Gothic Era under the House of Pernštejn

In 1475, the indebted estate was bought by William of Pernštejn who created a vast dominion in Central Moravia (which included Helfštýn, Hranice, Přerov, Plumlov, Prostějov, Drahotuše, Tovačov, Veselíčko, Buk), with Helfštýn in its very centre. A new era of prosperity began, during which the buildings within the castle core were extensively rebuilt and the total area of the castle almost doubled. William stayed frequently at the castle and began using the extended predicate “of Pernštejn & Helfštejn”, one that he did not give up until his death. Historians say that his fondness of Helfštýn is evidenced in his documents where he frequently used the words “at our beloved Helfštýn”.

Progressive defensive structures and outbuildings at the second courtyard were built before 1480 when William also ordered that a relief plate depicting the Pernštejn family legend be placed on the face of the forward prismatic tower. Helfštýn grew in size up until the early 16th century due to better military use of the fortress. The buildings and fortifications bear evidence of exquisite craftsmanship and enormous costs expended by William of Pernštejn for the redevelopment of Helfštýn. The ground plan of the castle definitively became oblong.

Some researchers point out that during William’s rule of Helfštýn, stonework was performed by bricklayers as part of their servitude and they were making a large quantity of standardised stone elements for the stock to make manufacture more efficient and cheaper. Such elements were then used unchanged for decades, and therefore their appearance remained the same at Pernštejn’s buildings.

William (d. 1521) passed the estate to his son, John the Rich, Lord Chamberlain and Governor of Moravia. We assume John continued his father’s activities and reinforced the castle’s outer fortification by a system of wood-and-clay walls and roundels. The fortification of Helfštýn was capped by the construction of an artillery barrier, a wide fortification wall with two towers, two bastions, and six casemate gunports. It was quite likely John of Pernštejn who unified the stand-alone buildings in the castle core into one whole.