A Herman Ottó Múzeum Évkönyve 19. (1980)

SÁNDORFI György: Motte típusú várak a történeti Borsod vármegyében

MOTTE-TÍPUSÜ VÁRAK A TÖRTÉNETI BORSOD VÁRMEGYÉBEN 41 Bükkábrány—Temető The territory as a prehistoric site has long been known. No finds from the Middle Ages have yet been found, but the situation and the sketch map show unilaterally that the prehistoric settlement was occupied in the Middle Ages by a motte. Now the cemetery of the village can be found there. Considering its measurements it must have been a feudal centre, just like most of the Western-European mottes with average measurements. The name of the village is known since 1221, it used to have mutual border with Nyárád belonging to the estate of the bishopric of Eger. The dating of the castle is a future task. Szihalom—Árpádvár The finds from the Bronze Age and the Árpád Era are well known. There are no documents about the castle, but its type is characteristic of the Middle Ages. The teritory is built in, thus its form is not so striking than oin ther cases. According to its defence territory it is among the medium-sized castles. The settlement was mentioned in Anonimus* Gesta (cca 1200). A principal or royal court (curtis) existed here in the 11th c. In 1261 it was the estate of Eger just like Kisgyőr with Leányvár and Halomvár. The castle originates, possibly, from the 11th—13th cc. Sajónémeti— Várhegy In its present state the castle seems to show two independent mottes. The documents refer to the castles on ocasion of the Hussite events, mixing the names castle (castrum) and palace (castellum). L. Dobosi, researcher, revealed (1975) that under the castle in the present cemetery a palace used to stand, the walls of which are still to be found under the earth. Ceramic material found there can be dated from the 14th c. Sajónémeti as a settlement is known in documents since 1219. The first motte is a little and very early one, earlier than the Hussite movements. It is supposed that the mottes of the Sajónémeti "Óvár" were built around the time of the Tartarian invasion and later they were left as living palace, just like the Visegrád one, and a new palace was built under it in the 14th c. As the palace was not fortified the old castle must have been used later during wars. The research of castles from the early centuries of the Hungarian state is still in its first period, and the problems are numerous. The documents are missing from before the 13th c. thus we cannot rely exclusively on them in study of the castles in Hungary. Only the consideration and complex elaboration of the archaeological finds together with the documents can yield further data. György Sándor fi