Imperial castle

While in the early middle ages, in Francia, as well as in the early Holy Roman Empire, kings and emperors travelled around their realm with their itinerant courts, using their Kaiserpfalzen (imperial palaces) as transit stations and temporary residences, the weakly fortified pfalzen were replaced by imperial castles from the 13th century onwards.

However, the stronger fortification of palaces had already begun in the Hohenstaufen period, as shown by the 3D reconstruction of the castle-like imperial pfalz of Haguenau designed by emperor Frederick Barbarossa in the middle of the 12th century.

They oppressed less powerful nobles, fought the urban rulers (patricians and guilds), illegally seized imperial fiefdoms, introduced customs duties, new taxes and even royal regalia.

In this situation, the barely fortified pfalzen no longer offered sufficient security to the German kings.

In France and England, from the 13th century onwards, stationary royal residences had begun to develop into capital cities that grew rapidly and developed corresponding infrastructure: the Palais de la Cité and the Palace of Westminster became the respective main residences.