Początki krzyżackich zamków na ziemi chełmińskiej. Pierwsze warownie i obiekty murowane

Abstract

The Teutonic Knights after their arrival to Kuyavian side of the Vistula River durin following decades of the 13th century erected a series of wooden and earthen forts, which role was to secure conquered lands and to establish the new order. The 13th century was a crucial period in Central Europe. There occurred major social and economic changes, linked to the introduction of new feudal system, the development of new settlement and legal system. In Bohemia, as well as in Silesia, there were characteristic castles of transition type associated with the central authority – centres of new administration and settlement. They did not constitute a simple continuation of early medieval strongholds, but, in fact, they were constructed with impermament materials, usually erected on a ‘greenfield’. Fortification constituted a perimeter of ramparts without internal wooden structures, strengthened from the outside by a wooden or stone wall. Building were erected in timberframed onstruction, or other impermament one and they were coupled with ramparts. Due to the limited state of research the reconstruction of the characteristics of wooden and earthen strongholds of the Teutonic Order from this period is not easy. In contrast to Bohemia, in Chelmno Land more often in the 13th century they were built in places of early medieval strongholds, which should be explained by wartime urgency and convenient location. Fortifications constituted ramparts, and buildings erected in impermament constructions were coupled with them. Strongholds formed in this way were associated with the needs of new monastic rulers of these lands, and therefore they included chapels required by the rule of the Teutonic Order, and perhaps also refectories. The socio-economic background, as well as the general features of the Teutonic Order’s wooden and earthen strongholds lead to the conclusion that they should be classified as so-called castles of transition type. From the mid-13th century (Torun), and above all from the 1270s (Bierzglowo, Grudziądz, Pokrzywno) selected strongholds, located in the centres of the newly formed commandries of Chelmno Land, were transformed from wooden and earthen into mortared ones. As first were erected single mortared buildings, and it was characteristic that the original mortared building was located in place of future chapel. Instead the construction of castle wings was not planned back then, they were created later, from the end of the 13th century, according to completely new concepts. In their original form these complexes probably were never completed. Simultaneously with these works construction of outer walls proceeded, replacing old wooden and earthen fortifications, starting from the most vulnerable side. Therefore, they were irregular complexes with single mortared and probably wooden buildings originating from the previous period. In this respect they resembled seats of the Teutonic Order commandries from Germany and Bohemia. Of particular interest is the analogy to the Teutonic Order castle Bradlo in Bohemia, where a similar spatial concept is perceptible. Recent research has produced a lot of new information about the origins of the Teutonic Order’s castles, but it is still insufficient knowledge, requiring enlargement.