Horler Miklós: Budapest 1. budai királyi palota 1. Középkori idomtégla töredékek (Magyarország építészeti töredékeinek gyűjteménye 4. Budapest, 1995) (Magyarország építészeti töredékeinek gyűjteménye 4. Budapest, 1998)

András Végh: Medieval Terracotta finds from the royal Palace of Buda

the Great. On the other hand, this heraldic device cannot be younger than the mid-fifteenth century because from then on the trefoil arch gives way to mounds. It was chronological uncertainty that led to the exclusion of a carved stone from Buda which is otherwise closely related to the terracotta coat-of-arms.

69 (Fig. 42.) Originally the coat-of-arms with the Apostolic Cross decorated one of the upper corners of a triplet window, while on the opposite side there was a ninetimes per fess shield. The relationship between the two fragments is important, since this is the only known stone equivalent of the terracotta device. It could, therefore, be decisive for the chronology. The window with the shouldered arch to which the coat-of-arms once belonged is a characteristic feature of central European medieval architecture. The origins of this form can be traced back to Czech examples of the fourteenth century, when architecture flourished under the influence of the Parler workshop. Similar windows will be seen in the Castle of Zólyom (now Zvolen, Slovakia), built around 1370-1380. The simple lines of the mouldings relates the piece to windows of horizontal arches from the castles of Diósgyőr, Tata and Visegrád.

70 In connection with the window in Buda the second decade of the fifteenth century has lately also been suggested as a possible date.

71 It is almost that certain the two coat-of-arms were executed by different masters and, for that matter, by different workshops. It is, nevertheless, also certain on basis of the type of the depiction that they are close in date of origin. The issue is significant from the point of view of the general chronology of the terracottas, as it supports the theoretical conclusions drawn from the analysis of the heraldic characteristics. 3. Chronology and Location When summing up all the information available on Group I we must first of all bear in mind that the primary facts are missing. No terracotta piece was found in its original position in the medieval royal palace. Written sources do not specify any building as being built of terracotta bricks. We have examined all the conclusions deriving from the archaeological and heraldic observations. The results of these examinations correspond with each other and suggest a rather broad time span in which the terracottas could have been produced. As a result of the examination of certain heraldic characteristics, this period can be restricted to the time between the middle of the fourteenth century and the middle of the fifteenth century. Archaeological observations underlined as well as specified the conclusions of the heraldic considerations. First of all, on this basis the thirteenth century as a possible date for the terracottas can be excluded, also. The unearthed pieces can by no means have formed parts of the thirteenth century palace, as was suggested by László Gerevich. The earliest deposits in which terracottas were found during the excavations date from the second part of the fifteenth century, whereas the suggested thirteenth century palace must have perished, or got destroyed, by the mid-fourteenth century, since those remains which Gerevich interpreted as parts of an early palace were found under fourteenth century buildings. Everything therefore, that Gerevich hypothetically suggests to have stood in this era must have been destroyed by this time to give way to the new, fourteenth century constructions. In spite of this, the early, that is to say fourteenth century, deposits yielded no terracotta pieces. Also, no such pieces were found in the walls dating from the mid-fourteenth century. The years between 1480 and 1490, which fell under the reign of King Matthias I Corvinus and Vladislav II Jagiello, and during which time the palace was rebuilt for the last time, can also be excluded as the date for the origins of the terracottas because such pieces were found in the walls of a furnace of the Matthias period in the west wing of Courtyard I, and also in other archaeological deposits of this period. The debris unearthed in Dry Moat II yield indirect evidence: the terracotta pieces found hear had fallen from the tower, or the gate house next to it, the foundations and the lower levels of which can be dated to the last quarter of the fourteenth, or the early fifteenth century. The suggestion is based on the evidence yield by the foundations and the lower levels of these buildings. This means that our present knowledge allows for the time span between 1375 and 1420 as the possible date of the origin of the terracottas found in the royal palace. This is the time when the small Stephen's Castle was enlarged in a grandiose way, so that it matched other royal residences of the time. As far as we can tell today, this happened in two phases. Works were began by King Louis I the Great (Anjou) towards the end of his reign. His daughter, Queen Mary, and later