Századok – 2014

TANULMÁNYOK - Feld István: A magánvárak építésének kezdetei a középkori Magyarországon a régészeti források tükrében I. II/351

MAGÁNVÁRAK ÉPÍTÉSÉNEK KEZDETEI A KÖZÉPKORI MAGYARORSZÁGON 385

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF PRIVATE CASTLES IN MEDIEVAL HUNGARY IN THE MIRROR OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE I

by István Feld (Abstract)

The present study examines the early phase of the emergence of private castles in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, that is, the period which extends from the end of the 12th century to the early 14th. Its primary aim is to confront the results of archaeological research with the views of those scholars who recently examined the problem from a historical perspective. In doing so, especially great emphasis is laid on the ways and means of determining the age of those fortifications which are not mentioned in the written sources, and the possibilities of further research in that direction. The first part of the study thus surveys the questions of chronology, function and terminology.

Speaking about chronology, the author emphasises that written sources only rarely help in determining the time when castles were built (mainly in the cases when a royal authorisation has survived). A mere reference to a fortification in a charter offers no basis for such hypotheses, for in the period in questions fortified constructions were not the centres but merely the appurtenances of private estates, and so their emergence in the sources is purely accidental. Yet comprehensive histories of the individual estates can yield important results with regard to the possible builders. Architectural typology and archaeological finds are no more helpful in dating fortifications within the wider period indicated above, while the number of coin finds is limited, and the new methods offerred by the natural sciences, such as dendochronology and radio-carbon analyses, have so far failed to provide solid results. Consequently, all that one can safely state is that prior to 1200 only a veiy limited number of castle-like constructions may have been erected by private landowners in the Carpathian Basin. The Mongol invasion of 1241-1242 still looms large over the historical research, as many of the castles which emerged before it are unjustifiably attributed to the ruler. Other fortifications, which do not appear in the written sources, are dated by some scholars with reference to the settlement of the Cumans or the Székelys, whereas the statement which asserts that the number of castles erected by private landowners grew conspicuously from the last third of the 13th century is probably based on an illusion created by the parallel increase in the amount of the charter material.

As for the role of castles, historians and archaeologists agree that most of them functioned as both a basis and a symbol of power. The function they may have assumed as a location of dwelling and residence is hotly disputed, however. It is beyond doubt that the „castle building program” which is traditionally attributed to king Béla IV (1235-1270) failed to bring about the result it is thought to have aimed for, since most of the fortifications erected then were prevented by there small size from hosting the surrounding population in time of peril. On the other hand, they were certainly fit for providing shelter for the treasures and charters of a lord, and in case of danger for his household, but also serving as a safe background for an offensive military operation. Yet this does not necessarily involve the constant residence there of the lord; it can only be surmised for the castellan and his men. It is not only the climatic conditions of the Carpathian Basin that raise doubts about the welcome conditions of fortifications built on hilltops or islands surrounded by marshlands, but also the conspicuous scarcity of cases when private landowners referred to themselves by the name of their castle. Unfortunately, the archaeological finds unearthed in the castles are unfit for drawing socio-historical conclusions, as we do not know whether the objects found belonged to the lord or to his castellan. For this reason, it seems probable that both the oligarchs at the end of the 13th century and the lesser castle-owners preferred for residential purposes their (unfortunately hardly known) manor houses, while the extent to which those fortifications which were more accessible and lay closer to settlements were used for the same purpose remains open to doubt. Rather unresearched still is the strategic, military role of castles, and the importance of their inner and outer defensive structures. It is also to be questioned whether any conclusions can be drawn from the location of castles in the landscape and the extent of their visibility alongside the obvious statement that they were a means of power representation.

As for the material of construction, it is impossible to prove that wooden structures necessarily predated stone fortifications. On the other hand, it can be justified in several cases that an outer