1.
Princes of the Holy Roman Empire
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Prince of the Holy Roman Empire was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Originally, possessors of the title bore it as immediate vassals of the Empire, secular or ecclesiastical. However, by the time the Holy Roman Empire was abolished in 1806, the first came to be reckoned as royalty in the sense of being treated as sovereigns, entitled to inter-marry with reigning dynasties. The second tier consisted of high-ranking nobles whose princely title did not, however, the actual titles used by Imperial princes varied considerably for historical reasons, and included archdukes, dukes, margraves, landgraves, counts palatine, princely counts, as well as princes. The estate of princes or Reichsfürstenstand was first established in a legal sense in the Late Middle Ages. Not all states met all three requirements, so one may distinguish between effective and honorary princes of the Holy Roman Empire, from the 13th century onwards, further estates were formally raised to the princely status by the emperor. The resolutions of the Diet of Augsburg in 1582 explicitly stated that the status was linked with the possession of a particular Imperial territory. Most of the Counts who ruled territories were raised to Princely rank in the decades before the end of the Empire in 1806, ecclesiastical Princes were the Prince-Bishops as well as the actual Prince-abbots. They comprised a number of entities which were secularized and mediatized after the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. The honorary status of prince of the Holy Roman Empire might be granted to certain individuals, sovereigns outside the Empire, such as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The Prince of Piombino was another example, nobles allowed to bear the princely title, but who had neither a vote nor a seat in the Imperial Diet, individual or shared, such as the House of Kinsky. This included nobles who lacked immediacy, but who were allowed, motu proprio, by the Emperor to enjoy the title, although this courtesy tended to become hereditary for families, the right to princely status was called Personalist and could be revoked by the Emperor. List of states in the Holy Roman Empire List of Imperial Diet participants German mediatization Structure of Princes of The Holy Roman Empire
2.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
3.
Early modern period
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The early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages of the post-classical era. Historians in recent decades have argued that from a worldwide standpoint, the period witnessed the exploration and colonization of the Americas and the rise of sustained contacts between previously isolated parts of the globe. The historical powers became involved in trade, as the exchange of goods, plants, animals, and food crops extended to the Old World. The Columbian Exchange greatly affected the human environment, New economies and institutions emerged, becoming more sophisticated and globally articulated over the course of the early modern period. This process began in the medieval North Italian city-states, particularly Genoa, Venice, the early modern period also included the rise of the dominance of the economic theory of mercantilism. The European colonization of the Americas, Asia, and Africa occurred during the 15th to 19th centuries, the early modern trends in various regions of the world represented a shift away from medieval modes of organization, politically and economically. Historians typically date the end of the modern period when the French Revolution of the 1790s began the modern period. Early modern themes Other In 16th century China, the Ming Dynastys economy was stimulated by trade with the Portuguese, Spanish. China became involved in a new trade of goods, plants, animals. Trade with Early Modern Europe and Japan brought in massive amounts of silver, during the last decades of the Ming the flow of silver into China was greatly diminished, thereby undermining state revenues and the entire Chinese economy. This damage to the economy was compounded by the effects on agriculture of the incipient Little Ice Age, natural calamities, crop failure, the ensuing breakdown of authority and peoples livelihoods allowed rebel leaders such as Li Zicheng to challenge Ming authority. The Ming Dynasty fell around 1644 to the Qing Dynasty, which was the last ruling dynasty of China, during its reign, the Qing Dynasty became highly integrated with Chinese culture. The Azuchi-Momoyama period saw the unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. The Edo period from 1600 to 1868 characterized early modern Japan, the Tokugawa shogunate was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period gets its name from the city, Edo. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle from 1603 until 1868, in 1392, General Yi Seong-gye established the Joseon Dynasty with a largely bloodless coup. Joseon experienced advances in science and culture, King Sejong the Great promulgated hangul, the Korean alphabet. The period saw various other cultural and technological advances as well as the dominance of neo-Confucianism over the entirety of Korea, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, invasions by the neighboring Japanese and Qing Chinese nearly overran the Korean peninsula
4.
Lower Saxon Circle
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The Lower Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. An unusual aspect of this circle was that, at various times, the first plans for a Lower Saxon Circle originate from Albert II of Germany in 1438. An Imperial Saxon Circle was formally created in 1500, but in 1512 it was divided into an Upper Saxon, the division was only codified in 1522, and it took a while before the separation was completely implemented by the Imperial Chamber Court. Furthermore, the first mention of an Upper Saxon Circle, a Lower Saxon Circle or the Netherlands occurred much later on, the term Lower Saxony was first used only in 1548. For the most part it was a territory with the exception of small enclaves like Halle. Nordhausen and Mühlhausen were also areas outside the portion of the imperial circle. Within the circle was the Archbishopric of Verden, which was in union with the Archbishopric of Bremen since 1502. The Counties of Schaumburg and Spiegelberg were also part of the personal union, by the downfall of the Holy Roman Empire, the circle was 1240 square miles large, with 2120000 inhabitants. With respect to religion, almost all the citizens were Protestant, the exception was the partially Catholic Bishopric of Hildesheim. A large part of the circle was made up of territories ruled by the House of Welf, with the Protestant Reformation the newly converted Archbishopric of Magdeburg was ruled from 1513 by administrators from the Brandenburg line of the House of Hohenzollern. Also, in 1648 the Bishopric of Halberstadt was given to the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the Archbishopric of Bremen, after the Reformation, was ruled by Danes and Swedes, and after 1715 by the House of Welf. Through the Duchy of Oldenburg, the king of Denmark became a prince of the imperial circle. Also as a result of their possessions in the circles, the kings of Prussia, Sweden, and Great Britain. Out of the empire, the Lower Saxon Circle was ruled the most by foreign kings. Regardless of this, the House of Welfs strong position with the Lower Saxon Circle prevented the dukes of Mecklenburg and the kings of Denmark from completely dominating. The circle was made up of the states, The list of states making up the Lower Saxon Circle is based on that in the German Wikipedia article Niedersächsischer Reichskreis. Imperial Circles in the 16th Century – Historical Maps of Germany
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Duchy of Brunswick
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The Duchy of Brunswick was a historical German state. Its capital was the city of Brunswick and it was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. In the course of the 19th-century history of Germany, the duchy was part of the German Confederation and it was disestablished after the end of World War I, its territory incorporated into the Weimar Republic as the Free State of Brunswick. The title Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg was held, from 1235 on and these holdings did not have all of the formal characteristics of a modern unitary state, being neither compact nor indivisible. The unifying element of all territories was that they were ruled by male-line descendants of Duke Otto I. After several early divisions, Brunswick-Lüneburg re-unified under Duke Magnus II, following his death, his three sons jointly ruled the Duchy. After the murder of their brother Frederick I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, brothers Bernard and Henry redivided the land, received the southern half of Brunswick-Lüneburg as Prince of Wolfenbüttel while his brother John became Prince of Lüneburg. Wolfenbüttel fell to his brother Albert II, Otto the Mild 1318–1344, son of Albert II, was Prince of Wolfenbüttel and Prince of Göttingen. After his death his son Ernest became Prince of Göttingen 1344–1367, Magnus the Pious became Prince of Wolfenbüttel 1344–1369. Magnus son Magnus II with the Necklace, Prince of Wolfenbüttel 1369–1373, the War of the Lüneburg Succession continued until 1388. Frederick 1373–1400, son of Magnus II, conquered Lüneburg in 1388, succeeded by his brothers, Henry the Mild, 1400–1408 Bernard, 1409–1428. Returned control of Wolfenbüttel to his nephew, Henrys son, was deprived by his brother, Henry the Peaceful 1432–1473, moved the residence to Wolfenbüttel. William regained control of Wolfenbüttel after his brothers death, and left the Principality to his two sons, Frederick III 1482–1484, imprisoned and deprived of power by his younger brother, William IV 1484–1491. Took control of all of Wolfenbüttel, then ceded Wolfenbüttel to his sons, co-rulers, sons of William IV, Eric I 1491–1494. Divided the territory in 1494, taking Calenberg, sole ruler in Wolfenbüttel from 1494. Acquired Calenberg in 1584 on the death of his cousin Eric II, last of the male descendants of Albert the Tall. On Frederick Ulrichs death, his complex of territories passed to a line of distant cousins ruling in Lüneburg, Wolfenbüttel was eventually awarded to Augustus, son of Henry of Dannenberg. Augustus 1635–1666 Augustuss sons succeeded him, sometimes ruling together, Rudolph Augustus 1666–1704 Anthony Ulrich 1685–1702, deposed 1702–1704 for allying with France in the War of the Spanish Succession
6.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
7.
House of Welf
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The House of Welf was a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The House of Welf is the branch of the House of Este. The first member was Welf IV, he inherited the property of the Elder House of Welf when his maternal uncle Welf III, Duke of Carinthia and Verona, the last male Welf of the Elder House, died in 1055. Welf IV was the son of Welf IIIs sister Kunigunde of Altdorf and her husband Albert Azzo II of Este, in 1070, Welf IV became duke of Bavaria. Since the Welf dynasty sided with the Pope in this controversy, Henry the Black, duke of Bavaria from 1120–1126, was the first of the three dukes of the Welf dynasty called Henry. His wife Wulfhild was the heiress of the house of Billung, possessing the territory around Lüneburg in Lower Saxony and their son, Henry the Proud was the son-in-law and heir of Emperor Lothair of Supplinburg and became also duke of Saxony on Lothairs death. Lothair left his territory around Brunswick, inherited from his mother of the Brunonen family and her husband Henry the Proud became then the favoured candidate in the imperial election against Conrad III of the Hohenstaufen. But Henry lost the election, as the other princes feared his power and temperament, Henry the Lion recovered his fathers two duchies, Saxony in 1142, Bavaria in 1156 and thus ruled vast parts of Germany. In 1168 he married Matilda, the daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and sister of Richard Lionheart, gaining ever more influence. His first cousin, Emperor Frederick I of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, tried to get along with him, Henry made his peace with the Hohenstaufen Emperor in 1185, and returned to his much diminished lands around Brunswick without recovering his two duchies. Bavaria had been given to Otto I Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria, Henry died at Brunswick in 1195. Henrys son Otto of Brunswick was elected King of the Romans and he incurred the wrath of Pope Innocent III and was excommunicated in 1215. Otto was forced to abdicate the throne by the Hohenstaufen Frederick II. He was the only Welf to become emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Henry the Lions grandson Otto the Child became duke of a part of Saxony in 1235, the new Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and died there in 1252. The subsequent history of the dukedom and its subordinate principalities was characterized by divisions and reunifications. The subordinate states that were created, and which had the legal status of principalities within the duchy were generally named after the residences of their rulers. The estates of the different dynastic lines could be inherited by a line when a family died out. The individual subordinate principalities continued to exist until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, following the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15, the territories became part of the Kingdom of Hanover and the Duchy of Brunswick
8.
Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
9.
Congress of Vienna
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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. The goal was not simply to restore old boundaries but to resize the main powers so they could balance each other off, the leaders were conservatives with little use for republicanism or revolution, both of which threatened to upset the status quo in Europe. France lost all its recent conquests, while Prussia, Austria and Russia made major territorial gains, Prussia added smaller German states in the west, Swedish Pomerania and 60% of the Kingdom of Saxony, Austria gained Venice and much of northern Italy. The new Kingdom of the Netherlands had been created just months before, the immediate background was Napoleonic Frances defeat and surrender in May 1814, which brought an end to twenty-five years of nearly continuous war. Negotiations continued despite the outbreak of fighting triggered by Napoleons dramatic return from exile, the Congresss Final Act was signed nine days before his final defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815. However, others praise it for having created relatively long-term stable, the Congress of Vienna settlement, despite later changes, formed the framework for European international politics until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The Treaty of Chaumont in 1814 had reaffirmed decisions that had made already. The Treaty of Chaumont became the cornerstone of the European Alliance which formed the balance of power for decades, other partial settlements had already occurred at the Treaty of Paris between France and the Sixth Coalition, and the Treaty of Kiel which covered issues raised regarding Scandinavia. The Treaty of Paris had determined that a general congress should be held in Vienna, the opening was scheduled for July 1814. The Four Great Powers had previously formed the core of the Sixth Coalition, as the Congresss sessions were in Vienna, Emperor Francis was kept closely informed. Great Britain was represented first by its Foreign Secretary, Viscount Castlereagh, then by the Duke of Wellington, in the last weeks it was headed by the Earl of Clancarty, after Wellington left to face Napoleon during the Hundred Days. Tsar Alexander I controlled the Russian delegation which was led by the foreign minister. The tsar had two goals, to gain control of Poland and to promote the peaceful coexistence of European nations. He succeeded in forming the Holy Alliance, based on monarchism and anti-secularism, Prussia was represented by Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, the Chancellor, and the diplomat and scholar Wilhelm von Humboldt. King Frederick William III of Prussia was also in Vienna, playing his role behind the scenes, France, the fifth power, was represented by its foreign minister, Talleyrand as well as the Minister Plenipotentiary the Duke of Dalberg. Talleyrand had already negotiated the Treaty of Paris for Louis XVIII of France, Sweden – Count Carl Löwenhielm Denmark – Count Niels Rosenkrantz, foreign minister. King Frederick VI was also present in Vienna, the Netherlands – Earl of Clancarty, the British Ambassador at the Dutch court, and Baron Hans von Gagern Switzerland – Every canton had its own delegation. Charles Pictet de Rochemont from Geneva played a prominent role, mecklenburg-Schwerin – Leopold von Plessen Virtually every state in Europe had a delegation in Vienna – more than 200 states and princely houses were represented at the Congress
10.
Henry the Lion
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Henry the Lion was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, the duchies of which he held until 1180. At the height of his reign, Henry ruled over a vast territory stretching from the coast of the North and Baltic Seas to the Alps, Henry achieved this great power in part by his political and military acumen and in part through the legacies of his four grandparents. Born in Ravensburg, in 1129 or 1131, he was the son of Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, who was the son of Duke Henry the Black, Henrys father died in 1139, aged 32, when Henry was still a child. King Conrad III had dispossessed Henry the Proud of his duchies in 1138 and 1139, handing Saxony to Albert the Bear and this was because Henry the Proud had been his rival for the crown in 1138. Henry III, however, did not relinquish his claims to his inheritance, a participant in the 1147 Wendish Crusade, Henry also reacquired Bavaria by a decision of the new Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1156. However, the East Mark was not returned, which became Austria, Henry is the founder of Munich and Lübeck, he also founded and developed numerous other cities in Northern Germany and Bavaria, a. o. Augsburg, Hildesheim, Stade, Kassel, Güstrow, Lüneburg, Salzwedel, Schwerin, in Brunswick, his capital, he had a bronze lion, his heraldic animal, erected in the yard of his castle Dankwarderode in 1166 — the first bronze statue north of the Alps. Later, he had Brunswick Cathedral built close to the statue, in 1147, Henry married Clementia of Zähringen, thereby gaining her hereditary territories in Swabia. In 1165, Henry married Matilda, the daughter of King Henry II of England and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, during Fredericks first invasion of northern Italy, Henry took part, among the others, in the victorious sieges of Crema and Milan. In 1172, Henry had taken a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, meeting with the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller, spending Easter of that year in Constantinople. By December 1172, he was back in Bavaria and in 1174 and he did not consider these Italian adventures worth the effort, unless Barbarossa presented Henry with the Saxon imperial city Goslar, a request Barbarossa refused. Barbarossas expedition into Lombardy ultimately ended in failure and he bitterly resented Henry for failing to support him. Declaring that Imperial law overruled traditional German law, the court had Henry stripped of his lands, Frederick then invaded Saxony with an Imperial army to bring his cousin to his knees. Henrys allies deserted him, and he finally had to submit in November 1181 at a Reichstag in Erfurt and he was exiled from Germany in 1182 for three years, stayed with his father-in-law, in Normandy before being allowed back into Germany in 1185. He was exiled again in 1188 and his wife Matilda died in 1189. When Frederick Barbarossa went on the Crusade of 1189, Henry returned to Saxony, mobilized an army of his faithful, only the churches were left standing. Henry the Lion remains a figure to this day. During World War I a nail man depicting Henry the Lion, nazi propaganda later declared Henry an antecessor of the Nazis Lebensraum policy and turned Brunswick Cathedral and Henrys tomb into a National Place of Consecration
11.
Lower Saxony
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Lower Saxony is a German state situated in northwestern Germany and is second in area, with 47,624 square kilometres, and fourth in population among the sixteen Länder of Germany. In rural areas Northern Low Saxon, a dialect of Low German, and Saterland Frisian, a variety of Frisian, are still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining. Lower Saxony borders on the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen, the other, its city of Bremerhaven. In fact, Lower Saxony borders more neighbours than any other single Bundesland, the states principal cities include the state capital Hanover, Braunschweig, Lüneburg, Osnabrück, Oldenburg, Hildesheim, Wolfenbüttel, Wolfsburg and Göttingen. The northwestern area of Lower Saxony, which lies on the coast of the North Sea, is called East Frisia, in the extreme west of Lower Saxony is the Emsland, a traditionally poor and sparsely populated area, once dominated by inaccessible swamps. The northern half of Lower Saxony, also known as the North German Plains, is almost invariably flat except for the hills around the Bremen geestland. Towards the south and southwest lie the northern parts of the German Central Uplands, the Weser Uplands, between these two lie the Lower Saxon Hills, a range of low ridges. Thus, Lower Saxony is the only Bundesland that encompasses both maritime and mountainous areas, Lower Saxonys major cities and economic centres are mainly situated in its central and southern parts, namely Hanover, Braunschweig, Osnabrück, Wolfsburg, Salzgitter, Hildesheim and Göttingen. Oldenburg, near the coastline, is another economic centre. To the north, the Elbe river separates Lower Saxony from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the banks just south of the Elbe are known as Altes Land. Due to its local climate and fertile soil, it is the states largest area of fruit farming. Most of the territory was part of the historic Kingdom of Hanover. It was created by the merger of the State of Hanover with several states in 1946. Lower Saxony has a boundary in the north in the North Sea. The state and city of Bremen is an enclave surrounded by Lower Saxony. The Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region is a body for the enclave area. To the southeast the state border runs through the Harz, low mountains that are part of the German Central Uplands, in northeast Lower Saxony is Lüneburg Heath
12.
Saxony-Anhalt
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Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked federal state of Germany surrounded by the federal states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia. Its capital is Magdeburg and its largest city is Halle, Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of 20,447.7 square kilometres and has a population of 2.34 million. Saxony-Anhalt should not be confused with Saxony or Lower Saxony, also German states, Saxony-Anhalt is one of 16 Bundesländer of Germany. It is located in the part of eastern Germany. By size, it is the 8th largest state in Germany and it borders four fellow Bundesländer, Lower Saxony to the north-west, Brandenburg to the north-east, Saxony to the south-east, and Thuringia to the south-west. In the north, the Saxony-Anhalt landscape is dominated by plain, the old Hanseatic towns Salzwedel, Gardelegen, Stendal, and Tangermünde are located in the sparsely populated Altmark. The Colbitz-Letzlingen Heath and the Drömling near Wolfsburg mark the transition between the Altmark region and the Elbe-Börde-Heath region with its fertile, sparsely wooded Magdeburg Börde. Notable towns in the Magdeburg Börde are Haldensleben, Oschersleben, Wanzleben, Schönebeck, Aschersleben, the Harz mountains are located in the south-west, comprising the Harz National Park, the Harz Foreland and Mansfeld Land. The highest mountain of the Harz is Brocken, with an elevation of 1,141 meters, in this area, one can find the towns of Halberstadt, Wernigerode, Thale, Eisleben and Quedlinburg. The wine-growing area Saale-Unstrut and the towns of Zeitz, Naumburg, Weißenfels, the metropolitan area of Halle forms an agglomeration with Leipzig in Saxony. This area is known for its highly developed industry, with major production plants at Leuna, Schkopau. Finally, in the east, Dessau-Roßlau and Wittenberg are situated on the Elbe in the Anhalt-Wittenberg region, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt is Magdeburg. It is the second-largest city in the state, closely after Halle, from 1994 to 2003, the state was divided into three regions, Dessau, Halle and Magdeburg, and, below the regional level,21 districts. Since 2004, however, this system has replaced by 11 rural districts. In April 1945 the US Army took control of most of the western and northern area of the future Saxony-Anhalt, group Control Council, Germany appointed the first non-Nazi officials in leading positions in the area. So Erhard Hübener, furloughed by the Nazis, was reappointed Landeshauptmann. By early July the US Army withdrew from the former Prussian Province of Saxony to make way for the Red Army to take it as part of the Soviet occupation zone, the previously Saxon Erfurt governorate had become a part of Thuringia. For the earlier history see the articles of these entities before 1945
13.
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
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Frederick II was a Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily in the Middle Ages, a member of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, however, his enemies, especially the popes, prevailed, and his dynasty collapsed soon after his death. As such, he was King of Germany, of Italy, at the age of three, he was crowned King of Sicily as a co-ruler with his mother, Constance of Hauteville, the daughter of Roger II of Sicily. His other royal title was King of Jerusalem by virtue of marriage, Pope Gregory IX went so far as to call him an Antichrist. Speaking six languages, Frederick was a patron of science. He played a role in promoting literature through the Sicilian School of poetry. His Sicilian royal court in Palermo, from around 1220 to his death, saw the first use of a form of an Italo-Romance language. The poetry that emanated from the school had a significant influence on literature and he was also the first king who explicitly outlawed trials by ordeal as they were considered irrational. After his death, his line died out and the House of Hohenstaufen came to an end. Born in Iesi, near Ancona, Italy, Frederick was the son of the emperor Henry VI and he was known as the puer Apuliae. Some chronicles say that his mother, the forty-year-old Constance, gave birth to him in a square in order to forestall any doubt about his origin. In 1196 at Frankfurt am Main the infant Frederick was elected King of the Germans and his rights in Germany were disputed by Henrys brother Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick. At the death of his father in 1197, Frederick was in Italy travelling towards Germany when the bad news reached his guardian, Conrad of Spoleto. Frederick was hastily brought back to his mother Constance in Palermo, Sicily, Constance of Sicily was in her own right queen of Sicily, and she established herself as regent. Upon Constances death in 1198, Pope Innocent III succeeded as Fredericks guardian, Fredericks tutor during this period was Cencio, who would become Pope Honorius III. However, Markward of Annweiler, with the support of Henrys brother, Philip of Swabia, reclaimed the regency for himself, in 1200, with the help of Genoese ships, he landed in Sicily and one year later seized the young Frederick. He thus ruled Sicily until 1202, when he was succeeded by another German captain, William of Capparone, Frederick was subsequently under tutor Walter of Palearia, until, in 1208, he was declared of age. His first task was to reassert his power over Sicily and southern Italy, Otto of Brunswick had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Innocent III in 1209
14.
Enfeoffment
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In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was used to avoid restrictions on the passage of title in land by a system in which a landowner would give land to one person for the use of another. The common law of estates in land grew from this concept, in English law, feoffment was a transfer of land or property that gave the new holder the right to sell it as well as the right to pass it on to his heirs as an inheritance. It was total relinquishment and transfer of all rights of ownership of an estate in land from one individual to another, enfeoffment could be made of fees of various feudal tenures, such as fee-tail or fee-simple. Written conveyances were customary and mandatory after 1677, the feoffee was thenceforward said to hold his property of or from the feoffor, in return for a specified service depending on the exact form of feudal land tenure involved in the feoffment. The establishment of a national Land Registry has obviated the need for recitals of descent, feoffee Fief Fiefdom Subinfeudation Chestofbooks Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Feoffment
15.
Braunschweig
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Braunschweig, also called Brunswick in English, is a city of 252,768 people, in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the furthest navigable point of the Oker river, today, Braunschweig is the second largest city in Lower Saxony and a major centre of scientific research and development. The date and circumstances of the foundation are unknown. The towns original name of Brunswik is a combination of the name Bruno and Low German wik, the towns name therefore indicates an ideal resting-place, as it lay by a ford across the Oker River. Another explanation of the name is that it comes from Brand. The city was first mentioned in documents from the St. Magni Church from 1031, up to the 12th century, Braunschweig was ruled by the Saxon noble family of the Brunonids, then, through marriage, it fell to the House of Welf. In 1142 Henry the Lion of the House of Welf became duke of Saxony and he turned Dankwarderode Castle, the residence of the counts of Brunswick, into his own Pfalz and developed the city further to represent his authority. Under Henrys rule the Cathedral of St. Blasius was built and he also had the statue of a lion, his heraldic animal, the lion subsequently became the citys landmark. Henry the Lion became so powerful that he dared to refuse military aid to the emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, Henry went into exile in England. He had previously established ties to the English crown in 1168, through his marriage to King Henry II of Englands daughter Matilda, however, his son Otto, who could regain influence and was eventually crowned Holy Roman Emperor, continued to foster the citys development. By the year 1600, Braunschweig was the seventh largest city in Germany, the Princes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel didnt regain control over the city until the late 17th century, when Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, took the city by siege. In the 18th century Braunschweig was not only a political, influenced by the philosophy of the Enlightenment, dukes like Anthony Ulrich and Charles I became patrons of the arts and sciences. In 1745 Charles I founded the Collegium Carolinum, predecessor of the Braunschweig University of Technology, with this he attracted poets and thinkers such as Lessing, Leisewitz, and Jakob Mauvillon to his court and the city. Emilia Galotti by Lessing and Goethes Faust were performed for the first time in Braunschweig, in 1806, the city was captured by the French during the Napoleonic Wars and became part of the short-lived Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807. The exiled duke Frederick William raised a corps, the Black Brunswickers. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Braunschweig was made capital of the reestablished independent Duchy of Brunswick, in the aftermath of the July Revolution in 1830, in Brunswick duke Charles II was forced to abdicate. His absolutist governing style had alienated the nobility and bourgeoisie. During the night of 7–8 September 1830, the palace in Braunschweig was stormed by an angry mob, set on fire
16.
Principality of Grubenhagen
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The Principality of Grubenhagen was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, ruled by the Grubenhagen line of the House of Welf from 1291. It is also known as Brunswick-Grubenhagen, the principality fell to the Brunswick Principality of Lüneburg in 1617, from 1665 the territory was ruled by the Calenberg branch of the Welf dynasty. The principality was located on the edge of the Harz mountain range in present-day South Lower Saxony. The dominion also comprised the eastern exclave of Elbingerode, today part of Saxony-Anhalt, Grubenhagen was split off from the Brunswick Principality of Wolfenbüttel in 1291, when the sons of late Duke Albert the Tall finally divided their heritage. Its first ruler was Duke Henry the Admirable, the ongoing fragmentation weakened the position of the Grubenhagen branch regarding estate distributions involving their Wolfenbüttel, Lüneburg and Calenberg cousins. The Principality of Grubenhagen was finally reunited in 1526 under the rule of the Brunswick duke Philip I, however, in 1596 the Grubenhagen branch became extinct upon the death of his son Philip II. With the Principality of Lüneburg, the Grubenhagen territory was inherited by Duke Christian Louis, Prince of Calenberg. After his death in 1665 Grubenhagen ceased to exist as an independent principality, formally, it remained a state of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806. A Calenberg-Grubenhagen Landschaft still exists today, Henry IV, son of Henry III 1479-1526 Philip I, son of Albert II 1486-1551 Grubenhagen re-united in 1526. Ernest III, son of Philip I 1551-1567 Wolfgang, brother 1567-1595 Philip II, brother 1595-1596 Map of Lower Saxony 1789
17.
Principality of Calenberg
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When Duke Eric I of Brunswick-Lüneburg chose the Principality of Calenberg as his part of the inheritance in 1495, he described it as the land between the River Leine and the Deister. This geographical description, however, was never totally correct, in fact, the Principality extended west of the Leine from Schulenburg as far as Neustadt am Rübenberge in the north and thus much further north than the foothills of the Deister. To the south-west the territory stretched as far as Hamelin on the Weser, the city of Hanover was largely independent of Welf territorial lordship, even though it was not formally a free imperial city. Not until George of Calenberg, who had been a general in the Thirty Years War. Because of the link that had existed since 1463 between the principalities of Calenberg and Göttingen, the latter was sometimes referred to as Calenberg. Today the term Calenberg Land is usually used for the region between Hanover and the Deister. Originally the territory belonged to the Duchy of Saxony but in 1180, after the ban had been imposed on the Welf prince, Henry the Lion, he lost his ducal lands in Saxony. In the region west of Hanover, the Welfs had but few allodial possessions and it was largely ruled by comital dynasties, such as the counts of Wölpe in the northwest, the counts of Hallermund in the southwest and the counts of Rhoden in the west and in Hanover. In 1292 Duke Otto the Strict from the Lüneburg line of the Welfs subjugated the region, earlier, he had yielded to the Bishop of Hildesheim and accepted the city of Hanover as his fief. Administratively, this area was still called the Vogtei of Lauenrode, after Lauenrode Castle on the outskirts of Hanover, from where. With the extinction of the Lüneburg line of the Welfs, the Lüneburg War of Succession, broke out during which Lauenrode Castle was stormed by the citizens of Hanover, the Vogtei was then moved to Calenberg Castle. The Welf dukes did not inherit their land by primogeniture and this resulted in the late Middle Ages in numerous Welf estates, in 1400 the Vogtei of Calenberg went to the Wolfenbüttel line of the Welfs. In 1408 and 1409 they were able to purchase the county of Everstein and these were added to the Vogtei of Calenberg. While Henry was given the territory of Lüneburg, William was compensated with the newly created Principality of Calenberg, at that time, the lordship given to William had no name. William spent most of his time at Calenberg Castle from where he administered the territory, as a result, it is probable that the name of the Principality of Calenberg emerged during this time. William succeeded in 1442 and finally in 1463 in taking over the Principality of Göttingen, although unification with Calenberg initially came about purely by chance, it lasted nonetheless. After the death of William I in 1482 both sons shared the regency, in an agreement dated 1 August 1483, however, they split the rights of use. The younger son, Frederick the Restless, was awarded the rights of use over Calenberg and Göttingen, William deposed his brother Frederick in 1484/85 and declared him insane
18.
Hartmann Schedel
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Hartmann Schedel was a German physician, humanist, historian, and one of the first cartographers to use the printing press. He was born and died in Nuremberg, matheolus Perusinus served as his tutor. Schedel is best known for his writing the text for the Nuremberg Chronicle, known as Schedelsche Weltchronik and it was commissioned by Sebald Schreyer and Sebastian Kammermeister. Maps in the Chronicle were the first ever illustrations of many cities and countries, with the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1447, it became feasible to print books and maps for a larger customer basis. Because they had to be handwritten, books were previously rare, Schedel was also a notable collector of books, art and old master prints. An album he had bound in 1504, which contained five engravings by Jacopo de Barbari. Hartmann Schedel, Registrum huius operis libri cronicarum cu figuris et imagibus ab inicio mudi, - CCXCIX, S. ISBN 3-935293-04-6 Hartmann Schedel, Register des Buchs der Croniken und geschichten mit figuren und pildnussen von anbeginn der welt bis auf dise unnsere Zeit. München, Reprint-Verlag Kölbl,1991. -, CCLXXXVI Bl, einleitung und Kommentar von Stephan Füssel. -680 S. ISBN 3-8289-0803-9 Stephan Füssel, Schedelsche Weltchronik, ISBN 3-7913-0876-9 Stephan Füssel,500 Jahre Schedelsche Weltchronik. ISBN 3-418-00372-9 Peter Zahn, Hartmann Schedels Weltchronik, in, Bibliotheksforum Bayern 24, 230-248 Christoph Reske, Die Produktion der Schedelschen Weltchronik in Nürnberg. ISBN 3-447-04296-6 Michael Zellmann-Rohrer, Constantine Hadavas, Selim S. Nahas, wilhelm Wattenbach, Schedel, Hartmann, Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie,30, Leipzig, Duncker & Humblot, pp. 661–662 Herbermann, Charles, ed. Hartmann Schedel. Nuremberg, Anton Koberger,23 Dec.1493, from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress
19.
Residenz
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Residenz is a formal but otherwise obsolete German word for place of living. It is in used to denote the building or town where a sovereign ruler resided. The former residenz status of a town is reflected by the architecture of its center. During the baroque period especially, many buildings were erected. Today former residenz towns mostly still serve as cultural and administrative centers, examples of buildings or towns, Residenz, Munich, the former residence of the monarchs of Bavaria. Munich remains capital of the German state of Bavaria, Würzburg Residenz, the former residence of the prince bishops of Würzburg. Würzburg today is capital of the Lower Franconia government district of Bavaria, alte Residenz, the former residence of the Archbishops of Salzburg. Salzburg today is capital of the Salzburg state of Austria, prussias three Residenz cities, cities where, in theory at least, the royal family could live, were Berlin, Königsberg, and Breslau. Aiming to become prince elector, he spent 12 million guilders on Rastatt Castle, the village grew accordingly and was incorporated as a town in 1700. Louis William lived at the castle from 1702, and the court followed from Baden in 1705, Eberhard Louis, Duke of Württemberg had similarly in 1704 begun reconstruction of a destroyed hunting lodge north of his residenz of Stuttgart. In 1705 he named the site Ludwigsburg, plans were enlarged in 1706 and again in 1715, resulting in Ludwigsburg Palace. In 1709, Eberhard Louis moved to the new castle, beginning in the same year a planned community was constructed near the palace which was incorporated as town in 1718. Ludwigsburg officially became Württemberg residenz in 1718, after Eberhard Louis death in 1733 his successor took the court back to Stuttgart. Once again from 1764 to 1775, Charles Eugene, in quarrelling with the estates over yet another residenz. In 1715, Margrave Charles William of Baden-Durlach chose to build a new residenz in a space in the woods he called Karlsruhe. From 1717 on, Karlsruhe was residenz of Baden-Durlach, later of the duchy of Baden. Construction of Mannheim Palace began in 1720 in place of the former citadel
20.
Water castle
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A water castle is a castle or stately home whose site is entirely surrounded by water-filled moats or natural waterbodies such as island castles in a river or offshore. Topographically water castles are a type of lowland castle, forde-Johnston describes it as a castle in which water plays a prominent part in the defences. In all cases, water is used as an obstacle to hinder an attacker and that apart, an abundant supply of water was also an advantage during a siege. Such a castle usually had one entrance, which was via a drawbridge. To some extent these water castles had a fortress-like character, the characteristic moats thus lost their original security function, but were retained in some cases as an element of landscaping. Today, in monument conservation circles, they are described as burdensome. As a result, many moats around castles in Germany have been drained, or more rarely filled, especially since the 1960s
21.
Oker
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The Oker is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, that has historically formed an important political boundary. It is a tributary of the River Aller,105 kilometres in length. The rivers name was recorded around 830 as Obacra and, later, the origin of the name is derived from the roots ov- and -akara meaning “upper” and “onward rushing” as distinct from its tributary, the Ecker, whose name means only “onward rushing”. The Oker rises at about 910 metres in the Harz National Park in an area on the Bruchberg in the Harz mountains of central Germany. This early section is known as the Große Oker and it is impounded below Altenau by the Oker Dam, from the dam wall to the former village of Oker, which is today part of the borough of Goslar, the Oker is on certain occasions suitable for canoeing. This section, often called the Oker Valley, includes the Romkerhall Waterfall, here the Romke stream drops about 64 metres in height over a waterfall laid out in 1863 into the Oker. Downstream in the rivers fast-flowing waters, the Verlobungsinsel is to be found, left and right of the Oker in this area are many crags that are popular with climbers. In the Goslar vicinity of Oker the river is polluted with heavy metals from the slag heaps as well as groundwater. From the village of Oker the River Oker flows away in a direction to Vienenburg. After these two confluences the river continues southeast past the Harly Forest, after which it bends north to flow through Schladen, in south Brunswick the Oker is dammed by the Eisenbüttel Weir. In the Bürgerpark shortly before Brunswicks old town the Oker divides into the western and eastern bypass channels which circumnavigate the historic city centre at a higher level. These channels were laid in the 16th century as the moats of the towns defences. The actual course of the Oker through the centre of the town was covered and, today, the water level in the city area is controlled by the St. Peters Gate Weir in the western and the Wends Weir in the eastern ditch. It then flows down to its mouth into the River Aller, north of Schladen the royal palace of Werla was established on the banks about 20 metres above the river bed. Since the Expo 2000 bridges over the Oker in Brunswick and its area were artistically designed. Heavy metal pollution of the Oker Description of white water canoe section between Kraftwerk and Nachstaubecken with many photos Oste class fleet service ship
22.
Consistory (Protestantism)
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In Protestant usage, a consistory designates certain ruling bodies in various churches. The meaning and the scope of functions varies strongly, also along the lines of the Protestant denominations. Not all Protestant churches adopted consistories, especially not collegially governed churches, consistories were either bodies of local churches, or parastatal entities, like in the French model, or they were governing bodies as part of the administration of Protestant state churches. Roman Catholicism in Napoleons realm was subject to the Concordat of 1801, the consistories in the French Empire could transact official business with a government in the name of the Protestants and vice versa. Furthermore, the desire for reform among the educated classes demanded the creation of a body vested with authority to render religious decisions, in Anglican churches the consistory is the diocesan court, usually presided over by the bishops chancellor or commissary. It deals with a variety of issues at the diocesan level, in the latter two cases, typical in churches with a congregational polity, the term consistory is also used to designate the geographical area administered by the consistory. Although originally a court of the Saxon Lutheran church, the consistory developed into an administrative body appointed by the sovereign to supervise the church within his state. In other Lutheran states the consistories took similar developments, consistories, forming executive body of a state church, had often great powers through the authority of the secular government. At times the consistories were parastatal offices in charge of all denominations or even all religions in the respective territory, by the French Organic Articles each time several parishes of the EPCAAL form a consistory, terming the board and its district alike. The consistories are religious statutory law corporations of legal entity status, each consistory holds property of its own and receives contributions by the member parishes. The consistorial members elect from their midst their executive, the council of four members. Consistorial decisions are presented to the French minister of the Interior, who may oppose them within a two-months period, in the Reformed tradition the consistory is the authority in the local church, generally made up of all the teaching Elders and the ruling elders. A panel sometimes called the Great Consistory, convoked if considered necessary for special consultations, would include the current consistory and former elders, congregations within the Protestant Church in the Netherlands rooted in the 2004-merged Dutch Reformed Church often call their local church councils consistorial chamber or consistorie. The members of the consistory, technically a committee of the city government, were elected for terms in the elections in which the city government was reconstituted every year. In weekly meetings the consistory examined people accused of misbehaviour, if the charges proved of substance, the consistory had a range of options including referring the person for counselling or, in more severe cases, to the civil courts. In 1555, excommunication was added to its powers, about one-fifteenth of the entire adult population of the republic was annually summoned before the consistory. As much as Calvins theology with his emphasis on discipline, the Genevan Consistory gave the city-state particular. Also in the EPRAL several parishes form a consistory, with the used for the board
23.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Halberstadt
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The Bishopric of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese and a state within the Holy Roman Empire, the Prince-bishopric of Halberstadt. Its capital was Halberstadt in present-day Saxony-Anhalt, north of the Harz mountain range, under its first bishop Hildegrim of Châlons the capital was moved to Halberstadt, confirmed by Charles son Louis the Pious in an 814 deed. Halberstadt diocese was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mainz, the Halberstadt bishops rivalled with Magdeburg to gain political influence in the days of the Ottonian and Salian dynasty. After the deposition of the Saxon duke Henry the Lion the episcopal and capitular temporalities forming the Stift of Halberstadt evolved to an Imperial State, the prince-bishopric. The political entity of the prince-bishopric only comprised parts of the entity of the diocese. On the death of Henry VI in 1197, the supported the unsuccessful claim of Philip of Swabia against Otto of Brunswick to be Holy Roman Emperor. When Pope Innocent III disagreed, Prince-Bishop Conrad of Halberstadt was excommunicated, to evade the penalties of excommunication, Conrad joined the catastrophic Fourth Crusade. In 1315 the prince-bishop acquired the former Principality of Aschersleben for the prince-bishopric and he was succeeded by Christian William of Hohenzollern, son of Elector Joachim III Frederick of Brandenburg. In political respect the prince-bishopric was secularised as the Principality of Halberstadt by the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, after the 1815 Congress of Vienna, its territory was incorporated into the Prussian Province of Saxony. In ecclesiastic respect the diocese, sede vacante since 1480, since represented by administrators only, so in 1669 the tiny remaining Catholic diaspora in the diocesan area of Halberstadt was put under the new jurisdiction of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Northern Missions. Between 1709 and 1780 the area of the diocese of Halberstadt formed part of the Vicariate Apostolic of Upper and Lower Saxony. In 1821 the area of the diocese of Halberstadt was merged into the Diocese of Paderborn. Thus, it stretched from the Oker river near Hornburg in the west, the city of Brunswick, located on both sides of the Oker, was originally split between Halberstadt and Hildesheim until it passed to Duke Henry the Lion in 1142, who made it his residence. Hermann Molitoris, O. P. Levinus Brunstorp, O. P. Matthias Kanuti, heinrich Lenchker, O. P. Michael Vehe, O. P. Johannes Mensing, O. P. Johannes Alberti, O. P
24.
Bishopric of Hildesheim
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The Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from the Middle Ages until 1803. It was the territory of princely rule held by the incumbents of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim, therefore wielding secular and it was named after its capital, Hildesheim. After the Duchy of Saxony had been conquered by the Frankish Kingdom, Emperor Charlemagne in 800 founded a diocese at his eastphalian court in Elze. His son King Louis the Pious established the bishopric at Hildesheim in 815, according to legend delivered by the Brothers Grimm, the king was hunting in the wintery woods of Elze, when he realized that he had lost his pendant with the relic of Blessed Virgin Mary. Distraught he sent out his attendance who finally discovered a flowering rose bush with the relic in his branches, Louis had a chapel built by the side of the rose, the later St. Marys Cathedral. A rosa canina is still growing at the apse of the cathedral and his son King Louis the German appointed the famous former archbishop of Rheims, Ebbo, as bishop between 845 and 847. Ebbos successor Altfrid began the construction of the cathedral, the groundplan of which has not been changed since then, Bishop Bernward and his successor Gotthard added much to the architectonic and cultural tradition of the present-day World Heritage Site. At the Reichstag at Mainz of August 15,1235 Bishop Conrad II reached the acknowledgement of Hildesheim as a Prince-bishopric by Emperor Frederick II. In the 16th century, most of the diocese as well as most of the state of Hildesheim switched to Protestantism, during the German Mediatisation of 1803, Hildesheim lost its statehood, and the territory was first given to Prussia. Four years later, however, Prussia lost it to the newly established Kingdom of Westphalia, the Congress of Vienna of 1815 gave the territory to the Kingdom of Hanover. Ernest Ferdinand Maximilian Henry Joseph Clemens Clemens August List of Bishops of Hildesheim Official site Map of Lower Saxony in 1789
25.
Hohnstein Castle
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Hohnstein Castle is one of the largest and best-preserved castle ruins in Germany and is located near Neustadt in the vicinity of Nordhausen in Thuringia. The ruins are located on a high, rocky spur which today is covered in woods, Honstein Castle was built in the time of the Hohenstaufen-Guelph conflict for the throne. Its foundation is attributed to Konrad von Sangerhausen, a relative of the legendary Thuringian count, the Counts of Hohnstein, together with the Counts of Ilefeld who had married into them, inherited the lordship of the South Harz from Konrad. The first mention of Honstein Castle was in 1202, like the Thuringian landgraves, the Honstein clan rapidly amassed a considerable amount of territory, which included the regions around Arnstadt and Gotha in the Thuringian Basin. The first boom period for the family during the 13th century was followed by a loss of importance when, in 1315, Honstein Castle soon became militarily outdated. During the Peasants War, Honstein was still seen as a fortification and was therefore selected by the abbott of Ilfeld Abbey to protect himself. During this period it became one of the largest castles in the Harz, during the Thirty Years War, however, Hohnstein Castle was destroyed by fire. Because Vitztum knew that he could not hold the castle for any length of time he placed the Counts of Stolberg under pressure so that he could extort money from them in return for handing it over. The Stollbergs could not meet this ultimatum, so Vitztum had his soldiers set fire to the already heavily plundered castle on Christmas Eve of 1627, according to tradition, Vitztum knew how to foil every attempt by guards on duty to put the fires out. Only a few usable remnants could be recovered from the ruins following the withdrawal of Vitztums troops, these included the clock from the castle chapel. In the course of the decades and centuries the castle ruins continued to decay. In 1908 an inn was built below the ruins, after 1990 safety and restoration work on the castle ruins was started. In Easter 2001 the castle was once again re-occupied, the ruins of Hohnstein Castle may be visited without a guide. It has a checkpoint on the Harzer Wandernadel hiking trail network by the cafe just beyond the gateway, list of castles in Thuringia Uwe Mosebach, Wo einst die Grafen von Honstein lebten. Über die Geschichte der Grafschaft und der Burgruine Hohnstein, Clausthal-Zellerfeld Uwe Mosebach, zur Geschichte der Burgruine und der Grafschaft, Erfurt/Nordhausen, pp.104, ISBN 978-3-939357-05-6 Kurt Wenke, Johann Erhard, Gemeindeverwaltung Neustadt, Südharz, eds
26.
County of Regenstein
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The County of Regenstein was a mediaeval statelet of the Holy Roman Empire. The most renowned Count of Regenstein was Albert II, who in the 1330s was frequently in dispute with the leaders of the surrounding estates like the Halberstadt bishops and the abbess of Quedlinburg. These tales were romanticised in the ballad The Robber Count by Gottfried August Bürger, melodized by Johann Philipp Kirnberger, in the 15th century the comital family relocated its seat to Blankenburg, Regenstein Castle lapsed and was left to ruin. The last scion of the family, Count John Ernest. With Blankenburg it fell back to the Bishopric of Halberstadt, shortly thereafter Blankenburg and Regenstein were separated. Regenstein remained with Halberstadt, while Blankenburg was annexed and held by the Dukes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
27.
Lohra
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Lohra is a community in Marburg-Biedenkopf district in the administrative region of Gießen in Hesse, Germany. Lohras municipal area, measuring 49 km², stretches across the middle Salzböde valley, the community of Lohra is found in the so-called Marburger Land. Together with the communities of Fronhausen, Weimar and Ebsdorfergrund, Lohra forms the part of Marburg-Biedenkopf. Lohra has a population of 6,800,2,554 of those in the constituent community. The men, women and children buried here, whose number must have been about 20, had burnt in a surprising way. Furthermore, unlike what has been found at other gallery graves in North Hesse, handled beakers, cups, bowls, a serpentine axe, a small stone hatchet, a retouched radiolarite blade and pieces of bronze plate are all things that have been found at the site. Some of the finds have been kept at the Hesse State Museum since 1931, at Altenvers, a Germanic settlement dating from Roman times was found in which it is highly likely that metal was processed. 769, Dec.1. Karlus, Rex Gundelando, abbas,769 December 1 Charles, the King. The name Lare can be traced to an Old Germanic form of speech from before Frankish, who settled in Lohra before the Franks has not been settled once and for all. They were probably Celts and after that the Germanic Chatti, later known as Hessen, who possibly raised Lohras standing in the land. In the 8th and 9th centuries, Lohra seems to have been home to a court of law of the Frankish region-county, known as pagus lare, which corresponded to the later bequest of the county of Ruchesloh. The religious centre of this region-county seems to have been a plot of land called Retschloh near Oberweimar as well as near the Martinskirche there. The region-countys territory reached as far as the Amöneburg Basin and the Vogelsberg Mountains, around 1238, the Late Romanesque church, still standing today, was built. In 1366, the Count of Nassau burnt Lohra down in a campaign against the Hessian Landgraves. The villagers fled into the woods, while the wealthiest and most distinguished figures in the village were taken away by the Nassauers along with all the cattle to be ransomed for a great price. After the partition of the county by Philip the Magnanimous in 1567, when the Swedes overran Hesse in the Thirty Years War, it marked the onset of hard times for the villages that now make up the community. Many local people fled to Marburg, finding refuge in the Landgraves castle there while their villages were sacked by marauding Landsknechte. In 1648, once the Peace of Westphalia had brought the war to an end, and the so-called Hessian War had ended, the part of Hesse-Marburg
28.
County of Hoya
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The County of Hoya was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Lower Saxony. It was centered on the town of Hoya on the middle Weser river, the largest city of the county was Nienburg. A first Count Henry at Hoya in Saxony appeared as a liensman of Archbishop Hartwig II of Bremen in 1202 and he rivaled with the local Hodenberg noble family at Hodenhagen Castle, their estates on the Weser were gradually acquired by Count Henry and his descendants until 1313. The acquisition of Nienburg led to a conflict with the Bishops of Minden. In 1450 the family became embroiled in the Münster Diocesan Feud, in the 16th century, the counts came under pressure of the mighty Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who in 1512 occupied their estates. The county was partitioned after Otto VIII, Count of Hoya died without sons in 1582, the majority of the territory was received by the Calenberg line with the remainder to the Lüneburg line of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg and the Landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel. The Counts of Hoya already had to recognize the Welf dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg as liege lords in 1512, after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the area together with the Kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia
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Timber framing
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Timber framing and post-and-beam construction are methods of building with heavy timbers rather than dimensional lumber such as 2x4s. Traditional timber framing is the method of creating structures using heavy squared-off and it is commonplace in wooden buildings from the 19th century and earlier. The method comes from making out of logs and tree trunks without modern high tech saws to cut lumber from the starting material stock. Since this building method has been used for thousands of years in parts of the world. These styles are categorized by the type of foundation, walls, how and where the beams intersect, the use of curved timbers. Three basic types of frames in English-speaking countries are the box frame, cruck frame. The distinction presented here is the load is carried by the exterior walls. Purlins are also in a timber frame. A cruck is a pair of crooked or curved timbers which form a bent or crossframe, more than 4,000 cruck frame buildings have been recorded in the UK. Several types of frames are used, more information follows in English style below. True cruck or full cruck, blades, straight or curved, base cruck, tops of the blades are truncated by the first transverse member such as by a tie beam. Raised cruck, blades land on masonry wall, and extend to the ridge, middle cruck, blades land on masonry wall, and are truncated by a collar. Upper cruck, blades land on a tie beam, very similar to knee rafters, jointed cruck, blades are made from pieces joined near eaves in a number of ways. See also, hammerbeam roof End cruck is not a style, aisled frames have one or more rows of interior posts. These interior posts typically carry more load than the posts in the exterior walls. This is the concept of the aisle in church buildings, sometimes called a hall church. However, a nave is often called an aisle, and three-aisled barns are common in the U. S. the Netherlands, aisled buildings are wider than the simpler box-framed or cruck-framed buildings, and typically have purlins supporting the rafters. In northern Germany, this construction is known as variations of a Ständerhaus, the frame is often left exposed on the exterior of the building
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Hildesheim Diocesan Feud
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The cause was the attempt by Prince-Bishop John to redeem the pledged estates and their tax revenue from the nobles in his temporalities, the prince-bishopric. The diocesan feud ended with the Treaty of Quedlinburg in 1523, due to his prince-bishoprics poor financial circumstances the Prince-Bishop of Hildesheim asked for the return of several estates pledged to the nobles within the prince-bishopric. As these estates were an important source of income, a number of nobles and knights refused, however. To wit, in 1513, Henry the Middle received from Prince-Bishop John IV a large bill for Everstein, as a result, in 1516 an alliance was formed between Henry the Younger and a small group of nobles from the prince-bishopric of Hildesheim. In 1519 the smouldering conflict flared up into open warfare which is described as the last medieval feud. The alliance partners on the side of the Hildesheim prince-bishop were the town of Hildesheim, Henry the Middle of Lüneburg, between 1519 and 1523 there was a succession of heavy battles and smaller skirmishes, in the course of which many towns and villages were devastated. The Hildesheim army scored a victory against the Brunswick-Welf troops, killing some 3,500 men and capturing one of their leaders, Eric of Calenberg. This signalled the end of the phase of the war. However, an appeal to the newly elected emperor, Charles V, the ruling imposed by Charles V provided for the surrender of all conquered territory and release of all the prisoners, and thus ruled very much against the Hildesheim side. Hildesheim had won militarily, but lost politically, after long negotiations the territorial changes resulting from the conflict were firmly established at the Treaty of Quedlinburg of 13 May 1523. The ecclesiastical boundary of the diocese remained unchanged, the Principality of Calenberg received the houses, i. e. Hildesheim immediately began a legal fight for the return of its Großes Stift. This finally ended in 1643 in the Main Treaty of Hildesheim with a revision of the Treaty of Quedlinburg, exceptions were the Ämter of Aerzen, Grohnde, Coldingen-Lauenberg, Lutter am Barenberge, Westerhof and Lindau, which remained with the principalities of Calenberg and Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Prince-bishop John IV gave up the prince-bishopric in 1527 and later became canon of Ratzeburg, christine van den Heuvel, Manfred von Boetticher, Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft von der Reformation bis zum Beginn des 19. Christian Heinrich Delius, Die Hildesheimische Stiftsfehde, stefan Brüdermann, Norddeutscher Hegemoniekampf, in, Die Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte. Helmut von Jan, Bischof, Stadt und Bürger, chorographia der Hildesheimer Stiftsfehde von Johannes Krabbe 1591, mehrfarbige Reproduktion, LGN, EAN 978-3-89435-348-3. Diocese of Hildesheim The Welfs The Treaty of Quedlinburg
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Battle of Soltau
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The Battle of Soltau took place on 28 June 1519 and was the military climax of the Hildesheim Diocesan Feud which lasted from 1519–1523. Some sources describe it as the last knights battle and it is also often described as the last medieval feud. The feud had all the hallmarks of a dispute between noble families of that time. At its heart was the division of revenue and territorial claims, two aspects, however, made it rather different. The forces of Brunswick numbered about 7,000 foot soldiers and 700 armoured cavalry, the Lüneburgers also had purportedly over 7,000 infantrymen, but their cavalry force, of about 1,500 horse, was considerably stronger. The Brunswickians took 24 cannon and a baggage train with them. As it happened, only the guns could be deployed for the battle itself. The professional infantry fought in compact squares, following Swiss practice, the first three to five ranks carried pikes up to six metres long, whilst the rear ranks were mainly equipped with the shorter halberds or similar. Occasionally two-handed swords and matchlock-arquebuses were carried, but they played a secondary role, nothing is known of the weapons carried by the levies. Both armies marched in the order for that period. This was followed by the body of 4,500 men. The baggage train would have been at least as large as the army itself, especially on the Brunswick side, nothing is known about the order of march of the Lüneburg army, but it was probably similar to that of Brunswick. After a long, at times parallel, pursuit both armies met around midday on the 28 June 1519 northwest of Soltau between the villages of Vahlzen and Langeloh, the weather was warm, but cloudy. Both parties occupied a rise, between there was a piece of marshy terrain about 700 metres wide. The Brunswickians facing south had secured their flanks on two bogs, the Vahlzen Moor to the west and the Dickmoor to the east, precise information on the positioning of the two forces does not exist. However, it is known that the Lüneburgers had divided their cavalry into five Fähnlein, four of 225 each and it is reckoned that the Brunswickians had largely remained in their march formation and only assembled their 700 horsemen alongside their vanguard. If it were possible they would also have brought their field pieces into position at the edge of the hill they had now occupied, however it is likely that the two dukes in command were not agreed about the action to be taken in the face of the enemy. Oddly the battle was started by the Lüneburgers, although to begin with they only had their cavalry at hand, according to the report by Henry the Middle three of his small Fähnlein of cavalry launched a frontal attack on the Brunswick horse
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Thirty Years' War
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The Thirty Years War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, as well as the deadliest European religious war, resulting in eight million casualties. Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers. These states employed relatively large mercenary armies, and the war became less about religion, in the 17th century, religious beliefs and practices were a much larger influence on an average European than they are today. The war began when the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, tried to impose uniformity on his domains. The northern Protestant states, angered by the violation of their rights to choose that had granted in the Peace of Augsburg. Ferdinand II was a devout Roman Catholic and relatively intolerant when compared to his predecessor and his policies were considered strongly pro-Catholic. They ousted the Habsburgs and elected Frederick V, Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate as their monarch, Frederick took the offer without the support of the union. The southern states, mainly Roman Catholic, were angered by this, led by Bavaria, these states formed the Catholic League to expel Frederick in support of the Emperor. The Empire soon crushed this rebellion in the Battle of White Mountain. After the atrocities committed in Bohemia, Saxony finally gave its support to the union, Spain, wishing to finally crush the Dutch rebels in the Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, intervened under the pretext of helping its dynastic Habsburg ally, Austria. No longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg powers on its borders, Catholic France entered the coalition on the side of the Protestants in order to counter the Habsburgs. Both mercenaries and soldiers in fighting armies traditionally looted or extorted tribute to get operating funds, the war also bankrupted most of the combatant powers. The Thirty Years War ended with the treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, the war altered the previous political order of European powers. Lutherans living in a prince-bishopric could continue to practice their faith, Lutherans could keep the territory they had taken from the Catholic Church since the Peace of Passau in 1552. Those prince-bishops who had converted to Lutheranism were required to give up their territories and this added a third major faith to the region, but its position was not recognized in any way by the Augsburg terms, to which only Catholicism and Lutheranism were parties. The Dutch revolted against Spanish domination during the 1560s, leading to a war of independence that led to a truce only in 1609. This dynastic concern overtook religious ones and led to Catholic Frances participation on the otherwise Protestant side of the war, Sweden and Denmark-Norway were interested in gaining control over northern German states bordering the Baltic Sea
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Fortification
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Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in a changing world of invasion. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified, in ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek Phrourion was a collection of buildings used as a military garrison. These construction mainly served the purpose of a tower, to guard certain roads, passes. Though smaller than a fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch. The art of setting out a camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castramentation since the time of the Roman legions. Fortification is usually divided into two branches, permanent fortification and field fortification, there is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble. Roman forts and hill forts were the antecedents of castles in Europe. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb, Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification, steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may be called fortresses, smaller ones were known as fortalices
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Herzog August Library
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The Herzog August Library, in Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, known also as Bibliotheca Augusta, is a library of international importance for its collection from the Middle Ages and Early modern Europe. The library is overseen by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science, the library was founded by Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1572. In the 17th century it was the largest library north of the Alps, the library was named after Duke Augustus, who greatly enlarged the collection, which was kept at Wolfenbüttel. Armies passed by, back and forth, over the centuries and it was so highly regarded that generals placed the library under special protection, and the library is one of the oldest in the world to have never suffered loss to its collection. In 2006 the library housed around 11,500 manuscripts and 900,000 books, of which 350,000 were printed between the 15th to 18th centuries. Of these,3,500 are incunabula,75,000 are from the century,150,000 are from the seventeenth century. Its research programs are described as exploring the history of relations, or the history of culture, ideas. Social history, the history of religion, business, science and law, constitutional history, the famous palimpsest Codex Guelferbytanus 64 Weissenburgensis, which contains in the lower text Codex Guelferbytanus A, Codex Guelferbytanus B, and Codex Carolinus. Gospels of Henry the Lion Liber Floridus ca
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