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35-484: The castle was initially the seat of the king's vassal or lensmand , and thus the centre of local government. It is not known when the castle was founded, but for historical reasons, it was probably around 1200. During this period, a number of royal castles were built across the country to strengthen the king's power in the regions and guard against attack. They include Koldinghus , Riberhus , Copenhagen Castle , Næsbyhoved Castle near Odense, Sønderborg and Nordborg on

70-441: A "formal colony" or "junior ally" might also be regarded as a vassal state in terms of international relations, analogous to a domestic "fief-holder" or "trustee". The concept of a vassal state uses the concept of personal vassalry to theorize formally hegemonic relationships between states – even those using non-personal forms of rule. Imperial states to which this terminology has been applied include, for instance: Ancient Rome ,

105-412: A popular landmark visited by among others HC Andersen . In the 1930'a, the large tower was reconstructed in bricks in order to save it from collapse. It was eventually decided to save the castle via a comprehensive conservation effort focusing on the principles of conservational reversibility, meaning that the restoration can be rolled back without causing harm to the monument, and that all remains of

140-410: A subordinate state (such as a dependency , residency , client state or protectorate ) has retained internal autonomy, but has lost independence in foreign policy, while also, in many instances, paying formal tribute , or providing troops when requested. This is a similar relationship to vassals, but vassals hold fiefdoms which are present in the actual territory of the monarch. In this framework,

175-455: A tenant or fief . The term is also applied to similar arrangements in other feudal societies. In contrast, fealty ( fidelitas ) was sworn, unconditional loyalty to a monarch. In fully developed vassalage, the lord and the vassal would take part in a commendation ceremony composed of two parts, the homage and the fealty , including the use of Christian sacraments to show its sacred importance. According to Eginhard 's brief description,

210-500: Is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch , in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe . While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain . The rights and obligations of a vassal are called vassalage , while the rights and obligations of a suzerain are called suzerainty . The obligations of a vassal often included military support by knights in exchange for certain privileges, usually including land held as

245-643: The Design School Kolding and the Trapholt Art Museum. The exhibition was held in connection with the United Nations Climate Change Conference and included innovative motorcycles, jewelry and other eco-friendly designs. The exhibition was opened by Crown Prince Frederik . 55°29′30″N 9°28′27″E  /  55.49167°N 9.47417°E  / 55.49167; 9.47417 Vassal A vassal or liege subject

280-473: The commendatio made to Pippin the Younger in 757 by Tassilo III, Duke of Bavaria , involved the relics of Saints Denis, Rusticus, Éleuthère , Martin , and Germain – apparently assembled at Compiegne for the event. Such refinements were not included from the outset when it was time of crisis, war, hunger, etc. Feudal society was increasingly based on the concept of "lordship" (French seigneur ), which

315-471: The 18th century — " feudalism ". These developments proceeded at different rates in various regions. In Merovingian times (5th century to 752), monarchs would reward only the greatest and most trusted vassals with lands. Even at the most extreme devolution of any remnants of central power, in 10th-century France, the majority of vassals still had no fixed estates. The stratification of a fighting band of vassals into distinct groups might roughly correlate with

350-644: The Duke of Schleswig ensued until it was finally decided to build a fortress to defend the southern borders against its troublesome neighbour. It was in the context of this dynastic intrigue that Koldinghus was built. At Kolding, a hill in the centre of the town was chosen as the site for a castle. A moat was dug and wooden palisades erected. This was later to become Koldinghus. In the 16th century cannons became more frequent tools of war and thick walled fortresses like Koldinghus partly lost their defensive significance. For this reason King Christian III added several buildings to

385-455: The benefits of the castles, providing them with a pension. After Frederik III's coup establishing an autocratic regime in Denmark, the feudal approach was abolished. Aalholm became an amt or county with an administration consisting of civil servants. These officers did not necessarily live at Aalholm. Some lived in their own homes, some in nearby Nykøbing . In the 65 years from 1660 to 1725 when

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420-462: The castle may have been contributing factors to the fire which erupted in the early hours of a winter night. The fire was discovered all too late to salvage the main buildings. The ongoing events in the Napoleonic wars were not favourable to the kingdom and funds remained too tight to immediately warrant a reconstruction of the castle. It remained a ruin for several decades to come and over time became

455-512: The castle would be besieged by Holstein and Jutish rebels. The western side was later built by King Christian I (1448–1481). King Christian III (1503–1559) built the south side and the small towers in the courtyard. In 1252 Abel, King of Denmark (1218–1252) was killed during an expedition to Friesland leaving the Danish kingdom without a leader. The natural order of things would be to elect Valdemar III, Duke of Schleswig as king however he

490-411: The castle's exterior. In the 1970s, parts of the castle were opened to the public as a museum, while the former owner established a vintage car museum on Stubberup Farm about one kilometer to the west of the castle. In connection with the sale of the castle and estate in 1995, all the furnishings were auctioned off while the new owner took over the automobile museum. The museum was closed in 2008 owing to

525-425: The cavalry he was bound to contribute to his lord to fight his frequent wars. Such resources, in the absence of a money economy, came only from land and its associated assets, which included peasants as well as wood and water. Many empires have set up vassal states , based on tribes, kingdoms, or city-states, the subjects of which they wish to control without having to conquer or directly govern them. In these cases

560-405: The channel to be followed. Not far to the north and west, there was fertile land where produce could be grown for the castle, with a surplus for the vassal and the king. Moreover, Nysted Nor was the only suitable site for a building of the kind between Nakskov in the south of Lolland and Stubbekøbing in the northeast of Falster. The importance of the area at the time can also be appreciated from

595-420: The dam was built there is now a road, No. 283 from Nysted to Sakskøbing and Rodby . It was built over rather swampy ground but it is unclear exactly when. Although it appears on a map from 1807, it is probably older. In connection with the change of ownership in 1889, the dam south of the castle was closed to the public and a new smaller dam was built on the north side in order to provide additional land. Part of

630-467: The estate was sold to Emerentia von Levetzow, the castle often lay empty. Koldinghus Koldinghus is a Danish royal castle in the town of Kolding on the south central part of the Jutland peninsula . The castle was founded in the 13th century and was expanded since with many functions ranging from fortress, royal residency, ruin, museum, and the location of numerous wartime negotiations. Today

665-605: The fact that the Franciscan monastery in Nysted, built in 1286, was the only one on the islands, especially as the Franciscans always settled in thriving, populated areas where they could rely on the support of the inhabitants. However, it is impossible to trace the early history of the castle as there are no written sources and any archaeological evidence is hidden beneath today's building. The castle has been built and rebuilt even since it

700-424: The fortress and eventually turned it into a royal residence. The new residence became popular among the royal family and Prince Frederick , the heir apparent, grew up at Koldinghus. Christian III sometimes held court at the castle and it was here on 1 January 1559 that he died. When Christian IV became king in 1588 he choose to expand it further with the addition of the “Giant tower”, so named because of

735-520: The four statues of giants from Greek and Roman mythology : ( Hannibal , Hector , Scipio and Hercules ) which adorned it. Today, the only statue on the tower is that of Hercules, since Hannibal and Hector were crushed during the 1808 fire and in a storm in 1854, Scipio fell to the ground. Over the course of time Copenhagen became the focal point of the political power and the outlying local royal residences were used less and less frequently. When Frederik IV became king he decided to remove most of

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770-434: The island of Als , Tårnborg near Korsør, Nyborg , Gurre Castle and Søborg in the north of Zealand, Ravnsborg in northern Lolland and many more. Aalholm was located on a very favorable site, standing on a little island in the inlet known as Nysted Nor. Completely surrounded by water, it was protected from the open sea although ships of all kinds could sail right up to the island, provided they had crews conversant with

805-413: The lake to the north of the new dam was drained and used for cattle. After the pumps were turned off in 2008, the area has once again become a shallow lake. The king's castles which were spread across the country were run by vassals who were responsible for defending the area and either had to provide the king with produce or lend him money in return for the revenues they received. In many cases, however,

840-564: The new term " fief " that had started to supersede "benefice" in the 9th century. An "upper" group comprised great territorial magnates, who were strong enough to ensure the inheritance of their benefice to the heirs of their family. A "lower" group consisted of landless knights attached to a count or duke . This social settling process also received impetus in fundamental changes in the conduct of warfare. As co-ordinated cavalry superseded disorganized infantry , armies became more expensive to maintain. A vassal needed economic resources to equip

875-405: The poor state of the buildings. The cars were sold by RM Auctions on August 12, 2012, realizing sales of 10.2 million Euros. Early on, possibly from the outset, there was an access causeway from Søstræde and Slotsgade in Nysted. It traced an S-shaped course to the south of the castle, possibly all the way to the opposite bank where the castle's farm buildings once stood. Beside the south wing, there

910-469: The remaining surrounding walls leaving Koldinghus as it can be seen today. During the Napoleonic wars in 1808, Denmark had allied herself with France and Spain against among others Sweden and England. It was decided that 30,000 French and Spanish soldiers were to be stationed in Denmark to assist in a campaign to recuperate the Scanian lands lost to Sweden 150 years earlier. The Spanish soldiers arrived during

945-547: The restored castle functions as a museum containing collections of furniture from the 16th century to present, Roman and Gothic church culture, older Danish paintings, crafts focused on ceramics and silver and shifting thematized exhibitions. Koldinghus is managed by the Museum at Koldinghus which was established in 1890. The oldest remaining part of castle is the north side facing the castle lake originally built by King Christoffer III (1441–1448). In 1341 , and from 1368 to 1369

980-504: The structure were afforded equal historic importance. The architects Inger and Johannes Exner conceived the project, which was carried out under the tenure of museum director Poul Dedenroth-Schou, active from 1976 to 2013. The restoration lasted from 1976 and finished in 1993. The restoration was awarded the Europa Nostra Award in 1993. In December 2009, the museum hosted the exhibition e-Collection, organized in collaboration with

1015-406: The towers no roofs. In the 18th century, parts of the south wing were demolished and the east wing was fully renovated. In 1889, a further section of the south wing was pulled down and two new lateral wings were added on the south side of the north wing. As a result, the once rectangular structure now took on a shape resembling a pair of spectacles. Since then there have been no significant changes to

1050-428: The vassals appointed a representative to run the castle and its district as they often owned farms elsewhere in the country and were also required to fight in the king's wars. We know a number of Aalholm's vassals, many of them members of the Danish nobility. Later, some of them stemmed from Mecklenburg or Holstein , simply acting in as officials. In certain periods, the kings would allow their widowed mothers to enjoy

1085-448: The winter of 1808 and were quartered at Koldinghus under the supervision of their French commander Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte (later to become king of Sweden and Norway). The Scandinavian climate typically being somewhat colder than that of Spain and France reportedly resulted in much activity around the furnaces and stoves to the extent of even furniture being set alight. This combined with the unusually large number of people concentrated in

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1120-475: Was a bridge to the dam. As time went by, groundfilling works were undertaken and in 1796 a small garden was added on the west side of the castle. In 1814 and during the 1830s, a large park-like facility was built in Hestehave Woods southwest of the farm. At some point, maybe in the 1890s, a walled garden with greenhouses and a water tower was added west of the castle. To the north of the lake which formed after

1155-483: Was founded. The oldest part of the existing building is the north wing, thought to date from the 14th and 15th centuries. Thereafter, there is plenty of documentation on restoration and refurbishment, sometimes also revealing the poor state of the building. For example, in the 1550s, bricks from the Franciscan monastery were used to repair the castle while after the Swedish Wars of 1657-1660, the building had no windows and

1190-465: Was in a prison cell in Cologne . This prompted the election of Abel's brother, Christoffer I , as the new king. After King Christoffer I was murdered in 1259, his son Eric V of Denmark (1249–1286) was elected king. Eric was just ten years old at the time and faced claims to the throne from the sons of King Abel of Slesvig led by Eric I, Duke of Schleswig . Several wars between the king of Denmark and

1225-468: Was one of the distinguishing features of the Early Middle Ages and had evolved from times of Late Antiquity . In the time of Charlemagne (ruled 768–814), the connection slowly developed between vassalage and the grant of land, the main form of wealth at that time. Contemporaneous social developments included agricultural " manorialism " and the social and legal structures labelled — but only since

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