PROBLEMS OF MOTTE-AND-BAILEY CASTLES IN VOLYN (according to archaeological research in a «Male Gorodyshche» in Busk, Lviv region)

Abstract

Late medieval motte-and-bailey castles in Ukrainian archeology became an object of scientific interest only in the late 1990s — early 2000s, when Dr. Serhii Panyshko has identified them by morphological features in Volyn. He also associated these sites with the oldest knightly courts and compared them with European fortifications such as the «motte». Dr. Panyshko based his scientific research on the experience of studying motte and bailey settlements in Poland, where such antiquities have been studied since the 1930s.

Materials obtained during several years of archeological excavations of the «Male Horodyshche» in the city of Busk, Lviv region allow us to reconstruct the image of a medieval knight’s court already on Ukrainian territory.

The fact that there is a motte and bailey settlement here is indicated by a number of topographical and archeological peculiarities: localization on the part of the «cut off» cape of the hill, which was formed at the confluence of two rivers; motte-and-bailey form of the embankment with a concave upper platform with a diameter of 30—35 m; a defensive rampart made of highly compacted clay, which encircled the edge of the central area along the perimeter; the ruins of a residential building, possibly in the form of a tower, in the central part of the monument; numerous fragments of late medieval pottery, metal, stone, bone artifacts found in the cultural layer, which represents the remains of the motte and bailey castle.

Archaeologically (according to ceramic material, weapons and stratigraphy) the motte-and-bailey castle in Busk can be dated to the second half of the 14^th — first half of the 15^th century. The possibility of such chronology is confirmed by historical facts: during the 1390s — 1462 Busk belonged to the possessions of the Mazovian prince Zemovit IV and his descendants. The rise of the medieval knight’s court on the territory of Busk should be considered in the context of the innovative land ownership policy of this ruler. The settlement could have been burnt down during the struggle for the so-called Volyn heritage in the 1430s and 1450s.

There are still many unresolved problems in the issue of Volyn motte-and-bailey castles, mainly related to their poor research, especially through large-scale excavations. This concerns the issues of chronology and functional purpose of Volyn round settlements, the initial time of construction of motte and bailey settlements, the expediency of their classification, etc.