Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 34-35. (2014-2015)
Articles
Medieval Weapons from Bistra Muresului 133 known from a later source, in which Warallya is mentioned in 1364.131 It has to be noted that Monyoro, later Magyaró (Aluniy) was already in 1319 among the properties of Tamás Losonci. We do not hear of Warallya settlement during the later centuries, it was either depopulated, or merged into another settlement, or its name changed at an unknown moment. It can therefore be of little or no use in locating Mentővár. Apart from that, in 1497 János Bánffy gave in exchange to László Bánffy, among others, his mansion from Aluni§.132 There are references to an ancient fortress in the toponyms of both settlements. It is doubtless at the same time that the name Mentő only comes up among names from Deda,133 while in Aluni§ data has been kept only about an old fortress.134 Furthermore, in this latter settlement there exists an allusion to a (bare) castle at the beginning of the 18th century, but it remains a question whether this is the same as the fortress or rather a different building. It might as well be a mansion house attested at the end of the 15th century. *** Based on the above discussed data our conclusions can be summarized as follows: the traces of a building identified by Géza Entz in Aluni§ could be the remains of a 15th century mansion house (later probably altered, enlarged, fortified), but they can also represent earlier, Roman period constructions as the shape of the floor tile elements indicate it. We cannot entirely discard the possibility of identifying it with the medieval fortress, as Roman brick material may have ended up here at a later date. Besides, the first Austrian military survey’s map from the 17th century shows the location of the mansion house within the current settlement and not on the hill in its vicinity. There is no trace of medieval fortification on the high grounds from Aluni§-Horodete, this hypothesis needs further investigation in order to be proven or rejected. Lastly, archaeological data, local toponymy and medieval sources allow the presumption which identifies Mentő fortress with the one built on the Bistra rock. A comforting clarification is only possible through the means of archaeological research. 131 EOkm IV, 131, nr. 284. 132 Entz 1996, 371. 133 ETH 7A, 80-81: 1713 - „Bisztra vize mellet mentő vár alat” (‘by the Bisztra water below mentő fortress’); 1714- Mentő vára (Mentő fortress) (Differently: in the forms Puszta Mentő vára and Mentő puszta vára); „az Vár hegi alatt” (‘below the Vár mountain) 134 ETH 7A, 288-291. Just as it is clear that Mentő fortress was built and owned by Tamás Losonci, it is almost as certain that the Bistra fortress close by was his or belonged to one of his successors’ property, since our archaeological finds’ lower dating limit is roughly the same. In case some of our finds were older, on the basis of our sources we would still have no reason to look for another owner starting from the 14th century. The finds from Bistra fortress indicate that the fortress functioned in the 14-15th century. There are objects that were characteristic to earlier times as well, therefore one cannot exclude the possibility that the fortification was built during the Árpád period. In the 14-15th century it was definitely the property of the reeve of Szeklers, Dénes Losonci’s son, Tamás and his successors. We have no information about the time and reasons of its abandonment. Should the Bistra fortress be identical with Mentő fortress mentioned by sources, it is certain that it became ownerless in the first half of the 16th century, as it appears as a bare fortress at the middle of the century. In case the above identification is incorrect, it was abandoned and lost its function anyway during the 17th century, as later sources talk of an empty fortress. Its 16th century survival could be supported by some finds that could be dated between larger time limits. Concerning its size, the Bistra fortress was one of the smaller nobiliary fortresses. Due to the lack of archaeological research one cannot say much about its insides. Traces of stone building(s) have not been kept on the rock’s plateau and constructions fit for housing conditions cannot be seen anywhere. However, we cannot exclude their prior existence and we must also take into consideration the fact that identifying possible wood constructions is very unlikely. The fortress’s efficient protection is given by its geographical position, the steep rock could only be approached from one side, and even that was a very difficult endeavour. From the fortress there is an excellent view and visibility of the farther Maros valley, but also of the Bistra valley that lies almost at its feet. We have no information on the road’s exact location in that period, but likely it was not very far from the one shown on the first military survey’s map. In this case, Bistra fortress lies in the vicinity of the road leading to Bistrija (Beszterce) through the Bistra valley, and it could have controlled’ the road as well. We consider that the fortress had multiple functions, but their precise outline requires further research.
