Fraternity-Testvériség, 2009 (87. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)

2009-07-01 / 3. szám

Counties contain the best examples of these types of grave-posts, but the Calvinist graveyard of Békés is considered to hold the finest sculptured grave-posts. Some in Szőlősardó have clearly delineated parts of the body-the belly (“has”), the shoulders (“váll”), the neck (“nyak”), the forehead (“homlok”) and the bun or knot of hair (“knoty”) can all be seen carved in the grave-post. The old Calvinist graveyard of Szentes even holds turbaned grave- posts, but in the Calvinist villages of the Bodrogköz and Hegyköz regions, the grave- posts of the men have a trimmed end unto which a wood board is sometimes nailed. There are called “hatted” (“kalapos”) grave-posts. In the village of Aggtelek, the arched end of women’s grave-posts is perforated with a drill through the frontal part. This ornament is called “párta” after the characteristic headdress worn by girls. The tulip grave-post (“tulipános fejfa”) is another frequently found type, and in some places, this tulip is called a crown (“korona”) that indicates the graves of children, young girls or women. In the Danube-Tisza region, among the Calvinist Hungarians of Monor (Pest County), the halberd-posts are rounded or arched while the cross-section itself is usually circular.

Tabular grave-posts are intended to be viewed from a single direction, They are found mostly in the Calvinist graveyards in Baranya, Somogy, Tolna and Pest Counties. A thick wooden board is sawed on its two long sides in symmetrical arched contours, and the edges are often notched or decorated with openwork elements. In the villages of the Sárköz region (Tolna County) and in western Transdanubia, the outlines of the grave-posts are clearly modeled after the human body. These grave-posts require a higher level of craftsmanship and the tools necessary to make them include those belonging to a cabinet maker such as drills and saws. Thus, their decoration usually conforms to the wood-carving traditions of the region. In general, grave-posts define and mark the resting place of the dead while gates and pillars and garden doors delineate and defend the territory of the living. As far as

plaques used on grave-signs, Calvinists used only heart-shaped ones on theirs; the oldest examples from the Calvinist graveyards are found at Balatonfiired, Balatonudvari (Veszprém County), and Szigetszentmiklós (Pest County).

Foot Posts and Motifs (Old saying)

“Meg aki bort nem iszik, Mégis két fán kiviszik. ”

“He who does not even drink wine, is still carried out on two poles. ”

a sign of deceased infants and young girls throughout all of Hungary. Women’s posts have been decorated with a lamp, a star, the Sun and the Moon. On men’s posts, the spear, the pike, and the harpoon have been popular. One distinction that was made was the harpoon-shaped upper end of the grave-post that often signified that an infantryman lay buried there and a crested one that indicated a cavalryman lay below. Posts adorned with a coat of arms designated a nobleman, while a chaliceshaped one indicated a priest. In the region

Cemetery in Szőlősardó

On the side of a burial mound opposite the grave, two or three simply carved poles driven deep into the ground are called “foot-posts” (“lábfa,” “lábtól való fa”). In most parts of Hungary, Calvinists carried the coffin to the cemetery on these poles, and some, no doubt, were used as grave- signs. In Mák, the two foot-posts or “poles for carrying the body” (“tesvivő fa”) were returned to the church after the burial if they belonged to the parish, but when they were particularly made for the deceased, they were inserted into the burial mound, one at the head and one at the foot, and were never replaced by a new grave-sign. The tulip or the lily motif on grave-posts has long been

of Tiszahát, Calvinists featured grave- post endings that were starred, knobbed, feathered, maced, tuliped or “budded.” The representation of the chalice is a common motif of the Calvinists, but signs also referred to one’s profession and social status. An axe or hatchet represented a carpenter; a plough, a farmer; a fish, a fisherman; and a fiddle, a musician. A more recent motif is the clock which is a pictorial representation of a well-known phrase, “his hour has struck.” Straight or wavy lines framed the inscriptions and filled in the empty parts. Sometimes, parallel wavy lines, called snake motifs, decorated men’s grave-posts in Kisújszállás,

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