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The construction of the stronghold was closely connected with the Estonians’ fight against the German feudals. In 1227 the last Estonian county – Saaremaa surrendered to the German crusaders. A small feudal state was formed of Läänemaa and the West-Estonian islands in the years 1228–1234: it was Saare–Lääne (Oesel–Wiek) Bishopric with the territory of about 7600 sq. km. The centre of the bishopric was Haapsalu since 1265. The impact of the foreign rule on the island was not so strong and the islanders maintained some privileges. The stronghold of the bishop in Saaremaa – Kuressaare Castle-Fortress (Arensburg) is one of the most interesting and best preserved fortification structures in Estonia. Contrary to numerous other Estonian medieval castles Arensburg survived the Livonian War (1558–83) and continued to develop under its new owners. In the early 17th century at the latest the medieval Konventhaus and the surrounding walls became a fortress with rampart fortifications and bastions, which was gradually modernized during the following couple of centuries. Fortunately this process proceeded relatively peacefully and very rationally. Wherever possible everything that had been built earlier was used but not demolished. As a result the Kuressaare fortress has become a peculiar a crosscut of the development of different fortification ideas and theories from the 14th to the 19th century, which is noticeable in the whole Northern Europe context.
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