Page 606 - Het middeleeuwse kastelenlandschap van het Oversticht - Diana Spiekhout

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Summary
The first clues that powers other than the bishop began building and developing castles in Oversticht date back to the first quarter of the thirteenth century. The free noble family Van Buckhorst then appeared to own a castle, for example. The ministeriales of Van Voorst even had two. It is possible that the Van Coevordens had possession of Laar castle at this time. Zernike castle also already existed. Moreover, these castles, with the exception of Zernike, were destroyed or demolished by the bishop at some point during punitive expeditions. It is also clear that, in the case of Buckhorst, the bishop attempted to limit the construction of castles for military or defensive purposes. By destroying a castle of potentates striving for autonomy on episcopal grounds, he subverted the power of the noble families they belonged to and avoided situations through which hostile military strongholds would arise in his territory.
From 1227, a new development in castle construction arose in connection with the party conflict in the northern part of the Oversticht region. Although the bishop, in his role as a territorial ruler, made various attempts to reconcile the parties involved, he was unable to achieve his goals due to his precarious financial position. In this phase, parties found it easier to erect fortifications without permission from the bishop. These were almost exclusively structures with a military function, built at strategic locations. A prime example is the Nutspete/Mitspete fortification, built by inhabitants of the region of present-day Drenthe in a place where they had previously fought a battle.
In the thirteenth century and the first half of the fourteenth century, the bishop lost control of his own castles. This was a huge problem for him and was caused by the fact that his representatives, the burgraves, had been granted their positions in fealty. Although, in theory, they were required to serve their lord, many of them desired independence. The castles that belonged to the bishop’s territory unintentionally became the ancestral homes of these vassals. This first occurred in Coevorden. As early as the late twelfth century, it became clear that the resident burgrave was not working in the interests of his bishop. The situation escalated in 1227, when he and a number of his party turned against their lord. In a final attempt to subvert the power of his vassal, the bishop built Hardenberg castle along the Vecht river, to serve as a stronghold for keeping the burgrave of Coevorden under control. Here, descendants of the victims of the battle at Ane were able to capture the burgrave and sentence him. However, in the long term, this removal yielded little result. The Van Coevorden family was able to regain control and keep their bishop’s castle in the decades after, until the year 1395. Their fellow burgraves in Kuinre and Goor wanted the same autonomy. The latter, however, was forcefully removed from his position by the King.
Despite the problems with this inherited form of servitude, the bishop did not change his policy until 1350. He built or acquired the Lage castle, which served as a border stronghold against the Bentheim territory (previously under the control of the bishop), and there granted the position of burgrave in fealty to a vassal. Various motives resulted in the attempt to construct a castle at Stellingwerf in 1309. Not only did the bishop hope to effectively subdue the disobedient Frisians from this stronghold and regain control of the lost territory, he also wanted the residents of Stellingwerf to pay him for the use of hay meadows and pastures belonging to his serfs at IJsselham and Blankenham during the summer months.
In this turbulent political climate, other parties saw an opportunity to build their own castles with functional military architecture. In Drenthe and the Gorecht area in particular, new fortifications were constructed in the second half of the thirteenth century, such as that in Eelde, Klinkenberg and Gronenburg. Whether these fortifications served a solely military function in the battle of the parties of the northern Oversticht region, or also as homes for noble families, is as yet unclear. As in previous periods, the locations were strategically chosen. In regard to Gronenburg, we know that it was intentionally built in a meander of the Hunze river, resulting in an almost complete enclosure of this watercourse. Cortinghuis, Jodenkerkhof and Borgbachien were also positioned in a similar place within the horseshoe of a meander.