page_title: Karneid Castle
section_title: 14th Century
hierarchical_section_title: Karneid Castle / Chronology / 14th Century
caption_attribution_description: &#160;&#160;This media shows the cultural heritage monument with the number 15236 in South Tyrol. English: Karneid Castle Plan 1325
context_page_description: Karneid Castle is a castle in northern Italy situated in the comune 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.
context_section_description: 1300
  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.
  1325
  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.
  1370
  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.
caption: Karneid Castle Plan 1325
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