# WAY OF LIFE #### SOCIETY ECONOMY EVERYDAY LIFE ### SOCIETY #### The freemen and the servants The first and foremost principle, which governed Hungarian society in the age of the Árpád dynasty was the possession or lack of freedom. Accordingly the people of the country were divided into two main groups: the freemen and the servants. Servants were their owners property. However, their position was not identical with that of the antique slaves, because they were considered as persons - in concert with Christian teachings. The freemen were their own masters: they were not the property of others. The border between the freemen and the servants was rigorous, but not impossible to cross. The freemen could lose their freedom (for example, a punishment), and servants could be freed by their owners. In the age of St Stephen the freemen were divided into three groups. The dignitaries, who consisted of the remainders of the layer of old chieftains and knights immigrating from the west, were called "bailiffs" by Stephen's laws. The middle layer included the group of "warriors", the members of which were connected with a fighting life style. They were soldiers serving other people or persons who had their own properties. The lowest layer of the freemen consisted of "people from the mock" or "common people". However large were the differences within the society of the freemen, their rights were identical. The poor had the same rights as the most powerful dignitaries. #### Nobility and limited freedom There were big changes in society by the last quarter of the 11th century. The layer of dignitaries, who had special privileges, separated from the juristically homogeneous group of the freemen. They were called "the noble", while the layer of common free people were called "the non-noble". As not all the noble people were rich, there were big differences among the common freemen concerning their financial conditions. The wealthy common people owed military service to the king, so King Coloman exempted them from paying the tax called "the denariuses of the freemen". But the commons who cultivated the land of other people had to pay this tax. The fate of land owners and the commons, who did not have any properties became different from this point. A completely new form of liberating servants appeared in these decades. This - in contrast with the practice used in St Stephen's age - did not provide the privileged ones the rights of those who were born free, but it guaranteed more favourable conditions for servants. Those who had these privileges were also called freemen, but as they were not allowed to give up their duties arbitrarily, they were in fact servants. Their freedom was limited. To differentiate between the real freemen and the privileged servants, the freedom of people who were free from restrictions was called "complete" or "golden freedom". Thus the society of the servants became divided similarly to that of the freemen. A special group appeared in Hungary at the time of St Stephen, who were called "guests", or in Latin "hospes"-s. Originally these guests were foreigners, who wanted to settle down in the country. The majority were farmers coming from various regions of Western-Europe, who settled in and cultivated deserted areas under certain conditions. Juristically they were free with special privileges. They could keep their traditions in their new homeland, and their communities had local governments with limited rights. They were the elite layer of the peasant society, and during the 13th century more and more local peasants lived according to hospes rights. There were three types of landed property in Hungary in the age of the Árpád dynasty: royal, ecclesiastical and secular (private). Within royal estates we can differentiate between the system of castle districts providing military and public duties and the system of estates serving the king and his court. The Queen's and princes' estates preserved for the members of the royal family have common features with the latter one. On all these types of estates lived a great number of servants and common people with restricted rights. The situation of certain groups - within the borders of common rights - changed in various ways, depending mainly on whose property they belonged to. #### The world of servants The servants of royal estates all belonged to the layer of servants. Some of their groups were known by the services they performed (for example, stablemen, bison-hunters...etc.). The most typical group of servants on royal estates were called "equerries" and their castle districts were districts "of castle people". The taxation and administrative units of royal servants consisted of either ten or a hundred people. Their direct leaders were the free equerries with limited rights or they were appointed from among the castle villeins. These latter ones were in the best situation. They were in charge of directing castle people and battles, and the majority of them were wealthy and respected land owners. The servants on ecclesiastic estates all belonged to the possession and under the authority of the land owner, and they were categorised according to the services they provided, similarly to servants on royal estates. The hierarchy among ecclesiastical servants was formed on the basis of services, depending how respected or inferior they were. At the bottom of this hierarchy stood those who dealt with ploughing and wine growing. Next came the craftsmen: carpenters, goldsmiths, smiths and so on. The chiefs, who directed the work of servants, were the most respected. They were called villeins on the ecclesiastical estates, too. Their duties were not so hard, and the armed escorts of bishops and abbots were appointed from among them. The groups of servants on secular (private) estates were differentiated according to juristic categories. The reason for this was the fact that the rights of the owner were different over people living on his land. Common servants were those over whom the landowner had unlimited power. These servants did not even have their own tools. They worked with the tools and animals of their owner. The group called "libertines" in Latin was in a more favourable situation. They were servants who worked on independent farms. Free people also lived on secular estates; there were liberated servants among them just as common free people who did not have their own lands. #### Royal servants and noblemen This layer of Hungarian society of the Árpád age underwent significant changes during the 13th century. The name royal servant - appearing at the beginning of the century - originally referred to those people who were liberated from royal estates by the king himself and presented with land property. Their social status was actually the same as that of the free owning land property. As a result of this the two social layer fused. Many of the elements of the rights of royal servants were included in the 1222 Golden Bull. These privileges included some of the privileges of the nobility to show that the rights of royal servants were of higher quality than those of the common freemen (free peasants). The owners of smaller estates, who were called royal servants at the royal court, in the possession of their privileges considered themselves equal to noblemen. This conception - extending the term noble to themselves - was gradually accepted. Royal power accepted the noble rights of royal servants only in the 1267 law. The social and financial situation of the new nobility, consisting of dignitaries and royal servants, and consequently their way of life was rather heterogeneous. People originating from royal servants, who were ennobled by rulers as a reward of their services also joined the layer of nobility. #### The development of the layer of peasant villeins The other trend of change in the 13th century concerned people who were servants. From the middle of the century the significance of servants on secular estates decreased in contrast with the libertines and the freemen. The increased demand for work force after the Tartar Invasion enabled the gradual fusion of these three layers. Servants either escaped from their owners and performed peasant duties at their new places as free hospeses, or the owner himself liberated his servants in order to be able to keep them. By the end of the 13th century the layer of free peasant villeins was formed on secular estates. The peasant villein was a free man who had the right to move. He paid tax to his landlord on the basis of his farming activity. He was connected to his farm by rights, for example, he could leave it to his sons. The peasant community of a settlement could have a restricted local government with an elected judge at the lead. As a remainder of power over servants the juristic authority of the landowner over his servants was preserved, the institution of this was the so-called noble court of justice. The duties of peasant villeins developed from the duties of the libertines. The development of the peasant villein layer in the age of the Árpád dynasty took place only on secular estates: the people of royal and ecclesiastical estates remained in the bonds of dependence from the owner till the end of the 14th century. ### ECONOMY #### Agriculture The majority of the population of the country was engaged in agriculture. This was also the daily activity of the greater part of people living in towns and of servants, who dealt with another kind of industrial activity besides this, such as coopers, locksmiths. In the agriculture of the Árpád age the 13th century was a big turning point. By comparison with the beginning of the century agricultural production changed throughout the country by the end of the century. As a result of this there were changes in society and in settlements with effects lasting till the 18th century, or even till 1848 in many cases. The dry, warm European climate since the 8th century, changed in the 12th century. It was only interrupted by a colder period in the 10th century, the rainy, cool so-called "small ice-age" of 50 years. The eluding plough appeared in Hungary in the 13th century, which was very effective. Used together with the asymetric ploughshare, the furrow splitter and the controlling board it turned the soil over - in contrast to earlier ploughs, which could only scratch the soil - so it enabled a better exploitation of the ground. Greater production results could provide for a bigger population. There was a big increase in population in Western-Europe in the 12th century, and people began to migrate to deserted areas within and outside their countries. In the first half of the period the unregulated soil-changing system was in use, and this brought about the movement of settlements within the borders of the village. The servants of secular estates lived in praediums, that is in small settlements. Besides the mansion of the landlord some servant houses and farm buildings - deepened into the ground - also belonged to these small settlements. Within a village there might have been several such praediums. In the central area of the country people turned to a regulated soil-changing system in the 13th century. As a result the places of patches became fixed, and the word patch had two meanings: in a narrower sense it was the house and the yard, in a wider sense it was the garden, field and hayfield as well. The grazing grounds, forests, and sources of water of the village remained in common use. The migration of places of villages stopped. In the first period grain crops brought the double of the seeds sown, in the second one the amount of seeds was three or four times bigger. Only a little amount of fruit was grown, and mainly the ecclesiastic estates took the lead in this activity. The most important vegetable was the cabbage. Grapes were grown everywhere except in the Great Plain and on higher mountain regions. From the 13th century wine-yards were considered as private properties: regions where grapes were grown were considered as cut-over areas similarly to lands cultivated by hospeses. Those who cultivated them had more rights for these than for plough-lands, for example. The cutting over and settlements in mountain regions, and borderlands started at the beginning of the 12th century, but it accelerated in the 13th century. Instead of regulated soil changing and in the lack of plough-lands grain crops were grown at the backyard, behind the house. This territory was always under cultivation and fertilisation. Only one and the same family used it. The division of plough-lands was not in fashion here. There were two ways of cutting lands over: people either took off the bark of the tree and let them dry out - thining the woods -, or they burnt it down. In Hungarian agriculture animal husbandry played a bigger role in the Middle Ages than it did in the West. The significance of horse-keeping gradually decreased. In the first half of the period only small cattle were bred. Presumably the Cumans brought the ancestors of big grey cattle to the Carpathian Basin. The proportion of swine in the live-stock gradually increased, the majority of them were kept in forests eating mast. Sheep played an important role in the supply of food. In the southern and eastern border lands of the country people, who lived according to the so-called vlach rights, dealt with transhuman animal keeping. This kind of farming led to the development of scattered mountain settlements. #### Craftsmenship Besides animal husbandry and farming the third most important branch of economics in the age of the Árpád dynasty was craftsmenship. Its origin is multifold. On the basis of loan words some crafts must have already existed before the Conquest, so there must have been some common craftsmen among the conquering Hungarians. Archaeological findings from the 10th century proved the existence of other crafts than those which were needed for the war industry - like the making of weapons and harnesses - or gold smithery. Certain traces suggest the existence of crafts (e.g.: pottery, skin dressing or fur dressing), which could scarcely be done under classical nomadic circumstances. After the foundation of the state the structure of Hungarian handicraft industry also changed. According to written sources from the 11-12th centuries products of handicraft industry were made in royal, ecclesiastic or secular estates within the bounds of the servant-system, first and foremost to supply the estate. The forming of this system can be explained by the undeveloped road network and trade. The owner of the estate settled down the craftsmen in bigger groups, sometimes all of them lived in the same village, and they were forced to turn out not only agricultural products but also products of the handicraft industry. (This can be traced in place names, which refer to different trades: e.g.: Tímár [skin dresser], Szakácsi [Cook], Esztergár [turner].) Legally craftsmen did not separate themselves from the commons, and they were mostly servants. Owing to the scarce number of written sources many details of the servant-system are still unknown, and there must have been differences among the various estates. In spite of this, craftsmenship could only be a secondary profession among craftsman servants besides farming and other services (such as transporting, stable services). The majority of craftsmen worked with their own tools, so they could sell the surplus goods, that remained after delivering the compulsory quota of handicraft products. Sources prove the existence of markets in Hungary since the beginning of the age of the Árpád dynasty. Certain craftsmen did not belong to the cast of servants even in the 11th century. Masters usually lived in busy county centers and they satisfied the special or luxurious demands of the dignitaries or the royal court (gunsmiths, goldsmiths, coin minters). In these city-like centers craftsmen of the same profession lived in separate groups, in independent parts of the settlements. There were masters who travelled from town to town. Their special skills and knowledge (e.g.: moulding of bells) rather belong to architecture than handicraft industry. Change in the servant-system started in the second half of the 12th century by the immigrant hospeses, the majority of whom were artisans. So the development of handicraft industry and trade accelerated in communities presented with royal privileges. In the 13th century realisable agricultural products became more and more important for big estate owners, so they urged their craftsmen to deliver these. The escape of artisan servants to cities was a further sign of the decline of the servant-system. Archaeological findings also show this transformation in the handicraft industry: From the beginning of the 13th century in the more developed regions of the country consumer goods made in villages could be differentiated from consumer goods made in cities (e.g.: iron knives, pots). The process of the development of handicraft industry in cities was accelerated by the destruction of the Tartar Invasion in 1241-42. In the course of the "fortress building rush" in the age of Béla IV many towns managed to obtain royal privileges, which provided the favourable circumstances for craftsmen, just as elsewhere in Western Europe. The grouping of craftsmen of the same trade began in the second half of the 13th century, first of all to guarantee the good quality of goods. This concerns especially the food industry. Guilds were formed later, in the 14th century. Town-like settlements which could not manage to obtain royal privileges - for example, bishopric residences or boroughs - remained in the possession of the estate owner, who frequently helped their craftsmen with various privileges. In villages, however, handicraft industry was pushed back; it just satisfied local demands, so it was not rare if there was only one smithery in a certain village. In the 11-13th century different branches of smithery were significant in the handicraft industry: with the development of these various new agricultural equipments, tools, weapons and jewels were invented. In the 10-11th centuries in Hungary iron was melted in two smaller geographical regions: around Miskolc and Ózd in the northern mountain region, and in western Hungary around Sopron and Vasvár. The conquering Hungarians smelted iron in smelting-furnaces, which was unknown in their new home before. As part of this technology, smelted crude iron had to be made incandescent many times, then hammered to remove the dross from it. Smithery separated from iron-smelting already in the 10-11th centuries. Smiths were very important people among servants in the age of the Árpád dynasty, especially those who were skilled in making weapons. These smiths were the best in producing steel, and in running together harder and softer layers. When smithery was divided into further independent trades, many new trades were born in industry: the profession of makers of steelware, gunsmiths, swordsmiths, knifesmiths, locksmiths, armourers, shoeing-smiths and nailsmiths. Specialising did not take place in the villages; most villages did not have any forges till the end of the Árpád age. Smelting bronze was in between smithery and jewellery. On the one hand its masters usually dealt with making jewels: they made the simpler versions of expensive jewels from bronze. On the other hand they were the makers of many liturgic devotional objects: candle sticks, smokers, crosses. Relic holder crosses - which were significant from the point of view of industrial art - however, were not the works of Hungarian masters, they originated from Byzantine import. The most beautiful objects of medieval bronze-smelting were the so-called aquamaniles. They were water-pouring dishes with representations of different animals and imaginary creatures. Some of them must have been imported to Hungary from the region of the rivers Rhine and Maas. The first monumental objects of bronze smithery were the bells, which were smelted by travelling masters. The two earliest bells were smelted in the 11th century: the bell of Csolnok and Ruzsa. The most highly respected craftsmen were smiths in the Árpád age, partly because of the value of objects made by goldsmiths, partly because their customers often belonged to high-society. Smiths who worked at the royal court were also important people: minters of coins, and makers of citing stamplers and seals were appointed from among them. Of course, not all the smiths worked for dignitaries: part of them dealt with the mass-production of jewels worn by common people. Relations throughout Europe, the so-called migration of motifs, can easily be noticed in the smithery of the Árpád age. But it is often difficult to decide whether the most outstanding pieces of smithery (e.g.: the jewels found in the territory of the palace of Esztergom or the royal basilica of Székesfehérvár) were made in the country or brought into the Hungary through trade relations. In the field of wood-work we can find only carpenters in the servant-system of the Árpád age. Besides the roof structures and walls of churches and houses of dignitaries, the so-called cassette wood-frames of mounds were also made by them. The making of carts might have been an independent industry at that time. The traces of this industry could be noticed at Kocs in Komárom county in the Árpád age. The name 'kocsi' [cart] - a special version of carts - comes from this place name. Shipwrights and coopers making various types of wooden dishes also existed in this age. Skills in wood-working were needed in the course of the production of several types of weapons, tools and harness accessories. Furniture as such must have existed in the 11-12th centuries - first of all in the houses of the wealthy, though chests were generally used by common people since the beginning of the Árpád age. Carpentry became an independent trade only in the 13th century due to the development of city-like centers. In the structure of the servant-system a lot of data refers to skin dressers, fur dressers, shoe makers. Leather works were very important in a lot of territories of industry. Besides leather armours there were leather clothes, shoes, harnesses and straps. Concerning early tanning techniques the Hungarians used fat and alum in tanning. The latter was used together with ground seeds and the derivatives of milk making. The so-called 'Hungarian leather', tanned with alum soaked in warm fat, was very famous throughout Europe. This kind of leather was used for making harnesses. The word-stock of weaving-spinning in the Hungarian language originates from Slav loan words. It reflects the fact that certain techniques were adopted from Slavic people only after the turn of the 9-10th centuries. The relative undevelopment of this industry suggests that there was a significant textile import to Hungary up to the end of the Middle Ages. There were no craftsmen making soft materials to meet luxurious demands. For example, the textile of the coronation cloak - the first unbroken Hungarian piece of clothing - is Byzantine silk embroidered with golden thread. First the monastic orders adopted the western techniques (the first mill was built in Locsmánd, which functioned between 1206-18), and later western hospeses joined them. Cotton industry, spinning wheel and pattern-weaving was also introduced by them. Clay pots were used for cooking and frying in the 10-13th centuries in Hungary. As pots were cheap and fragile they were found at archaeological openings in great numbers. In the first half of the Árpád age potters functioned within the servant-system. Potters appeared in cities only at the turn of the 13th century. Their work was also of better quality. New techniques were adopted from the west, so they spread in Sopron and Pozsony near the western border first. The master started to imitate the so-called Wiena pots, while masters in villages only did so later. #### Money and trade The economic life of the Árpád age, especially in the first two centuries of the kingdom, was based on natural farming. The main characteristic feature of this was the striving for self-sufficiency. As a result, certain servant groups, who worked on different - royal, ecclesiastical and private - estates were forced to deliver a fixed quota of their surplus handicraft or other special products(for example, honey, wax...etc.). The fact that besides paying this kind of tax they also worked on the fields to provide food for themselves and their families shows the low level of division of labour. Natural farming, however, was not a completely closed system, so money, goods and trade played an important role since the beginnings. The minting of coins in Hungary started in the reign of St Stephen. Minting money was a royal prerogative. Besides the ruler only those princes could mint money who had independent territorial rights. Minting money and related matters connected to that belonged under the authority of the royal chamber, which must have been located in Esztergom till the middle of the 13th century. After this coins were minted in other regions of the country in the name of the king (for example, in Slavonia; this money was called the denariuses of the ban). The necessary precious metals were provided by the royal silver mines. The profit from minting coins came from either the decrease of the amount of precious metals in the coins or from the so-called innovation of money, which guaranteed profit for the chamber. The money in public use could return to the royal chamber in several ways. Already St Stephen began to impose taxes on his people, which might have been the predecessor of the royal tax called the denariuses of the free, regulated in details in King Coloman's laws. Extraordinary tax was first imposed on people by Andrew II and his model was followed by his successors, too. Besides national taxes, there were local taxes at certain places, for example the beech-skin tax in the territory south from the river Drava. People paid their tax in money as well as in products. For example, the Petchenegs and Székelys gave horses instead of money. Different customs duties were also royal incomes similarly to taxes. Originally they belonged under the authority of the king, so the incomes of these enriched the royal chamber. In some cases, however, rulers gave donations from the incomes of customs duties. First only ecclesiastic institutions were given these donations, then, in the course of the 13th century, private people as well. By the end of the age of the Árpád dynasty a great amount of customs duties was in the hands of private people. Customs duties collected from transportation (ferry, bridge and road customs duties) and commerce (market customs duties) concerned first only the quantity of goods, later, after King Béla IV's 1255 reforms, they concerned the value of the goods, and the amount of customs duties were defined as surplus goods. Markets guaranteed a great part of customs duties. The existence of such markets is proved by data from the 11th century. The spread of these markets is reflected among others in place names - (for example, Vásárhely [Marketplace], or names referring to the day of the market, like Szerdahely [Wednesday place], Szombathely [Saturday place]...etc.). Weekly markets were probably held near bailiff centers, too. In the place of some significant market places -connected to ecclesiastic celebrations - yearly or country markets were held, which attracted sellers and customers from far regions. The giving up of royal customs duties of the market led to the birth of so-called free markets. The permission for these became one of the elements of privileges given to hospes communities and towns during the 13th century. A document from the end of the 12th century gives a priceless summary of royal incomes. This may have been made for a foreign royal court, possibly in connection with Béla III's second marriage. The inventory gives the sums in mark, which was an exaggeration according to general opinion. However, the composition of incomes and the proportions of the different items of incomes compared may reflect a real situation. According to this, the most important source of income was minting money (about 37%), followed by the incomes of customs (19%) and the incomes of the counties (16%). The ratio of the rest of the items remained under 10%. The inventory also contains the incomes of Hungarian prelates. Foreign trade was an organic part of economic life in the age of the Árpád dynasty, even within the boundaries of natural farming. Till the 13th century Hungary might have had serious relations mainly with the East - Kiev and Byzantium. The signs of joining Western-European economy are quite significant from the second half of the 12th century, and by the 13th century trade with the West became dominant. The main items of export - besides agricultural products - were slaves and animals, especially horses. 11th century laws contain some regulations in connection with their export. The majority of imported goods were products of the handicraft industry and luxury items (Expensive textiles, jewellery, spices), just as in later times. During the 13th century the main trend in foreign trade turned towards the West. Besides the traditional goods of export Hungary began to export precious metals (especially silver, gold, copper and tin). The great majority of import goods remained the products of handicraft industry and luxury items, but the proportion of cheap iron products and textiles increased significantly. The circle of participants in trade also changed: while earlier mainly eastern tradesmen (Jews, Ismaelites, in a smaller proportion Greek and Georgian people) played an important role in commerce, in the 13th century more and more western tradesmen (mainly German and Italian) came to the country and settled down, and also Hungarian tradesmen joined this circle. Domestic trade in the age of the Árpád dynasty meant the exchange of products of different regions, so the majority of goods were agricultural products. The most important and earliest item of trade were wine and salt. Later, with the development of agriculture, grain-crops also became important items of trade. From the second half of the 13th century grain-crops granted the supply of the developing cities. The products of Hungarian handicraft industry were items of every-day use, so it met the demands of basic needs. The inner exchange of goods was settled by Hungarian tradesmen, the places of these exchanges were cities, around which local markets began to develop. ### EVERYDAY LIFE #### Men's clothes and weapons Various types of hatchets were quite effective - first of all for the infantry - against armoured troops. Loan words 'battle-axe' (bárd: 1214) and 'bill' (topor: 1235) appeared in the Hungarian language since the beginning of the 13th century. The wrestling scene on the wall-painting of the St Ladislaus legend from Gelence/Ghelinta refers unmistakably to the role of the first mentioned weapon. In this picture the girl is cutting the Cuman's hooked sinew on a battle-axe - the weapon of the St king, which became a permanent detail of his later representations. After discussing weapons we are going to continue with the introduction of the horse and harnesses of warriors. As a result of the development of weapons bigger horses appeared in the Carpathian Basin from the third of the 10th century. The armoured warrior sat on a big horse in a saddle, which was quite specific, different from eastern type saddles. Both pommels of the saddle arose high into the air. In this high saddle horsemen sat with straight legs at first, but later with legs stretched forward. In the 12th century, when the role of spear attacks became very important, deep knight saddles with pommels surrounding the waist of the horseman appeared to avert strong crashes and provide a suitable stay. Harnesses were decorated with mounts, fringes and bobtails, but on the harnesses of the above mentioned wall-painting the golden dots of mounts were painted onto the straps as well. The use of spurs became wide-spread in heavy cavalry, which was the novelty of the age. Horseshoeing in Hungary presumably appeared in the 11th century. Heavy cavalry tried to avoid using it even in the Middle Ages so that they could keep the maximum speed of horses. A great value was attached to the knight's armour and the horse together. The majority of common landowners did not possess such large estates (400-500 hectares) that would have produced a profit big enough to buy those. This is why the majority of small landowners - who were forced to take part in military campaigns - remained in the light cavalry then, in the second half of the 13th century. At the very most they could supplement their equipment with a sword or spear, since these proved to be very useful against both heavy and light armoured enemies. The Pechenegs, the Székelys, the Cumans and the Jász-s - who settled down here in the 13th century - fought only in light armours. Before discussing their weapons we must talk about their clothing before and after the Conquest. Presumably these people - who were still pagans in the 11th century - tried to insist on their traditional clothing. Representations from the 11-13th centuries show shirts with rising collars and a caftan-like tight overgarment reaching to the knees, with long tight sleeves, which was loosely pleated under the belt. their clothing always included a belt without mounts. The legs of the figures of the representations were either bare or covered with tights. They wore boots on their feet. Although we know that common people wore their hair in plaits - thus they kept the old tradition - for centuries, in the above-mentioned representations they were shown with western-type hairstyle: let down, sleeked hair with shaved faces, or with moustaches and beards. The survival of eastern-type clothing of the age of the Conquest was guaranteed by the Székelys and Pechenegs and other Muslim (Ismaelite) peoples besides the Hungarians and their military supporters, who assimilated into the country. Later, in the 13th century the settlement of the Cumans and Jász-s brought a new boom. The overgarment of the Cumans - which can be traced back with the help of 12-13th-century Cuman stone sculptures from the South Russian steppe and the wall-paintings of the St Ladislaus legend - included a caftan reaching to the knees, trousers and boots. The wings of the loose caftan - which was made of a thick material (in case of dignitaries, Byzantine fabric) - were folded onto each other from right to left in the front and they were pressed down by a belt. Occassionally the shirt was so long that it hung out from below the caftan. Cuman warriors used their belts to gather the caftan down and hold weapons (e.g.: hatchet, bow-quiver, quiver) and keep other accessories in (knife, striker, comb, pouch). The belt was usually plain, the only decoration could be the buckle. Cuman dignitaries, however, laid their claims for belts with precious metal mounts. The different mounts on these do not show eastern taste, but quite surprisingly, they are connected to court life. Cuman warriors did not wear trousers, but stockings reaching to the groin. Their light boots with soft soles reached over the knees. Cuman men shaved their heads and wore the remaining hair in one, two or three plaits, which often differed in length and thickness. They had no beards either, but twirled moustaches. They wore a long, pointed high cap with rolled up edge, the so-called Cuman high cap, which had no fur on it. This type of clothing became so wide-spread among the Hungarians in the second half of the 13th century that the church tried to ban it twice (1279, 1288) - without success. Warriors in light armour were also forced to use defensive weapons. They put on a leather armour to protect their bodies. Warriors of higher ranks wore wire or scale armours. they also protected their heads with helmets, which were made of either riveted iron sheets or made of one piece, which were cone-shaped. These helmets ended in a churn, which held the helmet-decoration, or in a small pole, which held a little flag. They were often made with nose-flaps, or metal masks. Warriors in light armour hardly ever used shields. The reason for this was that it impeded the user in handling the bow and the horse simultaneously, as the main attacking weapon was the bow. Reflex bow types used the age of the Conquest were preserved in the 11-12th century, though there are no archaeological proofs of this in Hungary. Concerning the various types of arrow heads, sharp ones, which could pierce armours (arrow heads with three or four edges, pyramidal and spear-shaped) became very popular since the 11th century due to the fact that archers had to face armoured enemies quite frequently. Besides these flat, leaf-, diamond- and deltoid-shaped or fork-like arrow heads also survived. From among weapons for close-range fighting we must mention the sabre - though even among the Mongolians only the richest could afford one. This weapon also underwent a change since the 11th century: a longer, wider and more strongly bent blade appeared. There was another traditional hitting weapon - which appeared in the Carpathian Basin with Pecheneg or Cuman mediation - the club. Only its sporadic archaeological findings are known. Clubs were made of iron or bronze in various forms, and they were attached to wooden sticks. The equipment of light cavalry did not develop significantly since the age of the Conquest. There is no concrete information about their saddles, but it is sure that curb-bits remained popular. The warriors' stirrups were decorated with wide, curved stays and round or pointed-round straps - in concert with their boots with soft soles. Spurs were not used by light cavalry. After discussing the weapons of heavy and light cavalry we must mention bows. These threatening weapons were used by the infantry, so it did not belong to the equipment of either heavy or light cavalry. According to the first data, in 1242 the Spanish Bailiff Simon defended the castle of Esztergom - sieged by the Tartars - with the help of his archers. In 1265 a source mentioned that horse were shot down with arrows, so this weapon must have been used in Hungary at the end of the age of the Angevine dynasty. In the history of the Hungarian Kingdom year 1301 - which was quite significant in history - was not very important in the history of weapons and clothing, because the proportion of weapons mentioned above did not change till the end of the 14th century and the development of weapons was not significant either. #### Women's and children's clothing The adoption of Christianity brought significant changes in both men's and women's clothing. Shirts - which was a typical item of clothing of both men and women -, caftan-like garments gathered with a belt, trousers and richly mounted boots were exchanged by new clothes according to the rules of the new religion. These new clothes had to hide the body. The closed, cloak-like garment - which was wide-spread throughout Europe - consisted of several layers on top of one another. The basic wear was an under and over-clothes called tunique. Over this people wore a shorter mantle and a longer, semi-circular cloak. The several layers of clothes on top of one another were made of the same material, but their colours were different. The material of the clothes was usually broad-cloth, but it also might have been silk, brocade or velvet brought from the East. Stephen, the younger king's inventory from 1264 proves that the dignitaries of the country had had their clothes made of the most expensive foreign textiles. The inventory listed a great amount of Flandrian broad-cloth, Italian, Byzantine and Asian - maybe Chinese - silk and velvet, soft linen for both men's and women's clothes. These clothes were lined or decorated with expensive furs. As their names indicated [hajadon = let down hair] single girls wore their hair let down, but married women hid their hair with a kind of bonnet or veil. The most simple of these was the so-called nun's bonnet or veil, which covered the hair, neck and partly the shoulders. We can see this on the wall-painting of the church of Ócsa, entitled the Last Judgement. Presumably elderly women and widows wore such veils. The female donator on the Szentkirály tympanum is wearing a flat, box-like bonnet, which was fastened under the chin. There is a long veil at the back under the bonnet. This kind of head-dress was very popular among dignitaries. We can see the same on the famous sculptures of female donators from Naumburg (Germany). Only a few jewels were worn at that time, the most popular ones were buckles for cloaks and clasps. According to archaeological findings from tombs silver or bronze hair rings were used for gathering hair braids, but necklaces, bracelets, rings were also found. Their material was usually copper or bronze; only the dignitaries wore silver and gold jewels. The so-called corolla-belt, worn by girls and married women as well, also counted as a jewel. It was woven from metal or gold threads and it was decorated with metal plates and pearls in most cases. The head-dress called 'párta' was worn by single girls. Several proverbs and sayings refer to this. For example, "she remained in 'párta'" means that a girl did not marry anyone. The 'párta' was a ribbon or wreath around the head richly decorated with pearls, plates or precious stones - similarly to belts worn around the waist. On the basis of written sources it is not certain how wide-spread it was in the age of the Árpád dynasty, but it is proved that it was worn by the fact that pearls and pressed plates were found around the head in tombs. The most expensive gold jewels were worn by the members of the royal family and court. These treasures were travelling from one court to another due to dynastic marriages among ruling families. Thus some head-dresses were brought to Poland as King Béla IV's daughters' wedding crowns, which survived from that age. One of them still decorates the St Sigismund herm, while the other two were transformed into a promise-cross. In the legend of St Elisabeth there is a description that her parents, Andrew II and Queen Gertrude - who was murdered later - set their daughter to Thuringhia with a rich dowry. Elisabeth was engaged to the son of the Thuringhian marquis as a child, but her dowry - clothes and jewels - did not differ from the clothes of an adult princess. In the Middle Ages children's clothes did not differ from adults' clothes except in size - independent of financial-social status. Except for the youngest ones, children wore the same types of clothes as their parents. |