The Lost Fort

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


30 Dec 2010
  The Harzhorn/Kalefeld Battlefield

The post - or probably posts - about the battlefield at the Harzhorn near Kalefeld are under revision.


 


  Happy New Year

I wish everyone a Happy New Year. May your hopes and wishes come true.

My balcony in winter

Fred the Snowman sends greetings as well. He's been around for ten days now and hopefully will stay a bit longer. This winter has been a bit crazy so far, but I don't mind the cold and the snow. Only the frozen rain could have gone elsewhere. ;)
 


26 Dec 2010
  St.Mary's Church in Magdeburg, Part 3 - From Reformation to Reunion

Magdeburg became one of the centres of the Reformation, not the least because the archbishop was heavily involved in the trade with indulgences. The cathedral was closed after his death (1545) and became a Protestant church in 1567.

(Detail from the crypt)

St.Mary's Abbey remained a Catholic enclave; its immunity was confirmed in 1555 under the Treaty of Augsburg. But the situation was not easy for the inhabitants; for example they stopped wearing their religious habits outside the monastery. After the death of the provost in 1597, the last canons abandoned the monastery, leaving the relics of St.Norbert behind. The relics were transfered to Prague in 1626 - the Thirty Years War was already raging in the surroundings - and two years later, several Premonstratensians returned to St.Mary.

The troops of the Catholic general Tilly conquered Magdeburg in 1631; the massacre of Magdeburg would become known as one of the most cruel events in a time when atrocities were committed almost daily. All of Europe, Catholic and Protestant, was aghast about what happened in Magdeburg. But the main churches survived the plunderings and fires. Tilly put St.Mary under his personal protection, and the cathedral was respected as well, despite being a Protestant church. The people who had managed to flee into both churches were among those who survived the massacres, but they had to hold out without water and food for three days.

With the town more or less destroyed, the canons left the monastery in the following year. The took the library and archive with them.

Well house in the cloister

The monastery was secularised in 1832. During WW2 the west wing of the cloister and the choir and roof of the church were damaged by airborne attacks. The choir was restored as early as 1947-49 and some repair work was going on in the years to follow - the GDR government considered St. Mary and Magdeburg Cathedral to be important enough to keep them, and I'm sure there were donations from west Germany as well (a lot of historical buildings fared much worse and were tumbling into ruins for lack of care). After the Reunion the crypt was restored, and redevelopment of the cloister began in 1999. That work was almost finished when we visited the place.

In 1993, St. Mary's Abbey was declared one of the main attractions of the Romanesque Road (Straße der Romanik), a net of roads that connects important Romanesque buildings in Germany; you can travel the 'road' all the way from the Alpes to the sea.
 


22 Dec 2010
  Merry Christmas

I wish everyone a Blessed and Merry Christmas.

Christmas decoration in my sleeping room

I prefer handcrafted decorations; those angels are ceramic work from Sweden. Below is some traditional German craft from the Erzgebirge, a mountain area in eastern Germany long famous for its wood carving and turning crafts. Among the best known items they create are nutcrackers, Christmas pyramids, musical boxes, angels and other figures that are still made in small private craftsman's workshops. They also produce all sorts of wooden children's toys; there is a famous museum in Seiffen displaying toys from several centuries.

Advent decoration in my living room

The Erzgebirge was a mountaineering area since the 12th century. When less ore was to be found since the 17th century, people turned to other ways to make a living. Wood carving already had a tradition and there was no shortage in timber, so working with wood became a new source of income. The first products were everyday things like plates, spoons and whatnot, but over time, the people in the Erzgebirge specialised in toys and decorative art.

Snowman with trees, closeup

The spiral trees (made by wood turning) are something I collect. I try to get a new one every year.

If you want your very own spiral tree forest or nutcracker next Christmas, here is where you can order them.

Christmas decoration in my living room

The little nativity scene under the vase with fir green was carved in Israel. My late mother found it at a Christmas market in Braunschweig and gifted it to me. I never put out everything I have (I collected and inherited a good deal of decorative items) but that little nativity gets a place every year, usually together with the smallest spiral trees of my set.
 


17 Dec 2010
  Exhibits from the Cathedral Museum Mainz: Choir Screen Figures

The Cathedral Museum (Bischöfliches Dom- und Diözesanmusem) in Mainz presents a number of beautiful Mediaeval works of art, among them a set of reliefs that once belonged to the choir screen. Choir screens (German: Lettner) are a feature of Gothic church architecture which separated the the area with the main altar from the naves and the congregation. They were elaborately wrought of iron or carved of wood or stone.

The screen in the cathedral of Mainz had been removed in the 17th century (where that feature was no longer felt appropriate) but parts of it were integrated elsewhere in the church which underwent a number of changes and repair / rebuilding during times. In the end, the remains of the choir screen made it into the museum.

Choir screen, Passage of the Damned

The screen is a work of the Master of Naumburg. His name is not known, but he is regarded as one of the most important artists of the 13th century. He supposedly was educated in France and worked in Amiens and Reims, and since about 1230-1239 in Mainz where he created the choir screen. He then moved to work on the cathedral in Naumburg where several of the figures he created for the choir of the cathedral can still be seen.

Choir screen, Passage of the Blessed

The Passages of the Damned and the Blessed are part of a Last Judgement scene. The damned are dragged to hell on a chain to the left of Jesus (the Jesus figure is missing) while the blessed go to heaven at his right side. The presentation of the blessed follows the estates of the realm with the pope and a bishop (in the background) first, followed by a crowned emperor, monks and nuns, and a smiling boy who stands for the innocent children Jesus called to him.

Passage of the Blessed, closeup

Though at close look I suspect that boy wasn't so innocent. His smile is rather smug, more like, 'heh, I always teased my younger brother, grabbed the cat by its tail and filched apples from neighbour's orchard, and I still made it, neiner, neiner.' Makes you wonder if the Master of Naumburg had kids. :) One of the custodians told me the smiling boy is the most popular postcard and poster motive the museum sells.
 


11 Dec 2010
  St.Mary's Abbey in Magdeburg, Part 2 - Emperor Otto IV and Archbishop Adalbert II

After the building of St.Mary's Church was completed under Archbishop Norbert, little has been changed during time. A few Gothic elements like cross grain vaults in the naves and Gothic windows in the apses have been introduced, the columns in the main nave were replaced with pillars (between 1220-1240), but overall the Romanesque character of the church remains intact.


(St.Mary's Abbey Magdeburg, westwork)

On Good Friday 1207 the old cathedral in Magdeburg was destroyed by a fire. St.Mary's Church was immediately elevated to the status of cathedral so Archbishop Adalbert II of Käfernburg could celebrate the Easter mass there.

A cathedral (German: Dom or Kathedrale) usually refers to a church that contains the seat of a bishop and serves as central church of a diocese or episcopate. But the word is also used for Protestant churches that started out as cathedral, and sometimes simply for large and important churches (St.Victor in Xanten is technically a chapter church but refered to as Xantener Dom - Cathedral of Xanten; while other chapter churches are sometimes called minster; but that denomination is also on occasion used for former abbey churches; it's very confusing, just look at a name like Westminster Abbey).

Adalbert II (alternate spellings: Albert, Albrecht) had the cathedral rebuilt in the Gothic style (that's another post that needs to be rewritten), but for several years he had to use St.Mary's Church. One important historical incident - and another thread in the tapestry of German history I try to weave on my blog - taking place in that church was Adalbert proclaiming the excommunication of Emperor Otto IV in 1211.

"An emperor Otto and an archbishop Adalbert founded the archdiocese of Magdeburg, and an emperor Otto and an archbishop Adalbert destroyed it," says the Chronicle of Lauterberg. (One Konrad, member of the chapter church Lauterberg near Halle, wrote a chronicle of the chapter up to the year 1224, making use of a now lost History of Magdeburg and other sources.) This refers to Otto the Great and Archbishop Adalbert I who founded the archdiocese in 968 and built the first cathedral, and to Otto IV and Adalbert II.

Adalbert of Käfernburg, born 1170, was the son of a Thuringian count, destined for a clerical life. He studied in Paris and Bologna and became provost in Magdeburg in 1200.

(St.Mary, well house in the cloister, seen from the cloister walk)

The archdiocese of Magdeburg had traditionally sided with the Staufen against the Welfen. Archbishop Wichmann had been a stout supporter of Friedrich Barbarossa and caused Duke Heinrich 'the Lion' of Saxony a lot of trouble. In the quarrel between Friedrich's son Philipp of Swabia and Heinrich's son Otto, Magdeburg took the side of Philipp, and his party elected Adalbert archbishop in 1205. Philipp, who considered himself rightful king (as did Otto), immediately invested Adalbert who kept supporting Philipp though that was not without risk. The main seat of the Welfen, Braunschweig, is not so far away from Magdeburg, and Otto had sent some troops before. They could not take the fortified town - and probably didn't intend to at the time - but they pillaged and burned the lands belonging to the diocese. Not a nice thing to do, of course, but it was a normal part of Mediaeval warfare (and Wichmann had done the same to Duke Heinrich, destroying fe. the town of Haldensleben and integrating it into the archdiocese of Magdeburg).

Pope Innocenz III who supported Otto, confirmed Adalbert as archbishop only after Adalbert had visited him and tried - not without success, it seems - to work towards an agreement between Innocenz, Otto, and Philipp.

But when Philipp of Swabia was assassinated in 1208, the Staufen party lost a great deal of power and influence. Otto suddenly found himself King of Germany uncontested, esp. since Pope Innocenz did not want the Staufen heir and King of Sicily, Friedrich II (son of Heinrich VI and grandson of Friedrich Barbarossa) to become King of Germany, and continued to support Otto.

So Adalbert decided to open up negotiations with Otto. He wanted concessions, of course. Otto should permanently renounce all Welfen rights to Haldensleben (which Wichmann had annexed in 1181), pay 3000 gold marks towards the new cathedral, and accept Adalbert as first counsellor. Adalbert's support must have been important for Otto to agree to those conditions. Otto was indeed elected king - again, lol - in Frankfurt a few months after Philipp's death, and this time unanimously.

(Pillar capital from the cloister walk)

Adalbert accompagnied Otto to Rome where he was crowned emperor in October 1209. Pope Innocenz wanted concessions, too, the most important being a promise that Otto would not claim the rule over the towns in Italy that traditionally belonged to the German kings, and over Sicily.

A few days later, on their way back from Rome, Otto and Adalbert quarreled big style. Unfortunately the chronicles do what they like to do (ask Kathryn, lol) and don't mention the reason for the quarrel. Several guesses have been made; one that sounds plausible is that Otto obviously was slow in signing over Haldensleben to the archdiocese of Magdeburg. We'll see that he tried to wiggle out of other agreements as well.

The following year Otto returned to Italy to do exactly what he had promised not to do: having Italian towns hail him as king. It's an understandable move, in a way, since there was always the danger that Friedrich II would try the same, but to the pope, it was blatant oathbreaking. Which isn't entirely true; from what I could find out it was not a formal oath but a private promise, and there's a difference between those in the Middle Ages.

Well, Innocenz excommunicated Otto and told the German princes they were free to elect another king and emperor-to-be. They chose Friedrich II who in fact had the strongest claim among the members of the Staufen family. Otto gallloped back to Germany, but his support was melting like the snow outside my window. Adalbert had joined the princes who voted for Friedrich but on the other hand, he was loth to announce Otto's excommunication in his diocese. It took an angry letter from the pope until Adalbert finally proclaimed Otto an heretic and all oaths towards him invalid in front of the altar in St.Mary's Church in February 1211.

Otto in turn gathered the followers he still had in a Imperial diet and put Adalbert and the archdiocese of Magdeburg under Imperial ban (basically declaring the people that lived on the land outlaws, including the archbishop). The surroundings of Magdeburg were attacked by Otto's armies several times in the years to follow; once Adalbert barely escaped capture. One may wonder why Otto put so much effort into that adventure, esp. after the lost Battle of Bouvines (1214). My guess is that Otto needed to give the vassals he still had in Saxony and at the Lower Rhine a chance to gain some riches because he had not much left to distribute. A catch like Adalbert or conquering a rich town like Magdeburg would have filled a few purses and kept a few vassals by his side.

Otto IV died 1218, Adalbert II 1233. He was buried in the cathedral which was partly finished at that time.


Sources:
Matthias Puhle: Die Beziehung zwischen Otto IV und Erzbischof Albrecht II 1205 - 1218, in: Otto IV - Traum vom welfischen Kaisertum, issued by Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, 2009
Klaus von Eickels: Otto IV (1198-1218) und Philipp (1198-1208), in: Die deutschen Herrscher des Mittelalters, edited by Bernd Schneidmüller and Stefan Weinfurter, München 2003
 


4 Dec 2010
  St.Mary's Abbey in Magdeburg, Part 1 - An Austere Archbishop

This is one of the posts I mentioned that needed to be completely rewritten. We visited Magdeburg in 2005, before I got my own digital camera, so the photos are by courtesy of my father.

The monastery Unserer Lieben Frauen (To Our Dear Lady, also known as Liebfrauenkloster or St.Mary's Abbey) in Magdeburg is one of the most important Romanesque buildings in Germany. It is used as art museum and concert hall today.

(Liebfrauen-Monastery Magdeburg, westwork)

Magdeburg already had a cathedral dating to the time of Otto the Great (912-973) and was the see of an archbishop. St.Mary's Abbey was founded by Archbishop Gero in 1015 and started as collegiate church for a non-monastic community of clergy led by a dean. The first building may have been half-timbered, but since 1063 it was replaced by a stone basilica. There must have been a break in the building process because the basilica was only finished during the time of the Archbishop Norbert of Xanten (consecrated 1126).

Norbert of Xanten, founder of the Premonstratensian Order, was an interesting character, and since he played a more important role in Magdeburg than his native Xanten, I'll put his story here.

Norbert of Gennep (born between 1080-85) had his life cut out for him with a nice prebendary in the St.Victor Chapter in Xanten and a political career ahead. He accomp-agnied King Heinrich V to Rome but obviously got disillusioned by the events that led to Heinrich's coronation as Emperor in 1111.

Heinrich V didn't get along with the pope any better than his (in)famous father Heinrich VI and imprisoned the pope and a bunch of cardinals to blackmail the pope into a) crowning him as emperor, b) releasing his dead father from the church ban so he could be buried in the crypt of Speyer Cathedral, c) never excommunicate him (he learned from his father there, lol), and d) allow Heinrich the investiture of bishops in his realm.

BTW Heinrich V married Maud, the daughter of Henry I of England in 1114; the betrothal had taken place in 1110 before Heinrich became emperor, but Maud was not with him in Italy.

St.Mary's Abbey, Magdeburg, exterior

Norbert refused a position as bishop of Cambrai which Heinrich offered him and instead gave his possessions to the poor and got ordained as priest. Legend tells that his change of mind was caused when during a ride "...suddenly the terrifying sound and sight of a thunderbolt struck the ground opening it to the depth of a man's height. From here steamed forth a putrid stench which fouled him and his garments. Struck from his horse he thought he heard a voice denouncing him." (Vita Sancti Norberti, Version A)

After Norbert failed to reform the chapter in Xanten while himself living as hermit nearby, and after he barely escaped an accusation of heresy in 1118, he obtained permission to become an itinerant preacher. Norbert wandered through Belgium and France, calling people to a true vita apostolica in the following of Jesus and his disciples, and criticising the Church that has become too worldly and too rich.

The majority of bishops and other churchmen didn't like that, of course, and the pope tried to channel his activities by offering him to establish a monastery and a new religious order. Norbert finally accepted and chose a village named Premontré near Laon. The Order of the Canons Regular of Premontré was officially approved by Pope Honorius II in 1125.

St.Mary's Abbey, interior

But Norbert exchanged his contemplative life in a French valley again for the intrigues of the German Court. He traveled to Rome in 1125, where he was honourably received by Pope Honorius II and agreed to work for King Lothar III (the future Emperor Lothar of Süpplingenburg). Lothar, Duke of Saxony, had been elected king after Heinrich V had died without children.

Later that year Norbert was offered the position as archbishop of Magdeburg during a diet in Speyer. "All the leaders of the Church of Magdeburg cried out, 'He is our choice for our father and bishop, we approve him as our shepherd.'" Norbert didn't want the position, but "... Finally, yielding to numerous arguments and the apostolic authority, he accepted the yoke of the Lord, not without much weeping; and thus dismissed by the emperor, he set out for Saxony to the place destined for him." (Vita Sancti Norberti)

The Church of Magdeburg was in for some changes. Norbert arrived, according to the Vita, barefoot and in poor robes, and started reforming the clergy (no more sex and parties) and wrestling church possessions back from burghers who had obtained them as pawn from the archbishops. Soon even many of those who had called him wanted to get rid of Norbert, and there were two assassination attempts plotted by members of his inner circle. But it got worse; the citizens of Magdeburg rebelled and drove Norbert out with armed force. Well, he was not as saintly as the Vita makes him and put the town under interdict which brought the people back to obedience and Norbert back to Magdeburg.

The two-storeyed cloister

In 1129, Norbert transfered the St.Mary's Abbey to the Premonstratensian Order, an act that was confirmed by Pope Honorius the same year. My guess is that Norbert not only wanted to enlarge the possessions of the order he founded (and which would soon extend into the Slavic lands east of Magdeburg that future emperors would conquer) but also hoped to replace the unruly canons with men more loyal to him. At that time the towers of the church were completed, and the cloister, the wellhouse, and the refectory added.

Norbert also changed the Monastery of Pöhlde into a Premonstratensian monastery.

One of the walks in the cloister

Soon Norbert would become involved in Imperial politics again. The death of Pope Honorius led to a schism during which Pope Anacletus drove Pope Innocenz II out of Rome. Innocenz fled to France where he gathered support for his cause. He could make King Lothar an interesting offer: the Imperial crown; so Lothar traveled to Italy with an army to do something about Anacletus. Norbert accompagnied the king. The army didn't prove large enough to kick Anaclet's followers out of St.Peter's Basilica in Rome, but the investiture took place in the Lateran Church instead (June 1133). There were a lot of negotiations going on between Innocenz and Lothar; I'm not going into details in this post. Archbishop Norbert stayed with the king during the time in Italy, even acting as chancellor, and only returned to Magdeburg in 1134. He died there in June, probably of malaria. "It was the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1134, the Wednesday after Pentecost, the eighth day before the Ides of June, in the fifth year of Pope Innocent, in the ninth year of the reign of Lothair." (Vita Norberti; you gotta love Mediaeval dates).

Norbert was buried in front of the altar of the holy cross in St.Mary's Church. Saint Norbert was canonized by Pope Gregory XII in 1582 and is the patron saint of Magdeburg and Bohemia.
 




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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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.
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Historical Places

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Germany
United Kingdom
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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)



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