CRISTIAN IOAN POPA
Universitatea „1 Decembrie 1918” Alba Iulia
Cuvinte cheie: capelă, mausoleu, Paul Kinizsi, István Báthory, Şibot, 1479
Keywords: chapel, mausoleum, Paul Kinizsi, István Báthory, Şibot, 1479
În prezentul studiu este rediscutată întreaga problematică ridicată de monumentele comemorative ridicate pe Câmpul Pâinii, în amintirea luptei din 13 octombrie 1479 împotriva turcilor. Sunt discutate localizarea, descrierea, semnificaţia, datarea acestora. În acelaşi timp sunt identificate patru monumente, cu locaţii diferite: o capelă şi un mausoleu, ambele medievale, refăcute mai târziu, o filigorie şi un bust, ultimele de epocă modernă. Monumentele sunt discutate în contextul interesului manifestat pentru cultul eroilor luptei.
The Bread Field and Its Monuments. Birth and Setting of a Symbol
Abstract
Honoring the Christian victory against the Turks at the Bread Field (Câmpul Pâinii), from October 13th 1479, several monuments were erected to commemorate the battle and those that have fallen. They were erected by the initiative of king Matthias Hunyadi and the Transylvanian ruler István Báthory.
Recovering of the data on these monuments was possible by using the information offered by foreign travelers, humanist writers and the study of modern maps, in particular. We can establish that in fact, on the Bread Field, two distinct monuments were erected, often mistaken for each other and parted by a considerable distance.
The king of Hungary apparently opted for the construction of a mausoleum on the highest earth mound under which most of the bodies of those fallen in battle were laid. István Báthory erected a chapel on the spot were his life was saved during the battle. Both monuments were erected towards the end of the 15th Century, without knowing the exact date. The chapel was in the custody of Orăştie township, with annual religious ceremonies being held for the Christians fallen in this battle. Two centuries later it will fall into ruin, requiring major restoration. It will survive for another century and eventually will be demolished, the construction material being reused. The same fate was shared by the mausoleum. Both monuments still appear in the Austrian maps (Josephinische Landaufnahme), created between 1765 and 1783.
In the modern era new monuments will take the place of those disappeared. It is worth mentioning the monument that was raised with the care of the Reformed priest of Orăştie, Nagy Sandor, in 1818 but was later destroyed by Hungarians during the 1848-9 revolution. An older construction is the Baroque style pavilion (filigoria) built on one of the burial mounds, a construction that also disappeared with time.
The neglect and ignorance of those that followed has seen most of the monuments from the Bread Field battleground forgotten and destroyed. The last monument raised here was dedicated to Paul Kiniszi and was revealed to the public nearby the Şibot train station in 1889 by the Hunedoara county Society for Archaeology and History, a monument that can still be seen today.