or in prison from which he would escape and manage to find an army somewhere. Adding to this that the English kings and the marcher lords (in particular the Earls of Chester) also played that battle / exile / hostage game, it's surprising that northern Wales saw times of peace at all. But it did.
The Welsh stone castles mostly date to the 13th century, but they make for some nice illustrations nevertheless.
Dolwyddelan Castle
The first ruler of Gwynedd who managed to establish some sort of stability north of the Conwy river was Gruffydd ap Cynan. Gruffydd's mother Ragnhild was a daughter of Olaf of Dublin. Little is known about his father who obviously died while Gruffydd was still very young. Gruffydd made a first attempt to oust his rival Trahaearn ap Caradog from Gwynedd in 1075. He had the aid of his Irish relations and of Robert of Rhuddlan, a Norman lord and cousin of Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester. Some strange alliance that, and it didn't hold. Gruffydd managed to drive Trahaearn out, but tensions arose between the Welsh and Gruffydd's Irish-Danish host. The Welsh rebelled and Trahaearn kicked Gruffydd back to Ireland. Read more »
Reading up on Welsh history makes me suspect it was the Princes of Gwynedd who invented the dysfunctional family and the Plantagenets only copied them. There was a lof of brothers fighting each other, one ending up in exile from where he would promptly return with a fleet (Irish/Norse in most cases), or in prison from which he would escape and manage to find an army somewhere. Adding to this that the English kings and the marcher lords (in particular the Earls of Chester) also played that battle / exile / hostage game, it's surprising that northern Wales saw times of peace at all. But it did.
The Welsh stone castles mostly date to the 13th century, but they make for some nice illustrations nevertheless.
The first ruler of Gwynedd who managed to establish some sort of stability north of the Conwy river was Gruffydd ap Cynan. Gruffydd's mother Ragnhild was a daughter of Olaf of Dublin. Little is known about his father who obviously died while Gruffydd was still very young. Gruffydd made a first attempt to oust his rival Trahaearn ap Caradog from Gwynedd in 1075. He had the aid of his Irish relations and of Robert of Rhuddlan, a Norman lord and cousin of Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester. Some strange alliance that, and it didn't hold. Gruffydd managed to drive Trahaearn out, but tensions arose between the Welsh and Gruffydd's Irish-Danish host. The Welsh rebelled and Trahaearn kicked Gruffydd back to Ireland. Read more »
