A Herman Ottó Múzeum Évkönyve 19. (1980)

SÁNDORFI György: Motte típusú várak a történeti Borsod vármegyében

MOTTE-TÍPUSÚ VÁRAK A TÖRTÉNETI BORSOD VÁRMEGYÉBEN 39 hettek az Óvár sáncaiba az új, talán ágyúállások a három könnyen támadható oldal irányába. Ezek pedig már a huszita korra jellemzők. Véleményünk szerint a huszita kori események az Óvár második, nagy mottójára vonatkoztathatók. A korai magyar századok várépítészetének kutatása még sok problémát rejt magában. Az oklevelek a XIII. század végéig nem adnak lehetőséget arra, hogy csupán a belőlük nyert adatokból az országban levő várak helyzetére, számára megbízhatóan lehessen általánosítani. Csak a terepen található emlékanyag számbavétele, az okleveles adatokkal együtt történő komplex feldolgozása visz bennünket előre egy-egy részkérdés megoldásában. CASTLES OF MOTTE TYPE IN THE ONE-TIME BORSOD COUNTY (Abstract) The study of earthen fortifications has been upswinging during the last decade in county Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén. Five earthen castles of Motte type have been elaborated (Miskolc

—Leány vár, Kisgy őr—Halomvár, Bükkábrány—Temető, Szihalom—Árpád-vár, Sajónémeti—Várhegy). No castles of Motte type have been described in Hungarian technical literature so far. The motte is an artificial hill, filled up or carved off, surrounded with a ditch, on the top of which a building made of stone or wood served for defence. A so called pre-fort was attached to the main hill standing either on the original level or on a little higher ground cantaining usually the economic estates (M. Miiller-Wille 1966). This type of fortifications used to be widespread throughout West-Europe. Its oroginal home was, possibly, Normandy. It is pictured on the Bayeux carpet presenting the castles of Dol, Rennes, Dinan, Bayeux and Hastings from the 11th c, from the time of William the Conqueror's campaign. There are several differences among the castles. The simplest one is the castle of Dol with well outlined ditch around it. The castle of Rennes is stronger but the ditch is replaced by timber-wall (palisade). The noblest one is the castle of Dinan, where the balcony-like projection served the defence. The motte of Bayeux stands on a steep hill, thus no ditch or palisade can be seen around it. The castle of Hastings was built by the Norman conquerors in England. The picture shows the building of the castle. The study of the mottes has begun in West-Europe already in the last century. Its technical literature is rich and many fold. The totally unearthed castles on the Rhein, Husterkupp and Meerbusch, come from the 9th c. The mottes are also studied in Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia, where they appeared in the 11th—13th cc. No mottes are known from Transylvania, though there are some similar castles from the llth-12th cc. (Firtos, Budvár, Tartód, Kustaly). Some historians, searching only in documents, hold that private castles were first built in Hungary only after the Tartarian invasion (1242). Others at the beginning of the century thought, though unbased, that all the castles without documents were founded by the Slavs. The archaeological finds, however, prove that no castles, except for Zala vár, were founded by the Slavs. The recent discoveries have shown that the private castles were built in Hungary, just like in other parts of Europe, in the time of the early feudalism, in the Ilth—13th cc. appearing in the documents somewhat later, mainly from the 14th c. onwards. Mottes were built first of all on the plains or on the hills. In Hungary the study of the