Adelsburgen, Castles, and Fortifications in the Carolingian and Ottonian Empires

The study of early medieval royal fortress policy and the control over the construction of fortifications has suffered from two opposing scholarly traditions, both of which have led to a false narrative regarding the decline of governmental power. One school of thought holds that early medieval governments sought to control the construction of every type of fortification ranging from hamlets with ditches and fences and fortified homes to massive, militarily significant strongholds. The proliferation of small-scale fortifications in the regions of the Carolingian Empire, particularly in the period from the mid-ninth century onward, therefore, is presented as evidence of a failure of royal power. Another school of thought begins from the assumption that royal power never was very strong, particularly in the eastern regions of the Carolingian Empire, and even less so under the Ottonians in the tenth and early eleventh centuries. Consequently, fortifications of all types, including large-scale installations, are presented as the work of the “nobility” acting in its own interests, and the fortifications, themselves, are denoted as Adelsburgen or Herrenburgen.