Sabaton Excavated at the Palace of the Ancient Town of Mangup

Abstract

This research addresses a sabaton, or an armour element protecting the foot, excavated in the western area of the prince’s palace of Mangup. The artifact is composed by seven cross-curved iron plates. The sabaton was attached to the shoe with strings, as evidenced by the through-holes in its central and lateral parts. The only archaeological analogy to the sabaton from Mangup is the two sets of plates for foot-protection from the collective burial of the participants of the battle of Visby (Sweden) in 1361. A significant number of analogies appeared among the manuscript miniatures and tombstones of Mediaeval Europe and Renaissance paintings and sculptures. According to the analysis of the analogies, the artifact in question is a knightly sabaton of the European pattern typical for the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The archaeological context allowed the one to date the find within the period of the functioning of the Mangup palace in 1425–1475. The most probable date for the sabaton to get into the cultural layer is 1475, when the Ottomans besieged and assaulted Mangup. This statement may be confirmed by the finds of other weapons and layers of fire, recorded in the western part of the palace. The paper presents assumptions about the personality of the owner of the sabaton. This person was one of the defenders of the town and, apparently, was wealthy enough to purchase or order expensive armour. The owner of the sabaton possibly was a local noble, a soldier of the 300 “Wallachians” known from written sources, or one of the Genoese nobles who fled to Mangup after the fall of Kaffa.