|
Piltene Castle
Piltene Castle is a Bishopric of Courland castle in the town of Piltene in the historical region of Courland, in western Latvia. Until the 16th century it served as a capital of Bishopric of Courland. History As part of the Northern crusades, the region was awarded the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in 1230 in the first Treaty with Curonian King. Between 1242 and 1247, the region was again subjugated by the Teutonic Order into which the Order of the Sword Brothers had merged after the defeat at the Battle of Saule. The eternal peace was established only in 1267, when master of the order Otto von Lutterberg pacified the region and concluded treaty with the Curonians. At the division of Courland the Order received the area on the left bank of Venta (Windau) river and the diocese of Courland the area on the left bank with Pilten. Bishop Edmund von Werd (1263 to 1299) resided in Memel castle, while Amboten castle served him as a residence in northern Kurland. Castle Amboten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bishopric Of Courland
The Bishopric of Courland ( la, Episcopatus Curoniensis, Low German: ''Bisdom Curland'') was the second smallest (4500 km2) ecclesiastical state in the Livonian Confederation founded in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade. During the Livonian War in 1559 the bishopric became a possession of Denmark, and in 1585 sold by Denmark to Poland–Lithuania. History In ancient times a Baltic tribe, the Curonians, inhabited Courland and had strong links with the maritime tribes in both sides of the Baltic sea. In 1230, Lamekinas, Duke of West Courland, signed an agreement with the vice-legat Baldwin of Alna (''Baudoin d’Aulne'') of the Pope Gregory IX about the voluntary conversion of his people to Christianity and receiving the same rights as the inhabitants of Gotland. In 1234 Dominican friar Engelbert was appointed to be the first bishop of Courland. In 1242 the area of Courland passed under the influence of the Teutonic Knights owing to the amalgamation of this orde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Castles In Latvia
This is the List of castles in Latvia, which includes fortified residences of Western European conquerors built in the area of present-day Latvia before the 17th century. There are about 140 medieval castles in the area, therefore this list is not complete. After the name of the castle comes the year of construction and a short description of its present-day condition. Table of contents Courland Zemgale Vidzeme Latgale See also *List of castles *List of castles in Estonia *List of palaces and manor houses in Estonia *List of palaces and manor houses in Latvia * List of hillforts in Latvia *List of castles in Lithuania Additional information References Sources * * External links Ambermarks - Medieval castles of Latvia - list {{List of castles in Europe * Latvia Cas Lists of castles by country Castles A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ditch (fortification)
In military engineering, a ditch is an obstacle designed to slow down or break up an attacking force, while a trench is intended to provide cover to the defenders. In military fortifications the side of a ditch farthest from the enemy and closest to the next line of defence is known as the scarp while the side of a ditch closest to the enemy is known as the counterscarp. Uses In early fortifications, ditches were often used in combination with ramparts to slow down the enemy whilst defensive fire could be brought to bear from the relative protection afforded by the rampart and possibly the palisade. In medieval fortification, a ditch was often constructed in front of a defensive wall to hinder mining and escalade activities from an attacker. When filled with water, such a defensive ditch is called a moat. However, moats may also be dry. Later star forts designed by military engineers like Vauban, comprised elaborate networks of ditches and parapets, carefully calcula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castle Hasenpoth
Aizpute Castle (german: Ordensburg Hasenpoth) is a Livonian Order castle in the town of Aizpute in the historical region of Courland, in western Latvia. It was heavily damaged during the Second Northern War (1655–1660). Since 1998, the castle ruins are a Latvian historical monument. History The place located on a military road between Kuldiga (german: Goldingen) and Liepaja (german: Libau), was first mentioned as german: Asenputten in papers documenting division of Kurland in 1253 and was at that time probably the site of a Curonian Wallburg. Hasenpoth, former Hanseatic city was the seat of the Order and the seat of the Kurland cathedral chapter. Karl Woldemar von Löwis of MenarBurgenlexikon für Alt-Livland. Mit 24 Plänen und 56 Ansichten. I. Teil. Diehölzernen Wallburgen der Urzeit 11. Teil. Die Steinburgen des Mittelalters. Anhang. Bürgen un Städte als Münzstätten in Alt-Livlanand. Zusammen gestellt von Karl von Löwis of Menar. Dr. phil. und Privat dozent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch in real union, who was both King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. It was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th- to 17th-century Europe. At its largest territorial extent, in the early 17th century, the Commonwealth covered almost and as of 1618 sustained a multi-ethnic population of almost 12 million. Polish and Latin were the two co-official languages. The Commonwealth was established by the Union of Lublin in July 1569, but the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had been in a ''de facto'' personal union since 1386 with the marriage of the Polish queen Jadwiga (Hedwig) and Lithuania's Grand Duke Jogaila, who was crowned King '' jure uxoris'' Władysław ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Frederick, Margrave Of Brandenburg-Ansbach
George Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach (german: Georg Friedrich der Ältere; 5 April 1539 in Ansbach – 25 April 1603) was Margrave of Ansbach and Bayreuth, as well as Regent of Prussia. He was the son of George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and a member of the House of Hohenzollern. He married firstly, in 1559, Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin (29 August 1540 – 8 March 1578). He married secondly, in 1579, Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (30 October 1563 – 1639), daughter of William of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Dorothea of Denmark. George Frederick reigned in his native Ansbach, Franconia and Jägerndorf, Upper Silesia since 1556 and, after the death of his cousin Albert Alcibiades in 1557, also in Kulmbach. He took over the administration of the Duchy of Prussia in 1577, when the then-reigning Duke Albert Frederick became ill. He was the last of the old Franconia line of the House of Hohenzollern. Upon his death Ansbach and Kulmbach were inherited by younger princes o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neuhausen (Valtaiki)
Bandava (in Latvian and Lithuanian; la, Bandowe) - and old Curonian land which existed in the territory of the Latvia during the late Iron Age until it was conquered and divided in 1253 by Bishopric of Courland and Livonian Order. History It is first mentioned in the biography of Bishop Ansgar ("Vita Anskarii") written by Bishop Rimbert of Bremen (lived before 888 AD). It is also mentioned in the January 17, 1231 treaty between the Baldwin von Alna and Curonians. In the April 4, 1253 treaty it was split between Bishop of Courland and Order of Livonia. Geography The country was located between Ventava, , Piemare, and the Baltic Sea on the present territory of Ventspils district and Kuldīga district in Latvia with the administrative center near the modern-day Kuldīga. It included some of the following villages (''villae''): , , Vepele, Libiņi, Skrunda, Jērnieki, , Alsunga, Arsene, Asene, Ursuļi, Urāle, Ardone, Pakare, Nikte, Šķēde, , , , , , Tigve, Karitan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederick II Of Denmark
Frederick II (1 July 1534 – 4 April 1588) was King of Denmark-Norway, Denmark and Norway and Duke of Duchy of Schleswig, Schleswig and Duchy of Holstein, Holstein from 1559 until his death. A member of the House of Oldenburg, Frederick began his personal rule of Denmark-Norway at the age of 24. He inherited a capable and strong kingdom, formed in large by Christian III of Denmark, his father after the civil war known as the Count's Feud, after which Denmark saw a period of economic recovery and of a great increase in the Centralisation, centralised authority of the Crown. Frederick was, especially in his youth and unlike his father, belligerent and adversarial, aroused by honor and national pride, and so he began his reign auspiciously with a campaign under the aged Johan Rantzau, which reconquered Dithmarschen. However, after miscalculating the cost of the Northern Seven Years' War, he pursued a more prudent foreign policy. The remainder of Frederick II's reign was a peri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gotthard Kettler
Gotthard Kettler, Duke of Courland (also ''Godert'', ''Ketteler'', german: Gotthard Kettler, Herzog von Kurland; 2 February 1517 – 17 May 1587) was the last Master of the Livonian Order and the first Duke of Courland and Semigallia. Biography Kettler was born near Anröchte, Kreis Soest, of an old Westphalian noble family and the ninth child of the German knight Gotthard Kettler zu Melrich (mentioned 1527–1556) and his wife Sophie of Nesselrode. Gotthard's older brother Wilhelm Kettler was bishop of Münster from 1553 to 1557. Kettler enlisted in the Livonian order around 1537 and became a knight. In 1554 Gotthard Kettler became Komtur of Dünaburg (Daugavpils), and in 1557 Komtur of Fellin (Viljandi). In 1559, during the Livonian War (1558–1582) he succeeded Wilhelm von Fürstenberg as a Master of the Teutonic Order in Livonia. When the Livonian Confederation came under increasing pressure from Ivan IV of Russia, Kettler converted to Lutheranism and secularised Semig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivan IV (Russia)
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan was the son of Vasili III, the Rurikid ruler of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. He was appointed grand prince after his father's death, when he was three years old. A group of reformers known as the "Chosen Council" united around the young Ivan, declaring him tsar (emperor) of all Rus' in 1547 at the age of 16 and establishing the Tsardom of Russia with Moscow as the predominant state. Ivan's reign was characterised by Russia's transformation from a medieval state to an empire under the tsar but at an immense cost to its people and its broader, long-term economy. During his youth, he conquered the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan. After he had consolidated his power, Ivan rid himself of the advisers from the "Chosen Council" and triggered the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
