![Burg Katz, St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Burg_Katz%2C_St._Goarshausen%2C_Southwest_view_20141002_3.jpg)
Counter-castles were built in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
to counter the power of a hostile neighbour or as a siege castle, that is, a fortified base from which attacks could be launched on a nearby enemy castle.
Purpose
![Thurant vom Bleidenberg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Thurant_vom_Bleidenberg.jpg)
In castle science, and according to mediaeval usage, a counter-castle was a type of castle that was built to secure a territorial lord's claims to power or to
besiege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterize ...
and conquer the estates of rival rulers. In such cases, it may also be referred to as a siege castle. These terms are not used uniformly by specialist authors. Usually a distinction is made between counter-castles and siege castles. Where this is the case, a siege castle refers to one built near the enemy castle within the range of
trebuchet
A trebuchet (french: trébuchet) is a type of catapult that uses a long arm to throw a projectile. It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder. The design of a trebuchet allows it to launch projectiles of greater weight ...
s and
catapults that could act as a strongpoint, a route barrier, a refuge in the event of counter-attacks, a
barracks and a battery position for ballistic weapons.
A counter-castle is often used to describe a castle that was built at a greater distance from enemy fortifications and castles. It did not support the immediate siege of a castle, but was constructed as a base in an area of rival power in order to prevent enemy attempts to expand their influence and control.
Siege castles are only evident from the period of the
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...
onwards. They were usually built as a temporary fortifications using wood and earth above the castle to be captured and within sight and the range of their guns. From this location the target would be bombarded.
Sometimes only a trebuchet position was established instead of a masonry or wooden siege castle. A favourable point in the terrain, within range of the besieged castle, was levelled and lightly fortified. From this position, the enemy castle could be engaged relatively safely with a trebuchet or catapult and its occupants psychologically ground down. Such a position may be seen today about 430 metres northeast and above
Thurant Castle
The ruins of the Thurant Castle (german: Burg Thurant, also ''Thurandt'' or ''Thurand'') stand on a wide slate hill spur above the villages of Alken on the Moselle in Germany. The castle is in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinat ...
on the
Moselle.
Trebuchets were used in sieges from the early 13th century. Large catapults had a range of about 400 to 500 metres. However, only wealthy
feudal lords could finance the use of such a large, costly siege engine or even the construction of a counter-castle.
![Burg Eltz und Burg Trutzeltz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Burg_Eltz_und_Burg_Trutzeltz.jpg)
Only occasionally did the attackers have the time and financial resources to build their fortress of stone. Rare examples are
Ramstein Castle, the
Rauschenburg
The Rauschenburg, also called Rauschenburg Castle (german: Burg Rauschenberg), is the medieval ruin of a hill castle, located at around 250 metres above sea level, above the Ehrbach stream in the parish of Mermuth in the county of Rhein-Hun ...
at
Mermuth
Mermuth is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hunsrück ...
in the
Hunsrück and
Trutzeltz Castle. The last-named was built during the
Eltz Feud
The Eltz Feud (german: Eltzer Fehde) was a 14th-century feud that arose between rulers of the Trier region on the Moselle and certain members of the knightly class who were acting independently and failing to support their sovereign princes. It ca ...
as a counter-castle to
Eltz
The House of Eltz was a noted German noble family of the ''Uradel''. The Rhenish dynasty has had close ties to the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia since 1736.
History
Though older sources mentioned one Eberhard zu Eltz, a Frankish citizen of Trier ...
. The Rauschenburg was also built in connection with the Eltz Feud as counter castle to the castles of
Ehrenburg,
Waldeck and
Schöneck.
In the majority of known cases, siege castles were abandoned after the fighting and fell into disrepair. Sometimes the lord of the formerly besieged castle was given the counter-castle in a peace agreement or even took it over as a
fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...
, as in the case of Trutzeltz Castle. In exceptional cases, such structures were - when the conquest was successful - expanded into independent castles. Examples include the
Hohenfels and
Schadeck Castle at
Runkel
Runkel is a town on the river Lahn in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.
Geography
Location
Runkel lies in the Lahn Valley on both sides of the river between the Westerwald and the Taunus, some eight kilometres east of Limburg.
...
on the
Lahn
The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km).
It has its source in t ...
.
The few surviving stone counter or siege castles generally show evidence of less careful construction. In order to build the fortification quickly, clay was mixed with the lime mortar. These defences are therefore dangerous today in view of their condition and can be made safe through painstaking renovation.
Academic research has only investigated counter and siege castles to any great extent since the end of the 20th century. After scholars like Joachim Zeune had concerned themselves in the 1980s and 1990s more with the symbolism of medieval fortifications, subsequent research began to be more critical of the then established theses. As part of the new focus on the functional and military aspects of military architecture, the counter castle became more of a focus of military historical interest.
Early Norman occupation castles in England
![Bayeux préparatifs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Bayeux_pr%C3%A9paratifs.jpg)
The
Norman invasion of England had undergone long preparation and is generally reckoned as one of the most notable military-strategic campaigns of the early
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD 150 ...
. The
Normans
The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...
attacked the island just at the time when the English were busy defending a Norwegian attack in the north. The English Army under King
Harold
Harold may refer to:
People
* Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Harold (surname), surname in the English language
* András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold"
Arts a ...
succeeded in repelling the
Vikings
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...
but now exhausted, had to fight roughly 7,000 well-equipped Norman warriors.
During the invasion numerous simple 'occupation castles' were built, the first,
at Pevensey, being at the landing-place of William's army. In addition to
motte
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...
s,
circular rampart
A circular rampart (German: ''Ringwall'') is an embankment built in the shape of a circle that was used as part of the defences for a military fortification, hill fort or refuge, or was built for religious purposes or as a place of gathering.
The ...
s with
palisades were built and older
Celtic or
Saxon fortifications were reactivated. The wooden components of these wood and earth castles had in some cases been prepared on the continent and were later assembled on the spot. This enabled the rapid establishment of a dense network of military strongpoints, some of which were later turned into stone castles.
These castles can be made out on the famous
Bayeux Tapestry. Occasionally even the barrels are depicted in which the invaders transported nails for the construction of forts on the other side of
the Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
.
The Welsh occupation castles of Edward I of England
![Harlech Castle with Snowdon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Harlech_Castle_with_Snowdon.jpg)
Right at the start of
his conquest of Celtic Wales, the English king, Edward I, ordered in 1277 the construction of several castles at strategically important places. Among these early English castles of occupation were those in
Aberystwyth,
Builth
Builth Wells (; cy, Llanfair-ym-Muallt) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of ...
,
Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...
and
Rhuddlan
Rhuddlan () is a town, community, and electoral ward in the county of Denbighshire, Wales, in the historic county of Flintshire. Its associated urban zone is mainly on the right bank of the Clwyd; it is directly south of seafront town Rhyl. ...
.
The outbreak of new unrest in 1282 caused the king to initiate a huge construction programme. The English Army was accompanied by 355 carpenters, 70 stonemasons, and 1,000 stone breakers and earthworks builders. In addition, 1,700 lumberjacks were gathered from the whole of England. After a year this force was increased by 25 carpenters and 100 stonemasons.
Within a short period of time a complete network of the most modern fortifications sprang up, which are today seen as the epitome of mediaeval
profane architecture. With supplies coming in from the sea, these strongpoints enabled the land to be secured militarily. The Welsh castle-building programme cost huge sums of money that had to be raised by
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
and even the church. A subsequent plan to defeat Scotland in the same way foundered due to the cost of such a building campaign.
Among the most important English occupation castles were those of built by
James of St. George including
Caernarfon
Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...
,
Conway and
Harlech
Harlech () is a seaside resort and community in Gwynedd, north Wales and formerly in the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it belonged to the Meirionydd District of the 19 ...
.
Siege and counter-castles in the Holy Land
![Jordanien Shobak](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Jordanien_Shobak.jpg)
During the siege of larger, fortified cities and towns castles were sometimes built as protection against
sallies and
relief troops.
During the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...
the Crusaders built the first siege castles before the gates of Islamic towns and cities in the
Holy Land. In 1097 Malregard Castle was built in front of the St. Paul's Gate at
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
.
A little later the castles of ''la Mahomerie'' and ''Tancred's Castle'' were built in front of other gateways.
In 1103
Raymond IV of Toulouse
Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse ( 1041 – 28 February 1105), sometimes called Raymond of Saint-Gilles or Raymond I of Tripoli, was a powerful noble in southern France and one of the leaders of the First Crusade (1096–1099). He was the Count o ...
ordered the construction of the siege castle, ''Mons Pelegrinus'', at
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
. Raymond was the Count of St. Gilles, which is why the castle in the centre of the town is known locally as ''Qualat Sandjill''.
As well as siege castles, counter-castles were also built at greater distance from the besieged towns. For example, in 1117, King
Baldwin I built a counter-castle ''"ad coercendum praedictam urbem"'' (to conquer the aforementioned town) of
Tyre near
İskenderun
İskenderun ( ar, الإسكندرونة, el, Αλεξανδρέττα "Little Alexandria"), historically known as Alexandretta and Scanderoon, is a city in Hatay Province on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.
Names
The city was founded as Ale ...
. Despite this siege Tyre did not fall until 1124.
The king also attempted to monitor the important
caravan route
A trade route is a Logistics, logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing Good (economics and accounti ...
of Derb el-Hadj from several new castles. Here the Pilgrim's Way ran to
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
and
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
. Around
Petra the castles of
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
/''Shobaq'' (1115) and ''Li Vaux Moisee'' were built and, in 1116, fortified strongpoints were added at
Aqaba
Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...
and on the ''Isle de Graye/Jazirat Fara’un''.
In 1142, construction started on the mighty fortress of
Kerak (''Krak de Moab'') in northern Transjordan, to which a harbour on the
Dead Sea belonged. From here
Raynald of Châtillon
Raynald of Châtillon (french: Renaud; 11254 July 1187), also known as Reynald or Reginald, was a Crusader knight of French origin but also Prince of Antioch from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Oultrejordain from 1175 until his death. He w ...
undertook numerous raids in the surrounding area. In retaliation, Sultan
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
attacked the Frankish crusader states.
Between 1136 and 1142 four strong castles (at
Castrum Arnaldi,
Beth Gibelin,
Ibelin and
Blanchegarde
Tell es-Safi ( ar, تل الصافي, Tall aṣ-Ṣāfī, "White hill"; he, תל צפית, ''Tel Tzafit'') was an Arab Palestinian village, located on the southern banks of Wadi 'Ajjur, northwest of Hebron which had its Arab population expelled ...
) were built around the Egyptian-held city of
Ashkelon
Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border wit ...
.
German terminology
In the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
, the term ''Trutzburg'' was commonly used to describe the defensive character of a castle that defied all attacks. The word is also used in German as a metaphor for things that are especially durable and resistant.
Where the ''Trutzburg'' was built specifically with the object of besieging enemy fortifications it was also known as a ''Gegenburg'' ("counter castle"), ''Okkupationsburg'' ("occupation castle") or ''Belagerungsburg'' ("siege castle"). These terms are used today by modern castle scientists and researchers in preference to the more generic ''Trutzburg''.
See also
*
Coercion castle
A coercion castle (german: Zwingburg) or coercive castleSchanze
A ''schanze'' () is, according to the specialist terminology of German fortification construction, an independent fieldwork, that is frequently used in the construction of temporary (not permanent) field fortifications.Rüstow: ''Militärisches Han ...
*
Sconce (fortification)
A sconce is a small protective fortification, such as an earthwork, often placed on a mound as a defensive work for artillery. It was used primarily in Northern Europe from the late Middle Ages until the 19th century. This type of fortificati ...
References
Literature
*
Horst Wolfgang Böhme
Horst Wolfgang Böhme (born May 1, 1940 in Szczecin) is a German archaeologist with a focus on Late Antiquity / Early Middle Ages and research into castles.
Life
Böhme studied prehistory, Roman provincial archaeology, history and folklore in Kie ...
, Reinhard Friedrich,
Barbara Schock-Werner
Barbara Schock-Werner (born 23 July 1947, Ludwigsburg) is a German architect, and was until her retirement end of August 2012 the master builder at Cologne Cathedral with overall responsibility for conservation and restoration work. With the offi ...
(Hrsg.): ''Wörterbuch der Burgen, Schlösser und Festungen''. Reclam, Stuttgart, 2004, .
* Daniel Burger: ''Burgen der Kreuzfahrer im Heiligen Land''. In: Hans-Jürgen Kotzur (ed.): ''Die Kreuzzüge - Kein Krieg ist heilig''. Mainz, 2004, .
* Georg Ulrich Großmann: ''Burgen in Europa''. Regensburg, 2005, .
* Michael Losse: ''Kleine Burgenkunde''. Regionalia, Euskirchen, 2011, .
* Olaf Wagener (ed.): ''… wurfen hin in steine - grôze und niht kleine … Belagerungen und Belagerungsanlagen im Mittelalter''. Frankfurt am Main, 2006, .
* Joachim Zeune: ''Okkupationsburgen''. In: Horst Wolfgang Böhme, Busso von der Dollen (et al., eds.): ''Burgen in Mitteleuropa, Band II - Geschichte und Burgenlandschaften''. Stuttgart, 1999, , pp. 79–81.
External links
* DBV Seminar zur Burgenforschung 2003/II:
Überlegungen zu Belagerungen und Gegenburgen anhand von Beispielen des südwestdeutschen Sprachraums' (PDF; 3.7 MB)
{{Authority control
Castles by type