O budownictwie obronnym województwa łęczyckiego w późnym średniowieczu i czasach nowożytnych - w piętnaście lat później
Abstract
The defensive architecture of the province of Łęczyca (an area located north of Łódź,
measuring over 4000 km2 in size) in the Late Middle Ages and in modem times is considered.
In 1980 the author published a book on this subject (vol. I in the series „Acta Universitatis
Lodziensis”, Folia archaeologica), which contains a catalogue of 77 defensive features (castles, town walls, fortified manor-houses, etc.) and describes their character and principles on which
they functioned. Now, after more than 15 years since the appearance of this book, the author
reconsideres the problem, scrutinizing the results of recent archaeological field researches. His findings can be summed up as follows:
1. In recent years 31 features have been excavated on the rather small scale. Test
excavations for the purpose of conservation, and sondages were dominant.
2. As far as the publication is concerned, the situation is highly unsatisfactory, and in
most cases the reports on the researches have not been made public.
3. Though archaeological and archaeological-architectural studies became distincly more
intensive, the findings that would invalidate the hypotheses formed in 1980 were limited in number.
4. Major discoveries include a long rectangular brick manor-house at Gaj near Łęczyca,
erected on a mound at the close of the 16th or in the early 17th century, and surrounded
by a moat, and relics of a hexagonal tower of bricks at Sobota near Łowicz. The tower
should probably be dated to the second half of the 14th or to the first half of the 15th ccntury.
5. With regard to the state of knowledge of 1980, the chronology of the features in
question had to be slightly altered. Though the title of the book of 1980 refers to the 13th-17th
centuries, recent excavations have failed to reveal a feature unquestionably dated to the second
half of the 13th century. The earliest fortified residences date from the turn of the 13th/14th
centuries, and the latest, from the 18th century. Accordingly, it seems fairly certain that the
custom of building manor-houses on mounds originated in the Łęczyca region somewhat later
(about 1300) and lasted longer (to about 1800) than has been surmised so far.
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