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Vilsegg Castle
Vilsegg Castle () is a former fortification in the Austrian state of Tyrol (Bundesland), Tyrol that stands about a kilometre northwest of the little town of Vils, Tyrol, Vils, between Pfronten and Füssen, a few hundred metres away from the Austro-German border. Location The ruins of the hill castle stand about above the Vils valley on an 887-metre-high rocky mountain on the edge of the Salober Mountains, which run along the border between Germany and Austria. The castle hill drops steeply away on all sides; thus the fortress was very difficult to attack despite its relatively low situation above the valley. Vilsegg lies about lower than its neighbouring castle on the German side of the border – the Falkenstein Castle (Pfronten), Falkenstein. History In 1263, Henry of Vilsegg, a ''Dienstmann'' of the House Hohenegg, lords of Hohenegg, was mentioned as being at the castle. The Hoheneggs were, in turn, vassals (''Lehnsmänner'') of the Bishopric of Kempten (Allgäu), Kem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bergfried
''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Italian: ''torrione''; Castilian: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries and in countries under German influence. Stephen Friar in the ''Sutton Companion to Castles'' describes a bergfried as a "free-standing, fighting-tower".Friar (2003), p 36. Its defensive function is to some extent similar to that of a keep (also known as a ''donjon'') in English or French castles. However, the characteristic difference between a bergfried and a keep is that a bergfried was typically not designed for permanent habitation. Overview The living quarters of a castle with a bergfried are separate, often in a lower tower or an adjacent building called a ''palas'' (an English-style keep combines both functions of habitation and defence.) Consequently, a bergfried could be built as a tall slender tower with little internal room, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loch Castle (Pinswang)
''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or " sea inlet" in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes called a lochan. Lochs which connect to the sea may be called "sea lochs" or "sea loughs". Background This name for a body of water is Insular CelticThe current form has currency in the following languages: Scottish Gaelic, Irish, Manx, and has been borrowed into Lowland Scots, Scottish English, Irish English and Standard English. in origin and is applied to most lakes in Scotland and to many sea inlets in the west and north of Scotland. Many of the loughs in Northern England have also previously been called "meres" (a Northern English dialect word for "lake", and an archaic Standard English word meaning "a lake that is broad in relation to its depth"), similar to the Dutch , such as the ''Black Lough'' in Northumberland. Some lochs in Southern Scotland h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battlement
A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals to allow for the launch of arrows or other projectiles from within the defences. These gaps are termed embrasures, also called crenels or crenelles, and a wall or building with them is described as ; alternative older terms are and . The act of adding crenels to a previously unbroken parapet is termed crenellation. The function of battlements in war is to protect the defenders by giving them part of the parapet to hide behind, from which they can quickly expose themselves to launch projectiles, then retreat behind the parapet. A defensive building might be designed and built with battlements, or a manor house might be fortified by adding battlements, where no parapet previously existed, or cutting crenellations into its existing parape ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enceinte
Enceinte (from Latin ''incinctus'' "girdled, surrounded") is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the position. For a settlement, it would refer to the main town wall with its associated gatehouses, towers, and walls. According to the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', the term was strictly applied to the continuous line of bastions and curtain walls forming "the body of the place", this last expression being often used as synonymous with ''enceinte''. However, the outworks or defensive wall close to the enceinte were not considered as forming part of it. In early 20th-century fortification, the enceinte was usually simply the ''innermost'' continuous line of fortifications. In architecture, generally, an enceinte is the close or precinct of a cathedral, abbey, castle, etc. This definition of the term differs from the more common use of ''en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gate
A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word is derived from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*gatan'', meaning an opening or passageway. Synonyms include yett (which comes from the same root word) and portal (architecture), portal. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall or fence, rather than a Barricade, barrier which closed it. Gates may prevent or control the entry or exit of individuals, or they may be merely decorative. The moving part or parts of a gateway may be considered "Door, doors", as they are fixed at one side whilst opening and closing like one. A gate may have a latch (hardware), latch that can be raised and lowered to both open a gate or prevent it from swinging. Gate operation can be either Electric gate, automated or manual. Locks are also used on gates to increase security. Larger gates can be used for a whole building, such as a castle or fortified town. Doors can also be considered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palas
A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval '' Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson, are "peculiar to German castles". Thanks to 19th-century studies of castles ("castle science"), the term ''palas'' is often used as a generic term used for covered halls in castles; however, the architectural and historical use of the term is restricted by other authors to the Romanesque hall building. Design The stone hall of a ''palas'' has an elongated rectangular floor plan. Frequently, the building has cellars or is provided with a basement. The main floors (usually two, sometimes even more) are well lit by arched windows that are often grouped to form arcades. Rich architectural sculpture is often found here in order to enhance the prestige of the hall. The great hall, located on the first floor, occupies the entire floor are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elevated Entrance
An elevated entrance is a type of entrance, common in the design of medieval castles, that is not accessible from ground level, but lies at the level of an upper storey. The elevated entrance is the lowest and frequently the only way of entering a fortified building or residence. In the case of circular towers, a large opening in the main wall at ground level was a potential weakness and experts on castle design have argued that the elevated entrance served a structural as well as defensive purpose. Elevated entrances were also used in Classical antiquity, Antiquity. For example, the numerous ''Limes (Roman Empire), limes'' watchtowers only had this type of entrance. The elevated entrance in medieval castles The majority of elevated entrances were between five and ten metres above the ground level and facing the courtyard side in order to protect them from shell fire. Several examples were located in rather unsuitable places, however, for example above the outside of a cas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congress Of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte. Participants were representatives of all European powers (other than the Ottoman Empire) and other stakeholders. The Congress was chaired by Austrian Empire, Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich, and was held in Vienna from September 1814 to June 1815. The objective of the Congress was to provide a long-term peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars through negotiation. The goal was not simply to restore old boundaries, but to resize the main powers so they could European balance of power, balance each other and remain at peace, being at the same time shepherds for the smaller powers. More generally, conservative leaders like Metternich also soug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingdom became a federated state of the new empire and was second in size, power, and wealth only to the leading state, the Kingdom of Prussia. The polity's foundation dates back to the ascension of Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach as King of Bavaria in 1806. The crown continued to be held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom came to an end in 1918. Most of the border of modern Germany's Free State of Bavaria was established after 1814 with the Treaty of Paris, in which the Kingdom of Bavaria ceded Tyrol and Vorarlberg to the Austrian Empire while receiving Aschaffenburg and Würzburg. In 1918, Bavaria became a republic after the German Revolution, and the kingdom was thus succeeded by the current Free State of Ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman-German Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. The title was held in conjunction with the title of King of Italy (''Rex Italiae'') from the 8th to the 16th century, and, almost without interruption, with the title of King of Germany (''Rex Teutonicorum'', ) throughout the 12th to 18th centuries. The Holy Roman Emperor title provided the highest prestige among medieval Catholic monarchs, because the empire was considered by the Catholic Church to be the only successor of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Thus, in theory and diplomacy, the emperors were considered first among equalsamong other Catholic monarchs across Europe. From an autocracy in Carolingian times (AD 800–924), the title by the 13th century evolved into an elective monarchy, with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afterlehen
An ''Afterlehen'' or ''Afterlehn'' ''(plural: Afterlehne, Afterlehen)'' is a fief that the liege lord has himself been given as a fief and which he has then, in turn, enfeoffed wholly or partially to a lesser vassal or vassals. The term is German. It is variously referred to in English as a mesne-fiefFahrenkrüger (1801), 2nd Part, p. 26. Retrieved 11 May 201(in German-English)/ref> or mesne-tenure, an arriere-fief or subfief, under-tenure or mesnalty. Within the Holy Roman Empire, these mesne fiefs became inheritable over time and could have up to five "stations" between the actual holder of the fief and the overarching liege lord. by Tilman Schiel (1985). Retrieved 8 Feb 2014. An example of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked below grand dukes and above or below princes, depending on the country or specific title. The title comes from French ''duc'', itself from the Latin language, Latin ''dux'', 'leader', a term used in Roman Republic, republican Rome to refer to a military commander without an official rank (particularly one of Germanic peoples, Germanic or Celts, Celtic origin), and later coming to mean the leading military commander of a province. In most countries, the word ''duchess'' is the female equivalent. Following the reforms of the emperor Diocletian (which separated the civilian and military administrations of the Roman provinces), a ''dux'' became the military commander in each province. The title ''dux'', Hellenised to ''do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
