A coercion castle () or coercive castle''Sources concerning the hospitallers of St John in the Netherlands: 14th-18th Centuries''
by J.M. Van Winter (ed.), Leiden: Brill, 1998, p. 795 was a heavily fortified,

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

built to dominate the surrounding land. Such castles were built mainly in the High and

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

in order to protect those territories in areas where the population was not assessed as being entirely loyal to the sovereign. Because of the poor infrastructure of medieval Europe, the construction of castles was one of the most important ways of exercising power, which is why it was governed by royal rights (known as

regalia Regalia ( ) is the set of emblems, symbols, or paraphernalia indicative of royal status, as well as rights, prerogatives and privileges enjoyed by a sovereign, regardless of title. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and ...

). Examples of coercive castles are the Moritzburg in Halle, which was built in the late 15th century, and the Alte Burg in

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

Gallery

SchlossMoritzburg1900.jpg, Moritzburg (Halle) Koblenz, vormalige Alte Burg und heutiges Stadtarchiv.jpg, Alte Burg (Koblenz) Zitadelle Petersberg Erfurt Eingang.jpg,

Petersberg Citadel Petersberg Citadel (German: ''Zitadelle Petersberg'') in Erfurt, central Germany, is one of the largest and best-preserved town fortresses in Europe.Stadtverwaltung Erfurt (17 November 2017) ''Petersberg'' Retrieved 23 December 2017 The citadel w ...

(Erfurt) Passau veste oberhaus.jpg, Veste Oberhaus (Passau) Castello 500.JPG, Forte Spagnolo (L’Aquila, Italy) Trieste-Castello di San Giusto-DSCF1463.JPG, Castello di San Giusto (Triest, Italy)

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{{Fortifications Castles by type

Gallery

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