Stories From the Border of the Empire

The Vinica Castle and the Semenič Family, Beginnings and First Owners in Light of New Archival Sources

Abstract

The article describes the beginnings and first owners of the Vinica Castle in White Carniola. Based on available archival materials and construction elements, early authors dated the origins of the Vinica Castle to somewhere between the mid-15th and 16th century. The recently discovered archival materials from the Prussian Cultural Institution (Preussische Kulturstiftung), that contain a reference to a property dispute between the Semenič family and the Teutonic Order in the early 16th century, substantiated these assumptions with new data. The construction of the castle and the fortifications dates back to the last quarter of the 15th century, when a priest from Vinica, Wilhelm Graman, and Wilhelm Semenič agreed that the Teutonic Order and the Semenič family would join efforts in erecting a new castle building and fortifications to protect their serfs. After Graman’s death, the Semenič family laid claim to the castle and thus initiated a property dispute with the Teutonic Order. The castle was seized in 1500 and by 1520 returned to the Semenič family, in whose possession it remained until the beginning of the 17th century.