Pontefract Castle at Pontefract was among such properties under threat which roused Bolingbroke to return to England to claim his rights to the Duchy of Lancaster and the properties of his father. Act 2, scene 1, of Shakespeare's play "Richard II" relates Bolingbroke’s homecoming in the words of Northumberland in the speech of the eight tall ships:- When he landed at Ravenspur on the Humber he made straight way for his castle at Pontefract. The King, being in Ireland at the time, was in no position to oppose Bolingbroke who deposed Richard and took the crown for himself as Henry IV. Richard
Sparrenberg Castle protection for the city of Bielefeld, probably founded around 1200. Because the construction of a protective castle generally predates the foundation of a town, it is assumed that there was an older castle. In 1256, the castle was first mentioned in records. In 1346, Bernard, Count of Ravensberg died without issue and, with his death, the line of Calvelage-Ravensberg was extinguished. The castle was transferred through marriage to Count Gerhard I of Jülich-Berg, who had been married to Bernard's niece Margaret since 1338, and its function as the ruling seat was lost. On 18 November 1377, Emperor Charles IV stayed