Title:

Marcher Castle on Fire. Aftermath of a 15th Century Siege

Subtitle:

Fasciculi Archaeologiae Historicae. Fasc. 30 (2017)

Creator:

Marek, Lech

Publisher:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of Polish Academy of Sciences ; Polish Academy of Sciences. Łódź Branch

Place of publishing:

Łódź

Date issued/created:

2017

Description:

ill. ; 29 cm

Type of object:

Journal/Article

Subject and Keywords:

arms ; armour ; medieval ; siege ; Bolesław III the Generous

Abstract:

Castle Kolno was set afire and put to ruin on the day of St. Margaret 1443 in the course of the so- called succession war in Silesia. The main purpose of this paper is to present the possible interpretation of selected pieces of archeological evidence for this dramatic event. Destruction layers documenting the siege contained mediaeval arms and armor – finds. The exchange of crossbow fire during the hostilities must have been tremendous as confirmed by the high number of bolt-finds. Moreover, there is evidence of the use of firearms in the conflict. On the basis of the most numerous militaria- finds recorded, such as projectiles, pieces of armor and riding gear, one can draw general conclusions on the character of 15th-century warfare. Much older objects related to the origins of the castle, its function as a border fortress guarding the ducal custom house, as well as those documenting the daily life of its inhabitants were also found in this context. The presented discussion aims to address the problem of chronological inconsistencies among the artifacts from the destruction layers. The objective of this paper is not a thorough analysis of particular artifacts, but a preliminary presentation of the most interesting militaria collected from the site and the discussion on their value as archeological evidence.

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Relation:

Fasciculi Archaeologiae Historicae

Volume:

30

Start page:

73

End page:

81

Resource type:

Text

Detailed Resource Type:

Article

Format:

application/pdf

Resource Identifier:

doi:10.23858/FAH30.2017.007

Source:

IAiE PAN, call no. P III 348 ; IAiE PAN, call no. P III 349 ; IAiE PAN, call no. P III 368 ; click here to follow the link

Language:

eng

Language of abstract:

pol

Rights:

Rights Reserved - Free Access

Terms of use:

Copyright-protected material. May be used within the limits of statutory user freedoms

Digitizing institution:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Original in:

Library of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Projects co-financed by:

Ministry of Science and Higher Education ; Activities popularizing science (DUN)

Access:

Open