Novák László Ferenc: Fejfa monográfia - Az Arany János Múzeum közleményei 16. (Nagykőrös, 2005)

III. Angol nyelvű összegezés

Calvinist country town of Nagykörös, which functioned as an epitaph, too. No mentioned not only in Nagykőrös but also in the neighbouring country towns of Kecskemét and Cegléd and elsewhere. In 177 the grave of the notary, a man of importance in the market town of Nagykőrös was fenced - even a hinge was prepared for the door of the fence-an epitaph was placed on the grave a wooden grave post was set up at the head. A text was engraved on the epitaph; the woodenhead post was decoratively and even painted. The epitaph and the wooden grave post fulfilled the grave marking function both simultaneously and separately. Later the epitaph disappeared from the grave as an independent grave marker. The orbed wooden grave post fulfilled the function of a grave marker on its own. However, the wooden grave post was adequate for names and short text to be carved on it, so it could combine the function of a grave marker and that of an epitaph. It can be a point of interest that in the case of a subsequent funeral sometimes an apitaph engraved in marble was fixed on the orbed wooden grave post which had the original epitaph carved in t - e.g. in Cegléd. In the 18th century the wooden grave post called “epitafa” was known as a grave marker only sporadically (in the country towns of Abony and Karcag).

There were simple wooden boards on the graves, which gave information on the deceased. Later, in the 19th century when decorative wooden grave posts were carved, the epitaph changed into a simple name plate. However, it bacame an important part of board-shaped wooden grave markers. In sporadic cases e.g. in the village of Ordas the orbed wooden grave post have preserved the name ‘epitafa’ in the folk-language today, which refers to old times. In the middle of the 18th century no mention was made of wooden grave markers at the head of the grave in the country towns of Abony and Karcag but epitaphs were mentioned. The Roman Catohlic landowner persecuted the Calvinist native population in the sense of the principle ‘cuius regio, eius religio’. In 1741 the Roman Chatolic new-comers attacked Calvinist graveyard and burnt u the epitaphs. ‘Epitaph boards’ stolen from the graveyard were put on fire in Karcag in 1768. Thus, the epitaph ‘board’ was really a wooden board with a carved text on it. It marked the grave. This epitaph as a grave marker corresponds to name plates and board-shaped grave markers in later times.

The name plates in our days show a relationship to epitaphs and they can be considered the ancestors of wooden grave posts. They have simple shapes and they very often occupy an mediatory position between the latter ones and another large group of wooden i.e. the board-shaped grave markers which have miscellaneous ornamentation but they have definite epitatph-character.

Among board-shaped wooden grave markers, it is necessary to stress those with archaic anthropomorphic form. A decisive decorative characteristic of the wooden board of different width is the head-like shape of its upper part but also the trunk shows up something of a human figure. This type of anthropomorphic board-shaped wooden grave markers characterize the manifestation of peculiar folk art (the stylised shape of a braided girl) in the characterize the manifestation of peculiar folk art (the stylised shape of a braided girl) in the Calvinist graveyard in the country town of Dunapataj. A general characteristic motif of anthropomorphic board-shaped wooden grave markers is the stylised head (e.g. in the village of Bölcske and in the country town of Szarvas). There are wooden grave posts among them the tulip is a dominant motif (e.g. in the villages of Kémes and Permete). In this group of wooden grave posts, there are some in new style. Some of them show up anthropomorphic characteristics like those in the villages of Zsobok, Kalotaszentkirály, Magyargyerőmonostor, Körösfő in Kalotaszeg county, in the village of Bénye in the region of Tápióság. These wooden grave post in new style differ form old grave markers, from their variety of forms, from wooden grave posts with old ornamentation, and from orbed wooden grave posts.476 Among the wooden in new style there are board-shaped grave posts with decorative

476 This is an eloquent testimony of the fact that they are not wooden headboards. Although they are not ornamented in the traditional way and they do not apper in the traditional forms, they are general anthropomorph minifestations as opposed to the conglomerate of overomamented motifs on so called wooden headbords made by folk artis-carftsmen.

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