Toll castle
Encyclopedia
A toll castle is a castle
that, in the Middle Ages
and the Early Modern Era guarded a customs post and was intended to control it. It thus always stood in the vicinity of an important long-distance trade route over, for example, the Alpine passes or the Middle Rhine
. Such a castle was usually strategically placed at convenient locations, such as inter-regional border crossings, river crossings or mountain pass
es, and was manned by armed guards. The actual toll-collecting point lay at its feet and was often linked by walls to the fortifications.
Toll castles were subordinate to their respective territorial lords and most discharged administrative and other duties as well, for example Stahleck Castle above Bacharach
. By contrast, Pfalzgrafenstein Castle, which stood on the Rhine near Kaub
, was only a customs post and only collected tolls.
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
that, in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and the Early Modern Era guarded a customs post and was intended to control it. It thus always stood in the vicinity of an important long-distance trade route over, for example, the Alpine passes or the Middle Rhine
Middle Rhine
Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the Rhine River flows as the Middle Rhine through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river at about its original level, and the surrounding lands raised...
. Such a castle was usually strategically placed at convenient locations, such as inter-regional border crossings, river crossings or mountain pass
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
es, and was manned by armed guards. The actual toll-collecting point lay at its feet and was often linked by walls to the fortifications.
Toll castles were subordinate to their respective territorial lords and most discharged administrative and other duties as well, for example Stahleck Castle above Bacharach
Bacharach
Bacharach is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Rhein-Nahe, whose seat is in Bingen am Rhein, although that town is not within its bounds....
. By contrast, Pfalzgrafenstein Castle, which stood on the Rhine near Kaub
Kaub
Kaub is a town in Germany, state Rhineland-Palatinate, district Rhein-Lahn-Kreis. It is part of the municipality Loreley. It is located on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 50 km west from Wiesbaden. It is connected to Wiesbaden and Koblenz by railway. Population 1100...
, was only a customs post and only collected tolls.
Sources
- Horst Wolfgang Böhme, Reinhard Friedrich, Barbara Schock-Werner (ed.): Wörterbuch der Burgen, Schlösser und Festungen. Philipp Reclam, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-15-010547-1, p. 272.