Fire beacon

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A fire beacon was an essential part of a fortress. It allowed long-distance communication with other fortresses or ships nearby, to send messages quickly and reliably. Not only military messages could be sent, but also urgent pleas for assistance (for example “We need a midwife to come over quickly” as described by Han Leune). However, today, we don’t know the sign language that was used, although it must have been known widely. A general message was passed from one fortress to the next one and could travel at more than 150 km/h through the network of fortresses.