Karneid Castle

About

Karneid Castle (Italian: Cornedo all'Isarco) is a castle in northern Italy situated in the comune (municipality) of Karneid in the province of South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 4 km east of the city of Bolzano (Bozen).

A 20th century analysis of the castle by the historian Martin Bitschnau suggests it was constructed on the site of an earlier smaller building in the early 13th CE by unknown vassals of the Prince-Bishopric of Brixen, an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire.

The fortress stands perched dramatically on an inaccessible cliff face above the confluence of the Eggental and the Eisack rivers, on the historically resonant ancient border between the kingdoms of the Lombards and the Bavarii. The name 'Karneid' derives from the Latin "cornus" meaning “horn”.

The Keep The heart of the castle, with a floor plan of 7.4 x 6.8m and walls of 2.1m thickness throughout. The limited internal dimensions indicate that this tower is not intended to be inhabited for long periods. Its function is as a watchtower and visible expression of judicial power. The entrance to the tower is 8m above ground in order to impede access in case of war. From the windowless basement a wooden trap door descends into the dungeon. Small windows and loopholes on two floors form architectural and defence elements typical of the period.

The Hall Until about 1200, the home of a nobleman or feudal lord in this part of the world was a residence in the local town or village. A castle tended to be solely a fortified place of refuge, usually just a tower surrounded by a wall. The construction of castles at higher vantage points with a residential building or great hall was an innovation brought about by the increasing desire of ruling families in the 13th century to project power and wealth as part of the so-called Vertikalverschiebung or vertical shift. The two-story hall in Karneid on the northern corner of the keep speaks for the wealth and status of its owner. Inwardly sloping roofs are designed so that rainwater can flow over gutters into a cistern carved out of the rock in the middle of a central courtyard. An inner wall connects the keep and hall to the east and west. The Curtain Wall Surrounding the hall, keep and inner wall is the curtain wall. There is a gate in the south east corner of the wall, opposite the keep. Access to the gate is by a wooden bridge over a man-made ditch sealing off the east side of the terrain. A wooden battlement runs along the inside of the curtain wall for defence purposes. 1246

The first documented reference to 'Corneit', referring to a certain 'paumannum de Corneit' and his spouse Yrmengarde.

The Outer Ward In the 2nd half of the 13th Century, a protective outer wall up to one metre thick is added on the only remaining unprotected side of the castle to the north, creating a narrow outer ward or Zwinger. At the same time a gatehouse is built between the curtain and outer wall in the north east corner and the original entrance is walled up. Access to the keep, bailey and hall is now through the far western side of the curtain wall, making access for an attacker more difficult and dangerous. Defence techniques of the time sought to design access to castles and fortifications from right to left, forcing an attacker carrying a shield on his left arm to attack with an unprotected sword arm. The location of Karneid, facing north with access from the east, made this impossible, so the castle's defences are designed to force any attackers along a long corridor between high walls from left to right, exposing them for as long as possible to targeted attacks by defenders stationed on the curtain wall. 1295

‘Castrum de Corneit’ is documented for the first time as fief of the Bishopric of Brixen.

A two storey building is constructed outside the curtain wall in the south west corner. Another building within the wall, immediately adjoining the west gate is also from this period.

Western Gate At the beginning of the 14th Century a fortified gatehouse is constructed at the end of the defensive corridor between curtain and outer wall, further improving the defences of the inner castle and bailey. An opening is also created in the outer wall, leading to a small castle garden situated outside the curtain wall. Anyone wanting access to the bailey has to approach the gatehouse via an unusual protruding curved wall. A loophole set in the gatehouse behind this wall gives defenders an improved view of anyone approaching the entrance and an opportunity to attack them if necessary. Kitchen and South Wing The south side of the western outer wall has a single storey building with basement added that serves as the castle kitchen. At the same time, at the southern and most inaccessible point between cliff face and keep, a two storey building is added. The coping to the entrance dates this building to the early 14th Century.

Chapel A chapel is built with the eastern corner of the keep protruding sharply into its western wall. A flat roof supports a second story, accessed from the bailey. A chapel in a ministerial residence is unusual for the period and speaks for the wealth and status of its builders. The interior frescoes are a rare example of the early gothic style in the region and are attributed to the workshop of the Johanisskirche in Brixen. 1348

Heinrich von Völs, the first documented feudal lord to name himself after Karneid, dies leaving six children: Katharina, Margaretha, Klara, Oswald, Nikolaus and Heinrich. His sons die without heirs whilst Katharina marries Botzo de Bambarossi, Magaretha Arnold von Niederthor and Klara Ritter Joachim von Villanders. Klara dies without issue. 1366

The husbands of Heinrich's two surviving daughters and the Völs family dispute Heinrich's inheritance; A court rules that Castle Karneid and its feudal rights be awarded to Botzo de Bambarossi and Arnold von Niederthor and the remaining lands and estates to the Völs family.

Botzo and Arnold are unable to agree shared ownership of Karneid, and so the castle escheats to the state and on 18 April 1370 the Dukes Albert and Leopold of Austria invest Karneid in Heinrich Gessler von Meienberg, Leopold's long serving imperial chamberlain, advisor and military governor. Heinrich’s estates lie mainly in Aargau, Zürichgau and Frickgau in modern Switzerland and Karneid remains of little interest to him. 1371

Heinrich returns the Karneider fief. The Dukes of Austria award it to Friedrich von Greifenstein and Hans Berger, Duke Leopold's chamberlain. 1375

Hans Berger sells his share of the fief to Friedrich von Greifenstein. 1386

After the death of Friedrich von Greifenstein's son Fritzman at the Battle of Sempach, the fief is sold to Heinrich IV von Liechtenstein. Heinrich is a prominent figure at the court of the Prince Bishop of Trent and holds several important offices. His family (not related to the modern rulers of Liechtenstein or the family of Ulrich von Liechtenstein ) also possesses the Castle Haselburg near Bolzano. 1387

Duke Albrecht of Austria officially invests Heinrich von Lichtenstein with the fief of Karneid and Steinegg.

After Heinrich’s death, his sons Hans Heinrich and Wilhelm von Lichtenstein are drawn into a bloody civil war between Friedrich IV, Duke of Austria and Heinrich VI. von Rottenburg. The Rottenburgs are the wealthiest and most powerful family in Tyrol and in 1410 they make an alliance with the Duchy of Bavaria and begin a military campaign to expel the Habsburgs and become rulers of Tyrol. Karneid sides with the Rottenburgs and is successfully besieged for the only time in its history. The rebellion fails, Karneid is overrun by the Habsburgs and Hans von Lichtenstein dies soon afterwards. Wilhelm is forced to swear loyalty to the Habsburgs before being released from prison and being re-invested with Karneid. The feud drastically weakens the Lichtensteins financially and politically. 1414

There is a dispute between the heirs of Hans Heinrich & Wilhelm; Karneid and its incomes is divided in two. 1450