### earth-fortress, bailiff castle
earth-fortress A place of living protected by earth-mounds or ditches of different size and character. The first Hungarian earth-fortresses were built in the middle and end of the 10th century. SGY Bailiff castle The majority of these castles, which were the centers of bailiff districts, were fortresses strengthened by wooden stucture entrenchments, only a very few of them had stone walls (e.g.: Esztergom, Veszprém). The castles were built on small hills, along important roads; their territory was relatively big (2-3 hectares). Based on archaeological findings and surveys, there were two types: a bigger one with wider entrenchment; the earlier type, and a smaller one with thinner entrenchment, the later type. Both the types and the origin of these castles are uncertain, a source of several debates. The majority of the bailiff castles lost their military importance during the 12-13th centuries, and after the Tartar Invasion only some of them were modernised, the others were left to their fate. ZSA