User:Alessandro Baccin

The Codex Brandis, which was presumably compiled between 1607 and 1629, is without doubt, the most important iconographic document regarding the castles of Tyrol which was then part of the Holy Roman Empire. The strategic importance of the county of Tyrol had been known since Roman Times when the Romans built the Imperial Via Claudia Augusta. The area became even more important during the Middle Ages and later as part of the Hapsburg Empire when the via Claudia Augusta was a much-trafficed route between the north and south for both  commercial and military purposes. At that time, it was essential to establish a capillary, systematic control of the roads, rivers and other means of communication in order to maintain a reliable system of defense and control points. This means that, over the coming centuries, hundreds of castles and fortified residences were built throughout the region. A man of significant culture, Count Jakob Andra Brandis from Lana, the so-called “captain” or ruler of the vast county which extended from the town of Kufstein as far as Borghetto, to the south of Trento, appointed a talented artist to sketch the various castles, fortified towns and noble mansions. The name of this artist is, unfortunately, unknown as are the exact dates of the different sketches even though we can make a reasonable estimate from some of the details the drawings show. It is, furthermore, not known why these sketches were considered necessary though some experts claim that they were to be included in a a contemporary publication about the history of Tyrol which the count himself was compiling. Other historians point out that the collection may have been needed by the governing authority who wished to have proof regarding the wealth and estates of the castle and fortress owners without actually asking the proprietors themselves. This information was necessary to enable the county collect funds to finance the Thirty Years War which broke out in 1618.

History

The Codex Brandis is comprised of 105 pages each measuring 22.00 x 16.6 cm. The precious document was in the possession of the noble Brandis family of Lana for five centuries until 1989 when its owners presented it to the Archive Office of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano in whose vaults it remains to this day. The first experts to research the codex were Count Oswald Trapp and later, in 1975, professor Nicolo Rasmo. It had never been seen in public in its integral, complete form until 2018. Since 2012, it has been the subject of a project carried out by a group of researchers co-ordinated by the Tangram Association of Merano which intends publishing all the sketches in their original form together with various relevant texts. Their work will provide invaluable information regarding the history of the county of Tyrol in the seventeenth century.

Contents

The first sketches in the Codex Brandis refer to the Burgraviato region, the Venosta Valley and the Upper Inn Valley. This latter area, then part of Tyrol, now belongs to Austria. The Burgraviato, which includes the Merano Basin and immediate surroundings, features in 15 sketches which include 20 different views of various fortified buildings while the Venosta Valley comprises 16 sketches  and 26 different views. 12 drawings accompanied by 17 different views of the various buildings refer to the Upper Inn Valley and part of Engadine, which then belonged to the County of Tyrol. The Adige Valley, the land between the present-day Lana council area and that of the village of Termeno to the north of Bolzano, comprises 16 sketches and 34 different views. The collection continues with 18 sketches and 34 views of castles in the Non Valley and the Sole Valley. It finishes with the various castles between the little town of Salorno and the southern boundary of the county which now corresponds to the Lower Trento region where the drawing of the village of Borghetto shows the borders with the Venetian Republic of those times. Each different area has its own title page which was added at a later date.

The views of the first three areas of the Codex Brandis

The sketches referring to the first three geographic areas include the following subjects as shown, in order, according to the eighteenth century compilation: Giovo Castle, Scena Castle, Gaiano Castle, Gatto Castle, Verruca Castle, Eschenlohe Castle, San Zeno Castle, Aura Castle, [|Tyrol Castle], Fontana Castle, Knillenberg Castle, Reichenbach Castle, Rottenstein Castle, Winkel Castle, Rubein Castle, Trauttmansdorff Castle, Rametz Castle, Labers Castle, the convent of Maria Steinach in Lagundo, Foresta Castle, the Tel customs post, Stachlburg Castle, Naturno Castle, Taranto Castle, Juval Castle, the Certosa monastry in the Senales Valley, Castelbello Castle, the castle and village of Laces, Monte Sant‘Anna Castle and Coldrano Castle, the Castles of Upper and Lower Montani, Montechiaro Castle, Coira Castle, the fortified city of Glorenza, the Princes Castle, the Tubre valley, Rotund Castle and Reichenberg Castle, St. Petersburg Castle, the Austrian town of Imst and the surrounding area, Kronburg Castle and Schrofenstein Castle, the fortified control post at Lotz, Landeck Castle, Wiesberg Castle and Bideneck Castle, the Finstermunz fortifications, the St. Nicolas control post and Tarasp Castle in Engadine.