Styresholm

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The castle Styresholm refers to a medieval fortress near the Swedish town Prästmon in today's community Kramfors . Today it is on the banks of the Ångermanälven , but in the 14th century it was on an island in the middle of the river.

Styresholm was built by the Vitalienbrothers towards the end of the 14th century . At the same time as it was first mentioned in a deed of lease in 1398, the castle, including the associated province of Ångermanland and half of Medelpad, was handed over to Queen Margarete . The vitality brothers received a fief in return . The castle itself was integrated into the administration and was inhabited by Danish bailiffs from 1400, who levied taxes on Margarete's trade in Ångermanland. The last time Styresholm is mentioned is in documents 1405 when Algot Magnusson took over the castle. At that time it belonged to a series of castles and fortifications that the Vitalienbrüder had built in the Bothnian Sea . Other castles were Faxeholm in today's Söderhamn , Ekholm / Gaddaborg in Gästrikland and Korsholm in Finland .

The northern part of the island is criss-crossed by two moats , creating two plateaus . The northern one measures about 8-16x30 meters and stands out five meters from the surrounding landscape. A total of three phases could be determined by investigations in 2007. The two fire camps found were each covered over by new construction phases. In addition, charred wood debris and planks were found, and earlier results confirmed that the eastern part of the castle was eroded by the river. The southern plateau measures 20x16 meters and is surrounded by a heaped wall in the north, west and south. A 10x6 meter and one meter deep pit was found on the plateau, which probably came from a house with a cellar.

Towards the end of the 14th century, the waterline was about five meters higher than it is today, so that the island was completely surrounded by water. Later on, the area west of the island silted up and is now connected to the mainland.

Excavations have been taking place since 1987 as part of the “Styresholmsprojektet” and some finds have come to light.

literature

Coordinates: 63 ° 4 ′ 37 ″  N , 17 ° 45 ′ 40 ″  E