HOUSEHOLD AND COURT SOCIETY

Fasciculi Archaeologiae Historicae, 2021

The work is focused on the material culture of noble residences from north-eastern Czechia, manifestations of various aspects of life in the late Middle Ages and the post-medieval period.

Prague and Bohemia: Medieval Art, Architecture and Cultural Exchange in Central Europe, 2009

Ruralia XIV. Household Goods in the European Medieval and Early Modern Countryside, 2023

This article problematizes the question of how the household can be used as an analytical unit for interpreting past social dynamics of rural life in medieval Hungary. It focuses on issues of social hierarchy and the complexity of village communities, discussing both the material and nonmaterial aspects of peasant and lesser nobility households. Considering the current state of research in Hungary, investigations on household archaeology are yet to discover the paths to more nuanced interpretations of problems traditionally within the scope of this field of research. The socio-economic status of household owners is often reflected by the richness of material finds, particularly import objects, or specific types of finds, while we can also rely on historical documents in order to interpret archaeological evidence in this context. However, the lifestyles of peasantry and lesser nobility were not necessarily distinctive as reflected by archaeological materials, thus, the dichotomy of the wealthy and poor status of households is not a suitable indicator of legal/social statuses. Based on the archaeological evidences, usually it is possible to draw conclusions on the general living conditions of individual households in rural settlements, but, in most cases it is highly problematic to directly connect or interpret any type of find material as a sole indicator when defining the legal status of inhabitants. On the other hand, the structural organization of village space should be also considered, when approaching this problem: the size and position of the household tofts have been also studied in connection to their legal-social status. The paper attempts to look at broader socio-economic trends, exploring how they could have influenced the material dimensions of rural life, focusing on the aforementioned social groups.

Przegląd Archeologiczny, 2023

The article discusses the issue of latemedieval and early-modern manor houses of Wrocław citizens, located in their rural properties. Many of them, located in the close vicinity of Wrocław, were destroyed as a result of the spatial development of the urban agglomeration, others are usually poorly researched archaeologically and architecturally. For this reason, and in accordance with the requirements of historical archaeology, this issue has been analyzed using a maximum variety of sources: written, archaeological, architectural, cartographic and iconographic. The article includes examples of manor houses built by the citizens of Wrocław as well as those that originally belonged to dukes or knights. The key issues to which special attention has been given are the chronology and formal classification of objects as well as their functions and significance for their founders and owners. The issue was discussed in four chronological intervals, basically reflecting the economic, social and political changes that influenced the development of Silesian defensive-residential buildings.

Journal of Medieval History, 1990

A. Boguszewicz and J. Radziszewska (eds.): Castrum Bene 15: A castle as a status symbol, 2020

Courtyards were apparently at the physical centres of aristocratic castles. However, they were also centres of social interferences inasmuch as all members of a baronial household had to pass through it while heading for their destinations inside the residence. Although there were a number of places of restricted access in a late medieval castle (e.g. great halls, chapels, private apartments), yards generally were not characterized by a special, socially determined division of space. In this sense courtyards were meeting points of basically whole baronial households and of various groups from outside: illustrious visitors and their retainers and perhaps also craftsmen, merchants etc. Beside circulation courtyards also played role in social display which feature became particularly significant during the late medieval period. This trend is best attested by certain architectural characteristics that gradually got almost typical of contemporaneous Hungarian aristocratic castles: regularised layout of paved courtyards with imposing façades and embellished arcades or galleries around the inside, ornamental fountains in the middle etc. Thus castle courtyards seem to provide a good opportunity to detect architecturally realized social display, i.e. prestige representation. The aim of this paper is to present a few examples of the diverse interpretations of architectural prestige representation and the types of roles the internal courtyards may have played in it.

Quo vadis? Status and Future Perspectives of Long-Term Excavation in Europe, Schriften des archäologischen Landesmuseums 10 (ed. by Claus von Carnap-Bornheim), 2014

For more than eleven centuries, Prague Castle has been the centre of the Bohemian state and of the most important representatives of the secular and sacred power. During the by now 140-years-lasting archaeological research a wide range of movable and immovable monuments has been studies, including churches, palaces, settlement features, burial grounds, fortifications, as well as all possible components of material culture from the period between 9th century and post-medieval times. Our aim will be in the first place to maintain the continuity of the research and in case of favourable circumstances to foster a transition from the excavation part to the processing and interpretation of the ever growing source material. This processing will lead not only to the development of archaeological recognition but the results will represent an important contribution to the discussion of the cultural identity on a local as well as national and European level.