Hatházi Gábor - Kovács Gyöngyi: A váli gótikus templom. Adatok Vál 14 -17. századi történetéhez - Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei. B. sorozat 45. (Székesfehérvár, 1996)
Felhasznált irodalom
GÁBOR HATHÁZI - GYÖNGYI KOVÁCS THE GOTHIC CHURCH TOWER IN VÁL (Data to the 14th-17th century history of Vál) SUMMARY (TRANSLATION: MAGDALÉNA SELEANU) The village of Vál in county Fejér lies some 40 km southwest of Budapest. It is first mentioned in 1186, in a charter whose authenticity has been challenged. The 13th to 15th century changes in the owners of the estates is richly documented, and shows that this region had mainly been populated by various members of the lesser nobility. At the turn of the 15th-16th centuries the overwhelming majority of the estates was concentrated in the hands of two families, the Somme and the Endrédi Somogyi clans, whilst the Sárkány family came to play an increasingly important role during the 16th century. In 1541 King Ferdinand donated Vál to the town of Székesfehérvár. The occupation of Székesfehérvár by the Turks in 1543 opened a new chapter in the history of the region and, also, of Vál. Ottoman sources first mention Vál in the third year of the Turkish occupation (1546). The first register (defter) records 148 families with a revenue of 30,000 akce; wheat and wine production in the area is apparently on par with the average of other settlements in the Buda sanjak. The beneficiary, however, is unknown. The raids from the Hungarian line of fortifications across the border, however, increased to such an extent that by the late 1540s Vál was threatened by an almost total abandonment since the inhabitanst fled to the sanjak bey of Székesfehérvár for shelter and protection. This may be the reason that Vál, which occupied a key strategic position, was fortified in 1550 and a Turkish garrison was stationed in its palisade fortress. The one-time Turkish palisade fortress at Vál controlled one of the westernmost border regions of the European vilayets, (provinces) of the Ottoman Empire; as a fortress in the fortification line between Székesfehérvár and Esztergom, and as an outpost of Székesfehérvár it fended off attacks from the Hapsburg controlled areas of Western Hungary; by controlling the natural pass through the densely forested mountains encircling the Váli valley, it also defended the last Danubian stretch of the military road connecting Buda with Adrianople. The garrison stationed in the fortress was fairly insignificant at first. On the testimony of the 1552-53 payroll the garrison was about 50 strong (although this number is probably inaccurate). As it turned out, this force proved incapable of warding off enemy attacks: the village was set on fire in 1556 and the palisade was also stormed. The extent of the assault is indicated by the fact that by 1559 the number of villagers had shrunk to one-half ofthat in 1546 even though, surprisingly enough, revenues remained steady. Bey Hamza of Székesfehérvár, the khass-holder of the village, apparently learnt his lesson for he enlarged the garrison to 113 men the very same year, and reinforced it with élite regular troops (janissaries) and artillery men. This radical change came as an unpleasant surprise to the Hungarian marauding troops who suffered a catastrophic defeat at Vál in 1564. This defeat discouraged them from further assaults on Vál and the ensuing peaceful period saw a marked economic upswing in the life of the settlement. In the 1562 defter Vál is described as a market town; its seigniorial revenues had more than doubled (to 71,522 akce), whilst wheat production grew fourfold and wine production increased threefold. Prosperity is reflected by the fact that Vál became a Sultanic khass estate - growing into one of the four major wheat producing khass towns of the Buda sanjak- and retained this status until the decline of the Turkish rule. This would also explain why - beside the obvious strategic rationale - the palisade fortress was transferred from the authority of the Székesfehérvár bey to under the direct control of the Pasha of Buda at rougly the same time. The geographer Asik Mehmed who in 1594 personally visited Vál accentuated the importance of the place. (Asik Mehmed's description is known from Behram Dimiski's late 17th century transcript). The garrison of the fortress remained unchanged until the last quarter of the 16th century, retaining the same size (108-111 strong) and composition as originally established by Hamza bey. However, the peaceful flourishing of the market town, defended by a garrison unusually large for the region, did not prove to be lasting. Beginning with 1576 raids on Vál became increasingly more frequent, and by 1580 the population had decreased by 30 per cent, whilst its seigniorial revenues shrunk to one-half. The doubling of the garrison to 207 men in 1577 was to no avail and in 1586 the enlargement of the palisade was resolved. The letters and various reports written by the pashas of Buda indicate that the Vál garrison — often driven back into its fort — proved incapable of controlling the border and vital roads; on occasion the Hungarian troops advanced as far as the Danube. The palisade fortress was twice, albeit briefly, occupied by the Hungarians between 1598 and 1602. The fort was unable to recapture its former importance in the 17th century; the payroll from 1628-29 suggests that the garrison was now only manned by 77 soldiers. As a fort that had lost its former significance - and barely managed to fulfill its military function - it is rarely mentioned in later written records. One of the invaluable descriptions of the Vál fortress nonetheless dates from this late period: in his account of his travels in 1664-66 Evlia Celebi also mentions Vál (even though it is unlikely that this description is authentic): "... a palisade fortress nestling in an inhospitable, bleak valley, with a high tower erected of bricks. Manned by a hundred and fifty soldiers, it has a bazaar, an inn, but no baths. At the time of the Transylvanian campaign Zerlin-oglu attacked this town, burnt the rectangular tower forming the central fort and three hundred devout Muslim souls were burnt to their death. Pasha Ismail rebuilt this fortress, and made it stronger than ever before. It abounds in pretty gardens and vineyards. " Although it has been suggested that Evlia's description refers to the 1663 campaign of the Miklós Zrínyi (Zerlin-oglu), most historians tend to agree that the burning of Vál can more likely be linked to one of the diversionary Transdanubian maneuvers, 68
