Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 31/1. (2011)
Articles
Bronze Objects from the Excavation of the Tärgu Mures Franciscan Friary 323 through commerce or through the specific Franciscan activity. In this matter the material is unique because it is composed of objects with laic as well as religious background and it reflects how the presence of an important ecclesiastic establishment influenced the material culture and also the connections of the town dwellers with the outside world. A last important aspect of the bronze material recovered from the excavations is the large variety of fragments and raw material such as bronze wires and plates. Besides the debris material we have a number of spoiled objects and more important we have found several dross fragments and raw bronze. All this finds indicates that a workshop functioned at the Tärgu Mures friary, at least for a certain period, where they produced different type of bronze objects such as needles, book cover accessories and possibly simple cloth accessories. We have one direct source regarding the scriptorium of the friary from 1522 but based on the archaeological evidence the book copy workshop was functioning at least from the second half of the 14th century. Based on the finds except the high quality book cover ornaments a number of binding elements such as bronze stripes, hooks, buckles were produced in a workshop that functioned connected to the friary or within the friary. The vicinity of the workshop is proved by the large number of debris and spoiled objects found in the garbage of the friary. Most of the fragments were found in the demolished L3 buildings cellar in burned warehouse LI and in the filling of the fifteen century cellar. Moreover, the presence of bronze dross proves that the workshop was producing bronze castings as well. Besides the bone carving workshop, the bronze workshop is the second type of manufacture that we could prove with the help of archaeology. Accessories for bronze manufacturing were found in other friaries too, such as a moulding form at Vintul de Jos/Alvine Dominican friary (Rusu 1998, cat. no. 38) and a crucible at Teius/Tövis Franciscan friary7, but in the present day there are not enough proofs for the presence of workshops there. The Tärgu Mures Franciscan friary is the first from Transylvania were we could prove the existence of workshops that functioned besides and connected to the friary but they very probably fulfilled the needs of the population of the market town and they possibly sold a part of the products for the pilgrims. Therefore the workshops offered an important extra income for the friary and we might expect further discoveries to prove the existence of similar workshops in case of other large friaries as well. This kind of economic activity was very profitable if we think about the large and stabile number of customers represented by the needs of the friary, the inhabitants of the region, the donors and the pilgrims. CATALOGUE Special Objects 1. Seal, (Inv. no. 8680), C31/2009, C 30, ПЗ/а, -1.4 m, late 14th century. The seal represents Saint Elisabeth holding a fish in her right hand, she has a crown and she wears a mantle. Around the figure of the saint there is an inscription bordered by two rows of pearl S(igillum) GARDIANI - E (name of the gardian) IAURINUM. The inscription reveals that the seal belonged to the guardian of the Győr Franciscan friary. The seal is 4.7 cm long, 2.7 cm wide and 0.4 cm thick. It has a hook behind from where it was hanged in the gardians neck. 2. Seal, (Inv. no. 8556) C23/2008, 1.50m, D4-5/a, late 15th-early 16th century. The seal has an octagonal shape with four longer and four shorter sides. Its handle is narrowed until its end formed by a larger buckle and it was probably hanged in its owners neck. On the seal one can see a moving lion raising 7 Unpublished information kindly offered by A. A. Rusu.
