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47-530: Later used as a robber baron 's lair, the hill castle crumbled into ruins over the centuries. Today it has almost completely disappeared; only fragments of the foundation walls and the towers together with the castle well are preserved. Mentioned as Hartesburg in a 1071 deed, the name of the castle ( German : Burg ) is derived from the Harz mountain range, called Hart in Middle Low German , and

94-509: A large-scale castle building programme in the Duchy of Saxony from 1065 to 1068. Intended as a demonstration of power in the Saxon mainland, the extended complex was strategically sited by King Henry's architect Bishop Benno II of Osnabrück providing protection for the nearby Goslar imperial palace and the mines of Rammelsberg . Its walls extend right up to the steep face of the conical hilltop. At

141-549: A little house near the monastery he lived according to the rule of the monks during the week, while on Sundays and holidays he assisted at his cathedral in Osnabrück. He died at Iburg three years later. From humble origins, Benno made a remarkable career, not only because his abilities were needed and appreciated, but also due to his social skills and his beneficial relations. However, his close ties with ecclesiastical and secular authorities imposed considerable difficulties during

188-476: A modern statue of the alleged pagan god Krodo , as well as a restaurant. To the north, on the nearby hill of Kleiner Burgberg , are the remains of the so-called Kleine Harzburg ("Little Harz Castle") outlook, and to the east on the nearby Sachsenberg are the traces of a rampart, possibly constructed by the rebellious Saxons to besiege the Große Harzburg (see below). Already in 924/926 King Henry

235-653: Is probably affiliated with hardt meaning "mountain forest". Therefore, Harzburg can be translated as "Harz Castle". The ruins of the Große Harzburg are located above the spa town and the Radau valley, on the top of the Großer Burgberg hill at a height of 482.80 metres (1,584.0 ft). The summit can be reached by the Burgberg Cable Car and has an outstanding view past the neighbouring summit of Kleiner Burgberg (436.50 m (1,432.1 ft)) in

282-548: The Battle on the Elster , Benno and several bishops met in a synod at Brixen , where Gregory was again declared deposed and Archbishop Guibert of Ravenna was elected antipope . In turn, Hermann of Salm was elected antiking and Benno's diocesan territories were devastated by the insurgents. With Archbishop Liemar of Bremen he commissioned the anti-papal polemic by the Osnabrück canon Wido , around 1085. (However, he did not author

329-539: The French invaded in 1689 and levelled them). Tolls were standardized either in terms of an amount of silver coin allowed to be charged or an "in-kind" toll of cargo from the ship. The men who came to be known as robber barons or robber knights ( German : Raubritter ) violated the structure under which tolls were collected on the Rhine either by charging higher tolls than the standard or by operating without authority from

376-656: The Gesta Romanae ecclesiae contra Hildebrandum of Cardinal Beno .) On the other hand, Benno tried to bring about a reconciliation, winning over rebellious nobles such as Margrave Egbert II of Meissen and even negotiating with the Roman Curia while the troops of Henry IV laid siege to the pope in the Castel Sant'Angelo . Upon Gregory's death at Salerno in 1085, Benno retired to the monastery at Iburg Castle near Osnabrück , which he had founded in 1080. In

423-609: The Hundred Years' War , the excesses of their heyday during the Interregnum never recurred. The reign of King Stephen of England (1135–1154) was a long period of civil unrest commonly known as " The Anarchy ". In the absence of strong central kingship, the nobility of England were a law unto themselves, as characterised in this excerpt from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle : When the traitors saw that Stephen

470-813: The Fowler had reached an armistice with the Hungarian invaders at nearby Werla Castle. In the 11th century, the Salian emperor Henry III had made the Imperial Palace of Goslar one of his favourite residences. He did, however, arouse the disfavour of the local Saxon nobility and the Billung dukes, not only by his Franconian descendance, but also due to the expensive maintaining of his Imperial court. Henry III died in 1056 at Bodfeld Castle and when his son King Henry IV , came of age in 1065, he soon renewed

517-789: The Harzburg. Pope Gregory VII , who would become a bitter enemy during the Investiture Controversy , imposed a ban on the devastated site. In January 1077, the king had to make the Walk to Canossa to obtain the revocation of his excommunication . During the conflict of the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick I with the Welf duke Henry the Lion , the rebuilding work on the castle continued until 1180. In January 1076 Henry had claimed

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564-470: The Holy Roman Emperor altogether. Writers of the period referred to these practices as "unjust tolls," and not only did the robber barons thereby violate the prerogatives of the Holy Roman Emperor, they also went outside of the society's behavioural norms, since merchants were bound both by law and religious custom to charge a "just price" for their wares . During the period in the history of

611-544: The Holy Roman Empire known as the Great Interregnum (1250–1273), when there was no Emperor, the number of tolling stations exploded in the absence of imperial authority. In addition, robber barons began to earn their opprobrium by robbing ships of their cargoes, stealing entire ships, and even kidnapping. In response to this organized, military lawlessness, the "Rheinischer Bund," or Rhine League

658-663: The Imperial Regalia to the Hohenstaufen dynasty. In 1222 the Harzburg was awarded the title of castrum imperiale again. Relying on the existing imperial enfeoffment of the Harzburg seat, the character of the castle as an imperial fortress remained largely intact up to the time the Hohenstaufen dynasty became extinct and the castle was pledged to the Counts of Wernigerode in 1269. The following centuries were characterized by frequent changes of ownership. About 1370 it

705-531: The League self-destructed from political strife over the election of a new Emperor and military reversals against unusually strong robber barons. When the Interregnum ended, the new king Rudolf of Habsburg applied the lessons learned by the Rhine League to the destruction of the highway robbers at Sooneck , torching their castles and hanging them. While robber barony never entirely ceased, especially during

752-444: The Rhine seems to have been an attractive alternative to other means of taxation and funding of government functions. Iron chains were often stretched across the river to prevent passage without paying the toll, and strategic towers were built to facilitate this. The Holy Roman Emperor and the various noblemen and archbishops who were authorised to levy tolls seem to have worked out an informal way of regulating this process. Among

799-593: The River Rhine in Europe for one thousand years from around 800 AD to 1800 AD. During this time, various feudal lords (among them archbishops who held fiefs from the Holy Roman Emperor) collected tolls from passing cargo ships to bolster their finances. Only the Holy Roman Emperor could authorise the collection of such tolls. Allowing the nobility and Church to collect tolls from the busy traffic on

846-469: The Saxon conflict laying claim to several domains around the Harz mountains. During Henry's minority and the regency of his mother Agnes of Poitou , the Saxon nobles had strengthened their position. The local count Otto of Nordheim , Duke of Bavaria since 1061, had even been involved in Henry's abduction during the 1062 Coup of Kaiserswerth . In turn, the Große Harzburg ( Hartesburg ) was erected during

893-595: The anticommons is a type of coordination breakdown, in which a single resource has numerous rightsholders who prevent others from using it, frustrating what would be a socially desirable outcome. In Ken Follet 's historical novel The Pillars of the Earth , taking place in England during The Anarchy , the main villain is a vicious and ruthless earl who behaves as described in the quote above. Benno II of Osnabr%C3%BCck Benno II ( c.  1020 – 27 July 1088)

940-416: The castles were built they filled them with devils and wicked men. By night and by day they seized those they believed to have any wealth, whether they were men or women; and in order to get their gold or silver, they put them into prison and tortured them with unspeakable tortures, for never were martyrs tortured as they were. They hung them up by the feet and smoked them with foul smoke. They strung them up by

987-639: The chronicler Lambert of Hersfeld , the Saxon Rebellion broke out when on 29 June 1073 several nobles marched against the king residing in the Imperial Palace of Goslar. Henry had to flee along with the Imperial Regalia into the walls of the Harzburg. The besieging forces led by Otto of Nordheim and Bishop Burchard II of Halberstadt allegedly numbered 60,000 whilst his garrison only had 300 men. The king finally fled to Franconia in

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1034-636: The decisions involved in managing the collection of tolls on the Rhine were how many toll stations to have, where they should be built, how high the tolls should be, and the advantages/disadvantages. While this decision process was made no less complex by being informal, common factors included the local power structure (archbishops and nobles being the most likely recipients of a charter to collect tolls), space between toll stations (authorized toll stations seem to have been at least five kilometres apart) , and ability to be defended from attack (some castles through which tolls were collected were tactically useful until

1081-604: The education at the behest of Bishop Azelin . In Speyer, he had contacted the imperial court of the Salian emperor Henry III . On account of his skill in architecture he was appointed imperial architect and, as such, supervised the construction of numerous castles and churches in the Holy Roman Empire . When the Rhine , which flowed close to the Cathedral of Speyer, threatened to undermine its foundations, Benno saved

1128-462: The emperor's son and successor King Henry IV . Stuck in the rising Saxon conflict , Henry IV strongly relyed on his abilities as a master builder of several castles in the mainland of Saxony, such as the Harzburg finished in 1068. When the ambitious Cologne archbishop Anno II tried to bring him over to his side, the emperor designated him the successor of Bishop Benno I of Osnabrück who had died

1175-616: The enfeoffment with Goslar and the Rammelsberg mines in turn for his support against the rebellious Italian cities of the Lombard League . The duke was deposed in 1180, yet Frederick felt it was necessary to protect Goslar against Henry's forces. The complex was completed by Henry's son Emperor Otto IV , sole King of the Romans upon his rival Philip of Swabia in 1208. He was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Innocent III

1222-477: The fierce Investiture Controversy between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV, Benno for a long time sided with the emperor. He were among the clerics who, led by Archbishop Siegfried of Mainz , declared Gregory deposed at the 1076 Synod of Worms . Benno, like numerous other German and Italian bishops, signed the formula of deposition and incurred ecclesiastical excommunication a few weeks later. With some other excommunicated bishops, Benno hastened to Italy, where

1269-461: The fortress decreased steadily, resulting in its slow decline. A rebuilding of the castle in the 16th century was never carried out due to the high cost. During the Thirty Years' War , the castle changed hands several times, although its garrison remained intact. Since this type of fortification had become insignificant due to the changed nature of warfare, demolition of the remaining elements of

1316-631: The learned Herman Contractus was then teaching. Together with William I, Archbishop of Strasbourg , he went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem about 1040. Having completed his education, he taught for some time at the cathedral school of Speyer in Rhenish Franconia . In 1047 he became teacher at the Benedictine school of Goslar in Saxony and, shortly after, was made headmaster of the cathedral school at Hildesheim , where he reformed

1363-491: The next year, however, the two fell out soon after. Banned by the pope, he had to witness the election of the Hohenstaufen scion Frederick II in September 1211. Defeated by King Philip II of France in the 1214 Battle of Bouvines , he retired to his Saxon homelands and died at the Harzburg on 19 May 1218. The fortress lost its immediate function as an imperial castle as Otto's brother Henry of Brunswick had to surrender

1410-460: The night to 10 August, according to legend, through the well of the besieged castle and a secret passage. The king initially did not gain much support by the German princes and in the 1074 Treaty of Gerstungen he was forced to agree to slight his castles, including the Harzburg. He hesitated, however, and only had the walls and towers demolished, whilst the buildings themselves remained. But in

1457-492: The norm without authorization by some higher authority. Some resorted to actual banditry . The German term for robber barons, Raubritter (robber knights), was coined by Friedrich Bottschalk in 1810. Some robber barons violated the custom under which tolls were collected on the Rhine either by charging higher tolls than the standard or by operating without authority from the Holy Roman Emperor altogether. During

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1504-489: The northern edge of the castle plateau is marked by the 19 m (62 ft) high Canossa Column, erected in 1877 during the German Kulturkampf conflict in honour of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck on the 800th anniversary of King Henry's Walk to Canossa . In addition, the former castle grounds comprise the more than two-hundred-year-old Bismarck Elm, a Harz folktales memorial hall erected from 1928 to 1932,

1551-745: The northwest over the northern Harz Foreland with the Harly hill range and far into the North German Plain . Southwards, the view goes over the densely forested mountains of the Harz National Park up to the Brocken massif. The remains of the walls on the Großer Burgberg summit are open to the public. The layout of the castle and its remnants are explained on information boards at the site. It had two different bergfrieds ;

1598-410: The past year. Benno did a lot to promote the economic and agricultural development in his diocese, however, when in 1073 Henry's quarrels with the Saxon nobility culminated in open revolt, he had to seek protection at the royal court. He and Archbishop Liemar of Bremen remained close companions of the king, when Henry fled from Saxony and had to consent to the humiliating Treaty of Gerstungen . During

1645-483: The period in the history of the Holy Roman Empire known as the Great Interregnum (1250–1273), the number of such tolling stations exploded in the absence of Imperial authority. Medieval robber barons most often imposed high or unauthorized tolls on rivers or roads passing through their territory. Some robbed merchants, land travelers, and river traffic—seizing money, cargoes, even entire ships—or engaged in kidnapping for ransom. Tolls were collected from ships sailing on

1692-402: The pope freed them from the ban at Canossa Castle . He successfully arbitrated between the adversaries, before Henry himself arrived here to do penance on his Walk to Canossa . However, the tranquility did not last long. In March 1077 several princes elected Rudolf of Rheinfelden antiking and in 1080 Pope Gregory again excommunicated Henry and all his supporters. While Rudolf was killed in

1739-449: The ruin began in 1650. Since then the castle has amounted to little more than its foundation ruins and well. The urban settlement of Neustadt at the foot of the Großer Burgberg adopted the castle's name in 1892. Robber baron (feudalism) A robber baron or robber knight ( German : Raubritter ) was an unscrupulous feudal landowner who, protected by his fief 's legal status, imposed high taxes and tolls out of keeping with

1786-413: The spring of 1074 the Harzburg was plundered by annoyed peasants and completely destroyed. The collegiate church was not spared and the royal family tomb was desecrated. This incident prompted widespread indignation and gave Henry cause to advance with all his might against the rebellious Saxons again and so, on 9 June 1075, the rebels were defeated at the Battle of Langensalza . Henry IV never returned to

1833-446: The square one has been partially rebuilt in modern times (see photo). One interesting feature is the wide moat driven through the rock that separates the castle complex into an east and a west wing, linked by a modern stone bridge. The castle well drew drinking water from the nearby Sachsenbrunnen , an enclosed spring in the woods. In medieval times, the water was transferred over several hundred metres in wooden pipes. The viewpoint on

1880-414: The structure by changing the course of the river. He and Bishop Azelin of Hildesheim accompanied Henry on a 1051 campaign against King Andrew I of Hungary , whereby Benno distinguished himself in providing the forces' catering. Upon his return he was made provost of Hildesheim, archpriest at Goslar Cathedral and royal vicedominus at the Imperial Palace . Benno's great talent was also recognized by

1927-414: The thumbs, or by the head, and hung coats of mail on their feet. They tied knotted cords round their heads and twisted it until it entered the brain. They put them in dungeons wherein were adders and snakes and toads and so destroyed them. Many thousands they starved to death. Michael Heller refers to the original robber barons to illustrate his tragedy of the anticommons in his 2008 book. The tragedy of

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1974-469: The time it was built the castle was impregnable. Despite its defensive strength, the castle was also especially palatial. For example, it contained, amongst other things, unusually large, three-roomed great hall and collegiate church , to which Henry had many relics transferred. He even had a sort of family vault built, in which he laid the mortal remains of his brother, Duke Conrad II of Bavaria and his son, Henry, both of whom died young. According to

2021-519: Was Bishop of Osnabrück from 1068 until his death. He served as a close advisor and architect of Emperor Henry IV . In 1080 he founded the Benedictine abbey of Iburg Castle . He was born at Löhningen (today part of Ühlingen-Birkendorf ) in Klettgau , Swabia , the son of a ministerial family. His parents sent him at an early age to the monastic schools of Straßburg and Reichenau where

2068-420: Was a mild good humoured man who inflicted no punishment, then they committed all manner of horrible crimes. They had done him homage and sworn oaths of fealty to him, but not one of their oaths was kept. They were all forsworn and their oaths broken. For every great man built him castles and held them against the king; they sorely burdened the unhappy people of the country with forced labour on the castles; and when

2115-537: Was formed by 100 Cities, and from several princes and prince-prelates (lords of the Church), all of whom held large stakes in the restoration of law and order to the Rhine. Officially launched in 1254, the Rhine League wasted no time putting robber barons out of business by the simple expedient of taking and destroying their castles. In the next three years, four robber barons were targeted and between ten and twelve robber castles destroyed or inactivated. The Rhine League

2162-460: Was not only successful in suppressing illicit collection of tolls and river robbery, they also took action against other state aggression. For example, they are documented as having intervened to rescue a victim of abduction by the Baron of Rietberg. The procedure pioneered by the Rhine League for dealing with robber barons – to besiege, capture and destroy their castles – survived long after

2209-698: Was occupied by the Welf duke Otto of Brunswick-Göttingen during the War of the Lüneburg Succession and entrusted to his ministerialis Hans von Schwicheldt, against fierce protest raised by the Wernigerode counts. In the early 15th century the Harzburg was pledged as a fief to the three sons of Hans von Schwicheldt, who turned it into a robber baron castle and ravaged the surrounding Brunswick , Hildesheim and Halberstadt lands. The importance of

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