HOME





Frankenstein Castle, Palatinate
Frankenstein Castle is a medieval fortification on a spur above the village of Frankenstein, Rhineland-Palatinate in the Palatinate Forest in Germany. Its name derives from the local House of Frankenstein. History The name first appeared in a document of 1146 mentioning the free nobleman ( Edelfrei) Helenger of Frankenstein. But the beginning of the castle is assumed to be at an earlier date because the erection of a defensive tower around 1100 is reported in various documents. The tower belonged to nearby Limburg Abbey in charge of security on the road to Speyer, Dürkheim and Worms. In 1205, the monastery commissioned the counts of Leiningen with this task. The counts had the tower expanded to a castle in the beginning of the 13th. century. From 1204 to 1231, documents mention the knights Marquard, Friedrich and Helenger von Frankenstein as administrators in charge of the castle. Around 1390 Frankenstein Castle became a joint heritage castle when Limburg Abbey pledged ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Spur Castle
A spur castle is a type of medieval fortification that is sited on a spur (mountain), spur of a hill or mountain for defensive purposes. Ideally, it would be protected on three sides by steep hillsides; the only vulnerable side being that where the spur joins the hill from which it projects. By contrast, a ridge castle is only protected by steep terrain on two sides. Description A spur castle was one of several types of hill castle. Depending on the local topography, a spur castle may have relied mainly on its inaccessible position or may have integrated further features such as shield walls and towers into the defences. In addition castle builders may have improved the natural defences of the terrain by hewing into them to make the hillsides harder to climb and reduce the risk of landslide. A classic feature is the neck ditch, cutting off the spur from the rest of the hill. A long spur castle is sometimes, but not always, subdivided into a lower ward (fortification), ward and a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

House Of Nassau
The House of Nassau is the name of a European aristocratic dynasty. The name originated with a lordship associated with Nassau Castle, which is located in what is now Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Nassau in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With the fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in the first half of the 13th century, royal power within Franconia evaporated and the former stem duchy fragmented into separate independent states. Nassau emerged as one of those independent states as part of the Holy Roman Empire. The lords of Nassau were originally titled "Counts of Nassau", subject only to the Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor, and then elevated to princely rank as "Princely Counts". Early on, the family divided into two main branches – the elder (Walramian) branch, which gave rise to the German king Adolf, King of the Romans, Adolf, and the younger (Ottonian) branch, which gave rise to the Prince of Orange, Princes of Orange and the King of the Netherlands, monarchs of the Netherlands. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Shield Wall (fortification)
A shield wall, also shield-wall or , refers to the highest and strongest curtain wall, or tower of a castle that defends the only practicable line of approach to a castle built on a mountain, hill or headland. German sources may refer to a shield wall that protects two or more sides as a or , which is variously translated as "mantle-wall", "mantle wall" or "high screen-wall". There is often no clear, definitive distinction between a shield wall and a mantle wall. Occurrence Shield walls are found on many German and Austrian hill castles, but are not common in Great Britain or Ireland where the terrain of the rocky hills on which castles were built did not favour such constructions. However some castles in those areas built on headlands such as Tantallon and Old Head do have a similar feature. Origin and description The construction of shield walls was common in the late 12th century in Germany and Austria and may have been a reaction to the increasing use of heavy siege en ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Electoral Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy Roman Emperor, ranking them among the most significant secular Princes of the Holy Roman Empire. The Palatinate consisted of a number of widely dispersed territories, ranging from the left bank of the Upper Rhine in the modern state of Rhineland-Palatinate, adjacent parts of the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine to the opposite territory on the east bank of the Rhine in present-day Hesse and Baden-Württemberg up to the Odenwald range and the southern Kraichgau region, containing the capital cities of Heidelberg and Mannheim. In 1541, Otto Henry, Elector Palatine converted to Lutheranism, while his Calvinist descendant, Frederick V, sparked the Thirty Years' War in 1618 by accepting the Crown of Bohemia. Occupied until the 1648 Peace o ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

War Of The Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between supporters of the French House of Bourbon, Bourbons and the Austrian House of Habsburg, Habsburgs. Charles had named as his heir Philip V of Spain, Philip of Anjou, a grandson of Louis XIV of France, whose claim was backed by Kingdom of France, France and most of Habsburg Spain, Spain. His Habsburg rival, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke Charles, was supported by the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance, whose primary members included Habsburg monarchy, Austria, the Dutch Republic, and Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain. Significant related conflicts include the Great Northern War (1700–1721) and Queen Anne's War (1702–1713). Although by 1701 Spain was no longer the predominant European power, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ambrosio Spinola
Ambrogio Spinola Doria, 1st Marquess of Los Balbases and 1st Duke of Sesto (1569 – 25 September 1630) was an Italian military leader and nobleman of the Republic of Genoa, who served as a Spanish general and won a number of important battles. He is often called "Ambrosio" by Spanish-speaking people and is considered one of the greatest military commanders of his time and in the history of the Spanish army. His military achievements earned him the title of ''Marquess of Los Balbases'' in the Spanish peerage, as well as the Order of the Golden Fleece and Order of Santiago. Early life Ambrogio Spinola was born in Genoa, the eldest son of Filippo Spinola, Marquis of Sexten and Venafro, and his wife Polissena Grimaldi, daughter of Nicolò prince of Salerno. The family of Spinola was of great antiquity, wealth and power in Genoa. Don Ambrogio's sister Donna Lelia was married to Don Giulio Cesare Squarciafico, 2nd Marquess of Galatone, from whom descend the Princes of Belmonte. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine, or disease, while parts of Germany reported population declines of over 50%. Related conflicts include the Eighty Years' War, the War of the Mantuan Succession, the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659), Franco-Spanish War, the Torstenson War, the Dutch-Portuguese War, and the Portuguese Restoration War. The war had its origins in the 16th-century Reformation, which led to religious conflict within the Holy Roman Empire. The 1555 Peace of Augsburg attempted to resolve this by dividing the Empire into Catholic and Lutheran states, but the settlement was destabilised by the subsequent expansion of Protestantism beyond these boundaries. Combined with differences over the limits of imperial authority, religion was thus an important factor in star ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

German Peasants' War
The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt () was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It was Europe's largest and most widespread popular uprising before the French Revolution of 1789. The revolt failed because of intense opposition from the aristocracy, who slaughtered up to 100,000 of the 300,000 poorly armed peasants and farmers. The survivors were fined and achieved few, if any, of their goals. Like the preceding Bundschuh movement and the Hussite Wars, the war consisted of a series of both economic and religious revolts involving peasants and farmers, sometimes supported by radical clergy like Thomas Müntzer. The fighting was at its height in the middle of 1525. The war began with separate insurrections, beginning in the southwestern part of what is now Germany and Alsace, and spread in subsequent insurrections to the central and eastern areas of Germany and present-day Austria. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death in 1519. He was never crowned by the Pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed himself elected emperor in 1508 at Trent, with Pope Julius II later recognizing it. This broke the tradition of requiring a papal coronation for the adoption of the Imperial title. Maximilian was the only surviving son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Eleanor of Portugal. From his coronation as King of the Romans in 1486, he ran a double government, or ''Doppelregierung'' with his father until Frederick's death in 1493. Maximilian expanded the influence of the House of Habsburg through war and his marriage in 1477 to Mary, Duchess of Burgundy. However, he also lost his family's lands in Switzerland to the Swiss Confederacy. Through the marriage of his son Philip the Handsome to eventual queen Joanna of Castile in 1496, Maxim ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Louis I, Count Palatine Of Zweibrücken
Louis I of Zweibrücken (; 1424 – 19 July 1489) was Count Palatine and Duke of Zweibrücken and Count of Veldenz from 1444 until his death in 1489. Life He was the younger son of Stephen, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken and his wife Anna, heiress of the County of Veldenz, whom he had wed in 1409. Although Anne died in 1439, her widower did not obtain Veldenz from her family until 1444. In that year, Stephen decided how his territories would be divided upon his death, allocating Simmern to his elder son, Frederick and Zweibrucken to his younger son Louis, combining with it Veldenz and most of the County of Sponheim.Michel Huberty, Alain Giraud and F. & B. Magdelaine, ''L'Allemagne Dynastique'', volume 4 (1985), pages 33-40. Family and children He was married on 20 March 1454 in Luxemburg to Johanna of Croÿ, daughter of Count Antoine I de Croÿ and Margaret of Lorraine-Vaudémont. They had the following children: # Margarete (1456–1527), married in 1470 to ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Frederick I, Elector Palatine
Frederick I, the Victorious (''der Siegreiche'') (1 August 1425, Heidelberg – 12 December 1476, Heidelberg) was a Count Palatine of the Rhine and Elector Palatine from the House of Wittelsbach in 1451–1476. Biography He was a son of Louis III, Elector Palatine and his second wife Matilda of Savoy. His maternal grandparents were Amadeus, Prince of Achaea and his wife Catherina of Geneva. He ruled the Electoral Palatinate after the death of his brother Louis IV as regent for his nephew Philip, Elector Palatine. He adopted his nephew in 1451 and refused to marry. From this "Arrogation", he claimed the right to be the legitimate elector. As this action was against imperial law, Emperor Frederick III refused to confirm Frederick's status. However, the emperor did not manage to displace Frederick who was an able strategist and allied with Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria. Frederick was also successful against other opponents such as the emperor's party follower Albrecht III Achil ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Einselthum
Einselthum is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu .... References Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate Donnersbergkreis {{Donnersbergkreis-geo-stub ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]