Chronology of transformations in Grodno Castle from the 13th to the mid-16th century

Małgorzata Chorowska

doi:10.37190/arc210401

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present the results of the architectural research on Grodno Castle which was carried out by the author in the years 2017–2019 in cooperation with Radosław Biel and a query of published written sources by Agnieszka Gryglewska. They shed new light on the chronology of transformations in the structures of the upper castle in the period from the end of the 13th to around the mid-16th century. Contrary to what has been previously thought, the shape of the upper castle consisting of three wings of buildings with a height of 3–4 storeys was formed in a different way at that time. This was previously attributed to construction actions undertaken in the early modern age. The late-medieval origin also refers to the tower perimeter of the middle castle and the lower part of the wall protecting the zwinger. As a result of the conducted studies and field research, construction actions which were undertaken in the Middle Ages in the upper castle, can be grouped into three phases that occurred in around 1300, 1350 and 1500. In phase 1, a high perimeter wall with battlements and a hoarding overhanging the entrance gate to the castle and a section of the southern wall from the rocky slope and the road running along the River Bystrzyca Valley, were constructed. The wall climbed a rocky slope, culminating on the eastern side. There, at the highest point of the hill, it formed a square tower in plan with the same height as its adjacent sections. This fact makes us connect Grodno Castle with the type of the so-called coat castles, relatively rare in Silesia, but numerous in the territory of Bohemia. The wall surrounded a large courtyard and the rock on which the princely house was built. The entrance to the castle led from the south-west through a high ogival gate arcade secured with a portcullis. In around the mid-14th century, a long two-winged house was added to the inner side of the defensive wall. It had two storeys and reached half the height of the present 2nd storey of the castle. From the east, the southern wing reached the rock on which the oldest castle building was built. The last medieval extension probably took place at the beginning of the 16th century, due to the fact that the Czetryc family obtained a royal privilege in 1502 and a lucrative customs house in Jedlinka. As a result, the two-storey stone house was transformed into a four-storey stone and brick house, although some of its internal divisions and the rooms above the kitchen were made of wood. The storeys of the heightened house “climbed onto the rock” on which the house from phase 1 previously stood and were closed from the north with a thick stone wall. Even further to the north there was a brick kitchen. The most important room in the house was a magnificent two-storey hall which occupied the entire central part of the southern wing on the 3rd storey. Thus, it turned out once again that the scope of construction works which were carried out in the castle in the Middle Ages and the size of its body turned out to be larger than originally assumed.

Keywords:
article
grodno
castle
middle-ages
knights’-hall

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2021

4(68)

DOI: 10.37190/arc210401

Małgorzata Chorowska*

Chronology of transformations in Grodno Castle

from the 13

to the mid-16

century

Introduction

The Princely Castle of Grodno (Kinsperch, Kiensberg,

Kinsberg, Kynsburg) is situated near Choina mountain at

440 m above sea level. Its picturesque silhouette is best

seen from the village of Niedźwiedzica and from arti-

cial Bystrzyckie Lake. It is dominated by an angular tower

standing on a rock and a monumental wall of the upper

castle, behind which there is one of the two preserved resi-

dential wings, i.e., the southern one. Originally, there were

three wings, but in 1789 the western wing collapsed and

has still not been reconstructed to this day. The remaining

wings and the buildings of the outer baileys also fell into

ruin and remained uninhabited. In 1824, they began to be

partially reconstructed. Simultaneously with the rst con-

servation and reconstruction works, studies on the history

of the castle and the families inhabiting it were started.

Construction actions, which were undertaken in Grodno

after 1945, were preceded by architectural and archaeo-

logical reconnaissance.

The rst researcher of the history of the castle was Au-

gust Zemplin, a doctor in the health resort in Szczawno-

Zdrój. Thanks to the help of superintendent Worbis and ar-

chivist Professor Stenzel, he had access to the documents

which have not been preserved until today and recreated

the list of Grodno mortgage lords from the late Middle

Ages and the early modern period [1, pp. 4–8]. Tracking

the heterogeneity of the castle walls and the variability

of methods of their construction over the centuries, he

ORCID: 0000-0002-5073-4382. Faculty of Architecture, Wro cław

University of Science and Technology, e-mail: malgorzata.chorowska

pwr.edu.pl

Mainly documents from the castle archives, which were cut up by

an Austrian eld sewing room during the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763)

and from the archive in Książ Castle.

noticed that the oldest part was the tower and what was

directly adjacent to it. He dated all other buildings only

to the 16

century. When it comes to the origin of the lay-

out, he rejected presumptions of Ephraim Ignatius Nason

who connected the origins of the castle with the person of

prince Bolesław I the Tall who was supposed to extend

and strengthen it as early as in 1198. However, he con-

rmed bonds with the rule of Świdnica and Jawor princes,

i.e. Bolko I the Strict (1291–1301) and Bolko II the Small

(1326–1368) [1, p. 22], supporting them with the knowl-

edge of chroniclers and documents. Sixty years later, his-

torian Heinrich Schubert corrected Zemplin’s mistakes

regarding details in the biographies of owners of Grodno,

nevertheless, he upheld the theses which were connected

with the construction history of the stronghold [2, pp. 5–9].

The post-war knowledge of the origins and architec-

tural transformations of the castle was based on the re-

search by Jerzy Rozpędowski, which was conducted as

part of his master’s thesis at the Faculty of Architecture

of Wrocław University of Science and Technology and

published in “Scientic Papers of Wrocław University of

Science and Technology” [3] as well as – in a redrafted

form – in the Grodno monograph published in the series

“Silesia in art monuments” [4]. The author then conducted

basic observations of the walls, made a drawing inventory,

and theoretical reconstruction of the castle in two phases,

i.e., in the 14

and 16

centuries (Figs. 1, 2). He also em-

phasized the need for further thorough and systematic re-

search. According to the recognition made at that time, the

-century stronghold, which was built of broken stone,

consisted of a courtyard surrounded by a high buttressed

wall, on which two residential and most likely farm build-

ings made of wood were supposed to stand. There was also

a water cistern here. In the south-eastern corner there was

a square and not a very high tower, whereas the entrance

was to run through the gatehouse from the south-western

4 Małgorzata Chorowska

in the courtyard of the upper castle [5]. However, noth-

ing new was brought by the architectural research on the

walls of the upper castle, which was carried out in 2012

[6] in connection with the concept of reconstruction of

the collapsed part of the walls of the 3

and 4

storeys

and covering them with a roof. In 2016, supplementary

architectural and stratigraphic studies of the 2

and 3

storeys of the preserved wings of the castle were conduct-

ed, which can be positively assessed only in the layer of

stratigraphic ndings by Agnieszka Witkowska [7].

A breakthrough in the research into the construction

history of the castle came in the years 2017–2019, when

interdisciplinary activities began, i.e. simultaneously in

the eld of archeology and history of architecture. Ac-

cording to the initial assumptions, archaeological works

were aimed at verifying geophysical anomalies which

were discovered in the upper castle. However, in the next

stage, an attempt was made to identify the stratigraphy of

side. The tower was situated at the highest and most en-

dangered point because from the side of the gently sloping

mountain ridge it was easiest to approach the castle, while

from the other sides it was protected from being accessed

by the steep slopes of Mount Choina. The oldest stone

buildings – one residential and the other gatehouse – con-

sisted of 2–3 storeys. Their connection into the southern

wing and the superstructure up to the fourth storey was

supposed to take place in the 16

century. Only then were

the western and eastern wings with a kitchen to be built,

which transformed the gothic castle into a monumental

renaissance three-wing layout.

Continuing the postulate of further research, in the

1980s a detailed inventory of the castle with the use of the

photogrammetry method was made. In 1987 Leszek Ber-

duła carried out an archaeological survey of the so-called

latrine and a renaissance kitchen, where he discovered

a relic of an older foundation wall and made discoveries

Fig. 1. Plan of Grodno Castle according to J. Rozpędowski. The southern and eastern wings were marked in color (source: [3, board Ia])

Il. 1. Plan zamku Grodno według J. Rozpędowskiego. Kolorem zaznaczono skrzydła: południowe i wschodnie (źródło: [3, tablica Ia])

Fig. 2. Grodno Castle in the 14

and 16

centuries in the reconstructions by J. Rozpędowski (source: [3, pp. 34 and 38])

Il. 2. Zamek Grodno w XIV i XVI w. na rekonstrukcjach J. Rozpędowskiego (źródło: [3, s. 34 i 38])

century 16

century

Chronology of transformations in Grodno Castle from the 13

to the mid-16

century 5

the rubble and earth embankment situated in the zwinger

area. As a result of the exploration conducted, relics of

the previously unknown perimeter of the defensive wall

from the 15

century and several numismatic items from

that time were discovered. A lot of mass historic mate-

rial which was connected with the res of the 17

and

centuries was discovered as well. The real sensation

was the discovery of Benedict XIII’s Avignon obedience

edict, which was preserved in very good condition. The

excavation which was carried out in 2019 in the upper

courtyard in the corner of the southern wing and the col-

lapsed western wing, turned out to be very important for

the history of construction transformations in the castle. It

provided evidence of the simultaneous building of both of

these wings already in around the mid-14

century, i.e.,

during the reign of Prince Bolko II the Small in the castle.

The archaeological works were carried out by the team of

Dr Paweł Konczewski from Wrocław University of Envi-

ronmental and Life Sciences

The architectural examination of the walls of the two

highest storeys of the castle was performed by the author at

the request of the Culture and Tourism Centre of the Walim

Municipality in December 2017 [8]. It covered the rooms

Their results are presented in the articles included in this volume.

of the castle house, which now has the form of a building

consisting of a long southern wing, including the so-called

gatehouse and a short eastern wing. The basis of the works

was a detailed inventory of internal walls of rooms which

was made by Radosław Biel by means of the photo-scan

method as well as architectural studies of the surfaces of

non-plastered walls which were carried out in order to rec-

ognize their origins on the basis of the construction mate-

rial used (Fig. 3). During the studies, the discoveries made

by Witkowska in August 2016 [7] were used. Numerous

discoveries, which were formed as a result of natural forces

when the walls of the upper storeys of the castle remained

exposed to the destructive inuence of weather conditions,

were also used. Many artifacts such as the remains of me-

dieval stonework of window openings on the outer façade

of the southern wing and nests of cantilever beams were

recorded at that time. The observations made on the 3

and

storeys allowed us to conclude that there was a chrono-

logical stratication of the castle walls, thanks to which we

could arrive at a relative chronology of individual phases.

The basis for bringing closer the absolute chronology of

these transformations was the research consisting in com-

paring the material features of the walls of Grodno with

the building materials used in castles of Świdnica and

Jawor Principality [9], [10] and medieval burgher houses

in Świdnica [11], as well as the comparison of the obtained

Fig. 3. Grodno Castle.

Stratifications of the walls of the southern wing at the level of the 3

and 4

storeys:

1 – wall face from about 1300, remodeled in around 1500, 2 – wall from about 1350, 3 – wall from about 1500,

4 – wall from about 1550–1600, 5 – wall from the end of the 18

or the 1

half of the 19

century,

6 – wall from the 2

half of the 19

and 20

centuries, 7 – wall from the 21

century, 8 – negative of the wooden beam

(elaborated by M. Chorowska, R. Biel)

Il. 3. Zamek Grodno.

Rozwarstwienia ścian skrzydła południowego na poziomie 3 i 4 kondygnacji:

1 – lico muru z ok. 1300 r. przebudowane ok. 1500 r., 2 – mur z ok. 1350 r., 3 – mur z ok. 1500 r., 4 – mur z 1550–1600,

5 – mur z końca XVIII lub 1. połowy XIX w., 6 – mur z 2. połowy XIX–XX w., 7 – mur z XXI w., 8 – negatyw belki drewnianej

(oprac. M. Chorowska, R. Biel)

6 Małgorzata Chorowska

work shops of architecture students of Wrocław Universi-

ty of Science and Technology associated in the ArcHist

research club in July 2019. They provided the basis for

the stratication of walls of the upper castle into three me-

dieval phases, two early modern phases, i.e., renaissance

and late renaissance and phases connected with conser-

vation and partial reconstruction of the castle which were

carried out in several stages in the 19

and 20

centuries

(Figs. 4–7). This article presents the beginnings of Grod-

no Castle and further architectural transformations in the

upper castle which took place until the end of the Middle

Ages. According to the present ndings, the whole struc-

ture of the upper castle, including the high perimeter wall

and all three castle wings (southern, western and partly

eastern), except for the brick Renaissance kitchen, was

formed at that time.

results with the calendar of the history of the castle which

was prepared on the basis of works which were developed

by pre-war monographers [1], [2], [12] and also written

sources published in

Landbuch księstw świdnickiego i ja

wor ski ego [

Landbuch of Świdnica and Jawor Principali-

ty] [13]. In the spring of 2018, Maciej Małachowicz, who

represented the conservation supervision during the im-

plementation of the multimedia exhibition devoted to the

biodiversity of the Sowie (Owl) Mountains, repeated the

studies of the upper storeys of the castle [14]. He drew sim-

ilar conclusions as the author of this article.

The inspection of the entire castle walls supplemented

by the results of 3D scanning, which was carried out by

LabSkan3D scanning laboratory of Wrocław University

of Science and Technology as well as photo-scans made

from a drone by Marek Bogdała were developed during the

Fig. 4. Grodno Castle.

Chronological stratification of the walls of the upper castle on the ground floor level:

1 – in about 1300, 2 – in about 1350, 3 – in about 1500, 4 – the years 1550–1600, 5 – the years 1600–1700,

6 – years 1789–1850, 7 – years 1850–2010, 8 – reconstructed walls, 9 – rock, 10 – stonework, 11 – archaeological surveys,

ch – chimney, kitchen chimney, furnace cavity; names of the rooms according to the urbarium from 1595

(elaborated by M. Chorowska, A. Gryglewska, A. Kubicka)

Il. 4. Zamek Grodno.

Rozwarstwienie chronologiczne murów zamku górnego na poziomie parteru:

1 – ok. 1300 r., 2 – ok. 1350 r., 3 – ok. 1500 r., 4 – lata 1550–1600, 5 – lata 1600–1700, 6 – lata 1789–1850,

7 – lata 1850–2010, 8 – ściany rekonstruowane, 9 – skała, 10 – kamieniarka, 11 – sondaże archeologiczne,

ch – komin, komin kuchenny, czeluść pieca; nazwy pomieszczeń według urbarza z 1595 r.

(oprac. M. Chorowska, A. Gryglewska, A. Kubicka)

Chronology of transformations in Grodno Castle from the 13

to the mid-16

century 7

wall 1; well-prepared lime – burnt and slaked in optimal

conditions, which could be seen from a relatively small

amount and ne granulation of the so-called lumps, i.e.,

micrite clusters;

– wall 3 – broken stone arranged in clear leveling lay-

ers; brick mainly in arcades and at the edges of recesses

and openings; the lime mortar with visible micrite clus-

ters contained clay sand with, especially in the core of

the wall; signicantly more lime was visible in the facing

parts – it was hard, light, and beige in color;

– nger brick with dimensions of 8.0–9.2 × 14–15 ×

28–30 cm; the lack of carefully prepared grout indicated

the fact that the face of walls was plastered; in arches,

brick ttings with a deep cavetto occurred sporadically,

however, bricks with a carelessly made cavetto or facette

were used more often. In some places, bricks arranged

“at” were used and cut in order to form a wedge; the lack

of care in shaping the edge proles of window recesses

was compensated by a thick layer of plaster;

Basics of the chronological stratification

of the walls

of the upper castle

An attempt at isolating construction phases in the walls

of the upper castle was made on the basis of observation

of material features of the building material, which con-

sisted of broken stone, brick, and mortar. On the basis of

material dierences, which were observed in macroscopic

examinations, six types of walls were distinguished:

– wall 1 – broken stone without any addition of bricks

arranged in leveling layers and visible especially in the

external face; lime mortar not very strong; lime appeared

in the form of dust and numerous lumps (i.e., micrite clus-

ters) formed as a result of incorrect burning and slaking);

mortar contained a signicant additive of clay, which gave

it a brown color and plasticity;

– wall 2 – stone crushed on a hard and strong lime

mortar of brown color; less clay in the mortar than in the

Fig. 5. Grodno Castle.

Chronological stratification of the walls of the upper castle on the 1

floor level:

1 – in about 1300, 2 – in about 1350, 3 – in about 1500, 4 – the years 1550–1600, 5 – the years 1600–1700, 6 – years 1789–1850,

7 – years 1850–2010, 8 – reconstructed walls, 9 – rock, 10 – stonework,

ch – chimney, kitchen chimney, furnace cavity; names of the rooms according to the urbarium from 1595

(elaborated by M. Chorowska, A. Gryglewska, A. Kubicka)

Il. 5. Zamek Grodno.

Rozwarstwienie chronologiczne murów zamku górnego na poziomie I piętra:

1 – ok. 1300 r., 2 – ok. 1350 r., 3 – ok. 1500 r., 4 – lata 1550–1600, 5 – lata 1600–1700, 6 – lata 1789–1850, 7 – lata 1850–2010,

8 – ściany rekonstruowane, 9 – skała, 10 – kamieniarka, ch – komin, komin kuchenny, czeluść pieca; nazwy pomieszczeń według urbarza z 1595 r.

(oprac. M. Chorowska, A. Gryglewska, A. Kubicka)

8 Małgorzata Chorowska

– wall 4 – stone mixed with bricks of a medieval format

(8.0–8.5 × 13–14 × 26 cm); in some parts a brickwork

bond consisted of single side faces of bricks; the face of

the wall prepared for plaster; brick poorly burned with

a high marlstone content, strongly eroded; a very strong

lime mortar with a high content of powdery lime and in

lumps, gave the mortar a cream color;

– wall 5 – stone mixed with brick of early modern for-

mat (6.6–7.0 × 14.5 × 15–26 cm), the face of the wall

prepared for plaster; the lime mortar a bit weaker, ne-

grained, light beige, few lumps of lime;

– wall 6 – it is distinguished by a brick with dimensions

of 7 × 13.5–14.0 × 28–29 cm, burned to cherry color; the

lime mortar with a large additive of sand, ne-grained,

yellow and beige, not very strong;

– wall 7 – walls are mostly brick or brick and stone,

bonded with a ne-grained lime mortar of gray and beige

colors; bricks are not uniform in terms of size and color

(from light orange to cherry red), coming from dierent

brickyards or reused demolition bricks.

Dating the walls from phases 1 and 2

The existence of the wall dened in terms of construc-

tion technique as 1 and 2, i.e., containing clay, was con-

rmed in the following places of the stronghold:

– in the defensive wall of the upper castle (wall 1),

along its entire perimeter which on the southern and east-

ern sides reached the height of 4 storeys, while on the

northern and western sides 3 storeys only;

– in the relic of the short wall (wall 1) connected with

the southern section of the defensive wall, which is sit-

uated in the so-called dungeon under the level of the 1

oor;

Fig. 6. Grodno Castle.

Chronological stratification of the walls of the upper castle on the 2

floor level:

1 – in about 1300, 2 – in about 1350, 3 – in about 1500, 4 – the years 1550–1600,

5 – the years 1600–1700, 6 – years 1789–1850, 7 – years 1850–2010,

8 – reconstructed walls, 9 – rock, 10 – stonework,

ch – chimney, kitchen chimney, furnace cavity; names of the rooms according to the urbarium from 1595

(elaborated by M. Chorowska, A. Gryglewska, A. Kubicka)

Il. 6. Zamek Grodno.

Rozwarstwienie chronologiczne murów zamku górnego na poziomie II piętra:

1 – ok. 1300 r., 2 – ok. 1350 r., 3 – ok. 1500 r., 4 – lata 1550–1600, 5 – lata 1600–1700, 6 – lata 1789–1850,

7 – lata 1850–2010, 8 – ściany rekonstruowane, 9 – skała, 10 – kamieniarka,

ch – komin, komin kuchenny, czeluść pieca; nazwy pomieszczeń według urbarza z 1595 r.

(oprac. M. Chorowska, A. Gryglewska, A. Kubicka)

Chronology of transformations in Grodno Castle from the 13

to the mid-16

century 9

– in the lower parts of the northern wall of the southern

wing (wall 2), preserved to the level of the oset occur-

ring at the height of about half of the 1

oor of this wing;

this wall was added to the section of the defensive wall in

the area of the so-called gate building;

– in the foundation part of the corner of the southern

and western wings (walls 2), which was discovered in the

archaeological survey; the walls which made up this cor-

ner were connected; this fact surprised researchers, forc-

ing them to change the previously adopted chronology of

the development growth;

– in the destruction of the eastern (courtyard) wall of

the western wing (wall 2).

The chronological framework of the occurrence of

these relics can be approximated mainly on the basis of

the material characteristics of the mortar because broken

stone in the Sudeten part of Silesia was widely used from

the 13

to the 20

century, which makes it a poor date

proof. However, an analogous lime mortar with a large

additive of clay was observed in cellars and burgher hous-

es of Świdnica, which were erected from the foundation

of the town until around the mid-14

century [11], as well

as in the oldest parts of tenement houses in Dzierżoniów

and Strzegom, and Wleń Castle, in the walls from the

and 13

centuries. The youngest well-dated example

of the use of highly clayey mortar are the foundation walls

of the non-existent synagogue situated at 1 Sakwowa in

Świdnica, which was founded by a Jew Lazar in 1381.

It is, however, an isolated example.

This dating corresponds with the rst unquestionable

mention of the castle castellan Kilian von Haugwitz (1305–

1327), a trusted knight and creditor of Świdnica princes,

who at Grodno Castle on March 22, 1315, on the eve of

Easter, made a donation to St. Augustine Abbey of regular

canons of in Wrocław [15, vol. 4, no. 3481]. Therefore,

the castle must have already functioned for some time and

Fig. 7. Grodno Castle.

Chronological stratification of the walls of the upper castle on the 3

floor level:

1 – in about 1300, 2 – in about 1350, 3 – in about 1500, 4 – the years 1550–1600, 5 – the years 1600–1700,

6 – years 1789–1850, 7 – years 1850–2010, 8 – reconstructed walls, 9 – rock, 10 – stonework,

ch – chimney, kitchen chimney, furnace cavity; names of the rooms according to the urbarium from 1595

(elaborated by M. Chorowska, A. Gryglewska, A. Kubicka)

Il. 7. Zamek Grodno.

Rozwarstwienie chronologiczne murów zamku górnego na poziomie III piętra:

1 – ok. 1300 r., 2 – ok. 1350 r., 3 – ok. 1500 r., 4 – lata 1550–1600, 5 – lata 1600–1700,

6 – lata 1789–1850, 7 – lata 1850–2010, 8 – ściany rekonstruowane, 9 – skała, 10 – kamieniarka,

ch – komin, komin kuchenny, czeluść pieca; nazwy pomieszczeń według urbarza z 1595 r.

(oprac. M. Chorowska, A. Gryglewska, A. Kubicka)

10 Małgorzata Chorowska

its beginnings can be dated to the end of the 13

century,

whereas Bolko I the Strict or Bernard of Świdnica can be

considered to be the initiator of its construction. However,

it also includes investments which were carried out in the

castle in the era of Bolko II the Small. Taking into account

the above-mentioned joints which occurred between the

so-called gatehouse and the perimeter wall

, it should be

assumed that the defensive wall was built in the rst phase

of the castle’s functioning, i.e., during the reign of Bolko I,

whereas both residential wings – southern and western

– during the reign of Bolko II.

Grodno was mentioned as a princely castle in the do-

cument of the records of towns and castles of Świdnica

and Jawor Principality of Anna, Bolko II’s niece, and wife

of the Czech King Charles IV in 1353 [16, Bd. 1, pp. 508–

511, no. 20 and p. 512, no. 23]. Periodically, there was

also a prince’s oce in the castle

. At that time, the strong-

hold was managed by castellans such as Eyko (1335) [15,

Bd. 7, no. 5432, p. 2432], Ulrich Scha (1321–1382, mul -

tiple witness in the documents of Bolko II, burgrave of

Kyns burg in 1369), his son Reinczko (1351–1382), marshal

and court judge of Świdnica, lifetime burgrave das haus

zum Kiensberge (from 1372) who were closely re lated to

the princely court, [17, p. 280], [13, t. 1, p. 139, no. 720].

The castle ef consisted of the following vil

lages and farms:

Jugowice (Hausdorf), Jawornik (Jauernick), Pogorzała

(Seifersdorf) on the side of the village council (Scholtisei),

together with the village council, Dziećmorowice (Ditt-

mannsdorf), Jedlinka (Tannhausen) with courts, efdom

church and teams, apart from the mill by the River By-

strzyca with three wheels as belonging to the castle and

one more mill [1, p. 24].

Dating the walls from phase 3

The range of occurrence of type 3 wall coincides with

the level of the upper two storeys of the residential house,

in particular:

– it occurs in the walls closing the southern wing from

the courtyard side and partially the short eastern wing;

– it forms a 2-meter-thick wall closing the short eastern

wing from the north; after the extension of the southern

wing this wall became a partition wall;

– its relics were recorded in the wall separating the so-

called gate building from the southern wing;

– it occurs in the arches of some window openings

which were made in the perimeter wall of the castle within

the western and southern wings.

Walls 3 are characterized by the presence of a harder

lime mortar, although sometimes also not without loamy

fractions. In the walls of bourgeois tenement houses in

Świdnica, walls of this type, mainly stone, but with the

addition of bricks used to form arches and edges of open-

These joints were found on the basement and ground oor levels.

The latter at a signicant height of the wall, which excludes the possibili-

ty of building the perimeter wall and the gatehouse at the same time. The

so-called gatehouse was in fact part of the southern wing.

In 1388, three documents were signed at the castle, i.e. nos 595,

596 and 670 [13, t. 2, pp. 119 and 134].

ings, were present from around the mid-14

century until

the mid-16

century [11, pp. 10–14]. The above-men-

tioned ceramic ttings in the form of bricks with a cavet-

to, which at Grodno Castle were used in arches of several

window openings and occasionally as building material in

wall 3, remain a slightly more precise date proof. In Cen-

tral Bohemia similar ttings appeared at Točník Castle in

the part of the building dated to around 1500

At that time, Grodno was no longer a princely cas-

tle. After the death of Princess Agnes in 1392, the cas-

tle along with the entire principality became the property

of the Czech king and was transferred to feudal lords as

a pledge (Pfandherschaft) with the right of inheritance.

At that time, the castle was still in the possession of the

Schas, but according to the document of July 27, 1406, it

was abandoned then

According to Zemplin and Schubert, who based their

arguments on documents [1, pp. 24–28], [2, pp. 14–20],

in the 2

quarter of the 15

century, the castle and the

associated properties were in the hands of representatives

of the von Mühlhein family from Pastuchów. In 1429

they were Kunz and Heinz Mühlheim as well as Wenzel

von Schellendorf from Rogowiec (Hornsberg) and Mühl-

heim called Puschke von Kinsberge. In 1424, the latter

sold Veste Kynsberg to his uncle Nicolov von Reibnitz for

1000 Marks, however, in 1447, George Puschke, known

as Mühlheim, appears as the lord of Kynsberg, probably

the son of one of the previously mentioned. In the years

1444–

1463 the owner of the castle was Georg von Mühl-

heim.

From 1465 to 1535, the knightly family of Czetryc

uled the castle

. The rst mortgage lord was Knight Georg

Czetteras (1465–1484), who received the castle along

with properties from King George of Podiebrady by the

repurchase of the pledge in the amount of 1600 Hun-

garian guilders. In the years 1484–1490 it was held by

Georg’s brother, knight Hannos [Hasse] Czetteras who

after his death in 1490 passed it on to his son by inher-

itance. Hannos’s son – Hans Czetteras the Younger, who

died in 1494, passed on his inheritance to four of his eight

sons, i.e. Herman, Georg, Dyprand and Bernard. Initially,

the brothers managed the legacy together. Its division was

carried out in 1493. From 1494, the pledge was in posses-

sion of Hermann Czetteras for almost forty years. In 1535,

it was handed over to knight Christof von Hoberg, Sta-

rost of Świdnica and Jawor Principality as a repurchase

along with the villages of Jedlinka, Miłochów, Jugowice,

Pogorzała and everything that belonged to Dziećmorowi-

ce with a forest called Sifte (Golden Forest?). The latter

owner died the same year, leaving the castle to his wife

Euphemia von Hoberg. The widow owned it for the next

ten years and then handed it over to knight Matthias von

Date from the information board in the castle.

Jan, Gotsche Schaa’s son-in-law, undertook to transfer all prop-

erties, including Chojnik Castle and abandoned Grodno Castle (wusten-

nunge Kynsberg) as well as four villages, to his Liebental cousins, in the

event of his and his children death [13, t. 3, no. 1696, p. 430].

The theses about the highland robbery activity of its representa-

tives are not suciently conrmed in written sources.

Chronology of transformations in Grodno Castle from the 13

to the mid-16

century 11

Logau, Starost of Świdnica and Jawor principality and his

son Kaspar through the pledge repurchase.

From the above-mentioned ownership history of the

castle, a rather complicated ownership structure emerg-

es. It stabilized only in the last decade of the 15

cen-

tury during the ownership of the descendants of Hans

Czetryc and in 1502 was sealed by Władysław Jagiel-

lończyk, King of Bohemia, with the conrmation of the

rights of the Czetryc brothers to the received property and

compliant with the collection of the shipping duty up to

Jedlinka

. This date was carved on the lintel of the

neo-Gothic two-armed portal leading to the tower. Jedlin-

ka controlled the border crossing from the Lowering of

Nowa Ruda, i.e. the northern part of the Kłodzko land

through the Upper Bystrzyca Valley in historic Silesia

to the Wałbrzych Basin in Pełcznica Valley. In the opinion

of previous researchers, it was believed that from the time

of the pledged ownership of the castle until around the

middle of the 16

century, no major construction works

were carried out here. It was supposed to be indicated

by, inter alia, xed price of castle properties occurring

at subsequent transactions amounting to 1,600 Hungar-

ian guilders. However, in the course of recent research,

the eects of a massive extension represented by walls 3

were observed, which should be connected with phase 3

of transformations of the stronghold. It is quite probable

that it was the lucrative income from customs duty in Jed-

linka that allowed the Czetryc brothers to make this in-

vestment.

Dating the walls from phases 4 and 5

The range of their occurrence includes:

– walls: southern, northern and western, the so-called

gatehouse at the level of the 3

oor;

– the western section of the perimeter wall at the level

of the 3

oor;

– walls of the kitchen – western and northern at the lev-

el of the 2

and 3

oors as well as relics of the kitchen

chimney;

– glyphs of window recesses in all rooms at the level of

the 2

and 3

oors;

– the chimney duct and the jamb of the window next to

the chimney, on the 2

oor.

The basis for dating wall 4 was determined by nger

bricks present in it, with dimensions which can be de-

scribed as medieval. This type of bricks, at least 7.5–8 cm

high, were still present in many castle and manor build-

ings in Lower Silesia at the end of the 16

century, despite

the fact that in the capital city of Wrocław, the format of

bricks was changed to the modern one in the 1950s and

1970s. Bricks were joined with the mortar characteristic

of the Renaissance era. It was so hard and strong that after

ve centuries of erosion of the brick faces in some places

there were grouts alone only, which formed a character-

According to accounts from unconrmed sources, the privilege

of toll income in Jedlinka was granted in 1504 to seven brothers of von

Czetryc and then transferred to Głuszyca (Wüstigiersdorf).

istic network protruding from the ceramic destructs. The

construction action at that time was also indicated by the

cartouche with the date of “1551” as well as the coat of

arms and initials of the then owner of the castle, Mattias

von Logau (1545–c. 1567), which is at present located in

the entrance hall to the upper castle.

The walls, which were classied as No. 5, diered

from those described above by the addition of bricks and

brick ttings 6.5–7 cm high. Apart from little ceramics in

the early modern format, it still contained broken stone

and medieval bricks, therefore the origin of these walls

probably dates back not later than to the 2

half of the

century. From 1568 to 1595, Georg von Logau was

the mortgage lord of Grodno (1568–1587). Early modern

ttings and bricks mixed with bricks of a medieval format

are present, among other things, in the glyphs of arrow-

slits located in the perimeter of the low roundel bastion

walls surrounding the zwinger and the upper castle on the

northern and eastern sides, and in the lower outer bailey,

which allows us to connect these perimeters with the con-

struction actions of Georg von Logau.

Dating the walls from phases 6 and 7

The date proof for walls No. 6 is a brick with dimen-

sions characteristic for the 18

and the 1

half of the 19

century (7.0 × 14 × 28–29 cm) and with an intense cherry

color. This technique was used in Grodno Castle in the

following places:

– in the walled up door openings leading from the

southern to the western wing, which collapsed in 1789;

– in the walled up window openings in some rooms on

the 3

oor;

– in the gate, which is currently located in the zwinger

area near the tower, leading from the east to the courtyard

of the middle castle.

When the western wing collapsed, the castle was already

abandoned, so bricking up the openings did not make

much sense. Presumably, it happened after 1824, when

historian Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching

bought the

ruins, settled in the castle and adapted both gatehouses,

and personally supervised restoration and reconstruc-

tion works. The construction works manager was master

Schlosser from Walim [2, p. 63]. At that time, a staircase

was built in the tower which was a viewing point for tour-

ists. The northern section of the zwinger was closed with

a gate between the zwinger and the outer bailey in order to

arrange a small zoological garden there [18, p. 18].

Walls No. 7 included:

– repairs of lateral walls of the southern wing;

– jambs, sill walls and arches of arcades in almost all

window openings on the 2

and 3

oors;

– entrance opening to the room above the kitchen (2

oor), to the porch leading to the 3

oor;

– remodeling of the renaissance kitchen.

In 1823, the ruins were sold to local peasants to be demolished

for building material. The devastated castle was then bought by Profes-

sor J. Büsching, the then secularization commissioner of the liquidated

Silesian monasteries.

12 Małgorzata Chorowska

wide, which suggests that it was originally a fragment of

the battle porch that usually surrounded castle walls. The

porch was separated from the hoarding by a four-meter

high stone wall which has survived until today.

Making two sections of the wall higher by one storey

– the eastern and the southern – resulted from topograph-

ical relief (Fig. 9). The wall “climbed” a rocky slope and

culminated on the eastern side. There, at the highest point

of the hill, it formed a square tower with slightly thicker

walls, but with the same height as its adjacent sections.

This fact makes us connect Grodno Castle with the type

of the so-called coat castles, relatively rare in Silesia, but

numerous in the territory of Bohemia [19]. A stone avant-

corps might have been the basis for upper storeys erected

in a half-timbered structure.

The entrance to the castle led, as it does today, from

the south-west under a high pointed ogival gate arcade.

The stone framing of the opening at the same time formed

sliding grooves inset of the portcullis which secured the

entrance. They were made of pink Permian sandstone.

The portcullis was locked with a bolt. On both sides of

the jambs the sliding grooves insets for beams locking the

gate have been preserved.

The wall surrounded the courtyard which was quite

spacious because its area was diminished neither by brick

residential wings nor the gatehouse. On the eastern side,

however, some part of it was covered with rock (Fig. 10).

At present, it is lower, but originally it reached the height

of the ceiling above the rst oor of the present house

and its height can be seen on the external side of the wall.

The usable level of the courtyard near the entrance was

well below the present one, which shows that the area of

the courtyard must have fallen sharply to the west. Suce

it to say that in the archaeological excavation site which

These walls were built during subsequent conservation

and restoration works carried out from 1840 by Count

Frederick von Burghaus, whereas from 1855 by Baroness

Emilia von Zedlitz from Czarny Bór and her son, Bar-

on Max Ferdinand von Zedlitz und Neukirch, who in the

1860s repaired the tower, strengthened the ruined walls,

and secured their crown. Grodno remained in the hands

of this family until 1945. Walls 6 and 7 include all con-

struction and conservation actions which were carried

out in the castle from 1824 to 1945 as well as the post-

war 20

-century construction works. The last phase of

reconstructing the castle took place in the years 2011–2019.

Phase 1 of construction transformations

in the castle – Grodno Castle at the beginning

of the 13

century

At the turn of the 14

century, during the reign of

Prince of Świdnica and Jawor, Bolko I (1278–1301), the

castle on Choina Mountain was surrounded with a high

defensive wall and crowned with battlements. The orig-

inal existence of battlements is evidenced by a single

shield with an incomplete height and hewn edges, which

is preserved in the north-western section. At this point the

wall reached a height of 3 storeys. On the other side of

the hill, in the southern section, it was one storey higher

and it was additionally protected by a hoarding hanging

over a rocky slope. It defended the road running along the

River Bystrzyca Valley from the Bohemia’s side. Its exist-

ence is signaled by a row of seven nests which remained

after wooden cantilever beams located at the level of the

ceiling above the 3

storey, on which there was the hoard-

ing’s oor (Fig. 8). On the internal side of the defensive

wall, more or less at the same level, there is an oset 1 m

Fig. 8. Grodno Castle.

View of the southern curtain

of the perimeter wall.

Nests of the cantilever beams of

hoarding and relics of late gothic

window stonework were outlined

(photo by M. Chorowska)

Il. 8. Zamek Grodno.

Widok na południową kurtynę

muru obwodowego. Gniazda po

belkach wspornikowych hurdycji

i relikty późnogotyckiej

kamieniarki okiennej zostały

obrysowane

(fot. M. Chorowska)

Chronology of transformations in Grodno Castle from the 13

to the mid-16

century 13

was located next to today’s entrance to the courtyard, the

original usable level of the castle was found about 1.2 m

below the present one.

The princely house was built at the highest point of the

rocky hill on the eastern side, i.e. at the level of the present

oor. This can be concluded on the basis of the discov-

ery of a wall fragment in the so-called dungeon, which

was the only one connected with the perimeter wall, so it

can be treated as constructed simultaneously with the old-

est layout described. The dungeon was originally a rock

crevice which was situated next to the avant-corps/for-

tied tower between the later levels of the ground oor

and the 1

oor

. The direction of the wall in question

corresponds to the direction of the courtyard wall of the

eastern wing of the house from the later period. In the rst

construction phase, it could have been a stone foundation

for the façade of the princely house built in a half-tim-

bered structure. It cannot be ruled out that this wall was

This crevice was bricked up in the 3

phase of the castle exten-

sion and transformed into a starvation dungeon.

entirely made of brick and was dismantled in a later peri-

od. The house was erected under the cover of a stone de-

fensive wall which – as it was already emphasized – was

made higher by one storey in this place. Only the high

roof of the castle house might have protruded above the

brick defensive perimeter, testifying to the grandeur of the

princely seat. The only entrance to the building was from

the porch and hoarding, which signicantly increased its

defense. Farm facilities of the castle were probably also

wooden and clay.

Phase 2 of construction transformations

in the castle

– Grodno Castle in around the mid-14

century

In around the mid-14

century, i.e. during the reign

of Prince of Świdnica and Jawor, Bolko II, a long two-

winged house, which was broken in the south-western

corner, was added to the internal side of the defensive wall

(Fig. 11). As already mentioned, this corner, which was

uncovered in the archaeological excavation in 2018, con-

rmed the connection of its two wings. They were made

Fig. 9. Grodno Castle – photo scans of the western façade of the gatehouse and the façade of the southern wing from the lake side.

Chronological stratification of walls: 1 – in about 1300, 2 – in about 1350, 3 – in about 1500, 4 – the years 1550–1600, 6 – the years 1825–1950,

10 – stonework, 11 – negatives of hoarding cantilever beams, 12 – leveling layers

(elaborated by M. Bogdała, M. Chorowska, A. Kubicka)

Il. 9. Zamek Grodno – fotoskany elewacji zachodniej domu bramnego i elewacji skrzydła południowego od strony jeziora.

Rozwarstwienie chronologiczne murów: 1 – ok. 1300 r., 2 – ok. 1350 r., 3 – ok. 1500 r., 4 – lata 1550–1600, 6 – lata 1825–1950,

10 – kamieniarka, 11 – negatywy belek wspornikowych hurdycji, 12 – warstwy wyrównawcze

(oprac. M. Bogdała, M. Chorowska, A. Kubicka)

14 Małgorzata Chorowska

of stone with windows in hewn stone frames and reached

the level of the oset visible on the long courtyard façade

of the castle, about half the height of the present 1

oor.

Perhaps the storeys in the so-called half-timbered struc-

ture were situated higher, but it is dicult to conrm or

deny it. From the east, the southern wing reached to the

rock on which the oldest castle building stood.

One complete window opening from the discussed phase,

which is bricked up now, has survived until today. It is

rectangular, enclosed in thick hewn stone door jambs and

a straight lintel beam. Everything was made of pink Per-

mian sandstone and widely chamfered on the edges. More -

over, on the courtyard façade of the southern wing, in vari -

ous places we can see blocks of stone similar in color,

which were reused during the 19

-century conservation

works, mainly as binders of cracks in the walls. They prob-

ably framed other openings from the 2

phase. To the right

of the window described above, there is a fragment of an

Fig. 10. Grodno Castle

in about 1300:

A – preservation condition

of the walls from the phase 1,

B–D – different views

of the visualization

of the upper castle

(elaborated by M. Chorowska,

A. Kubicka)

Il. 10. Zamek Grodno około 1300 r.

A – stan zachowania murów

z fazy 1,

B–D – różne ujęcia wizualizacji

górnego zamku

(oprac. M. Chorowska,

A. Kubicka)

Fig. 11. Grodno Castle

in around 1350:

A – preservation condition

of the walls from the phase 2,

B–D – different views

of the visualization

of the upper castle

(elaborated by M. Chorowska,

A. Kubicka)

Il. 11. Zamek Grodno

około 1350 r.:

A – stan zachowania murów

z fazy 2,

B–D – różne ujęcia wizualizacji

górnego zamku

(oprac. M. Chorowska,

A. Kubicka)

Chronology of transformations in Grodno Castle from the 13

to the mid-16

century 15

arch which relieves some other one, much larger window

opening, perhaps a bifora opening.

The usable level of the courtyard in phase 2 was about

40–45 cm lower than the present one. It is marked by an

oset in the foundation wall of the southern wing, where

archaeologists discovered the level of the stone pavement.

In the excavation, the foundation walls were exposed to

a depth of about 1.5 m, but the bedrock on which this build -

ing was erected was not reached. These relations illus trate

dierences in the original shape of the courtyard level.

Archaeologists’ observations prove that in order to level

the usable storey, in the 2

phase a rock was cut in its east-

ern part, whereas the western part was sprinkled with ag-

gregate. In the middle of the courtyard, the timbered wall

inlet of the cistern, in which rainwater was

collected, has

been preserved.

The entrance to the castle was at the same place as

before. First, the road led under a high arcade in the pe-

rimeter wall and a lowered portcullis, and then through

a vestibule belonging to the southern wing. The exit to the

courtyard was halfway the length of the wing, in the place

of today’s gate, but it was situated lower.

Phase 3 of construction transformations

in the castle – Grodno Castle at the turn

of 16

century

The exact date of the late gothic remodeling of Grodno

Castle is unknown. It probably took place at the beginning

of the 16

century, due to the fact that the Czetryc family

obtained a royal privilege in 1502 and a lucrative customs

house in Jedlinka. As a result, the two-storey stone house

was transformed into a four-storey stone and brick house,

although some of its internal divisions and the rooms

above the kitchen were made of wood. Three brick storeys

of the heightened house “climbed the rock”, on which the

half-timbered princely house from phase 1 was situated so

far and were closed from the north with a stone wall more

than two meters thick. Even further to the north, beyond

the rock, there was a stone (?) kitchen and above it prob-

Fig. 12. Grodno Castle

in around 1500:

A, B – views of the visualization

of the upper castle in the phase 3

(elaborated by M. Chorowska,

A. Kubicka)

Il. 12. Zamek Grodno

około 1500 r.:

A, B – ujęcia wizualizacji

górnego zamku w fazie 3

(oprac. M. Chorowska,

A. Kubicka)

ably one half-timbered room attached to a warm kitchen

chimney (Fig. 12).

The kitchen occupied the courtyard cul-de-sac which

was formed between the northern section of the defensive

wall and the rock on which the oldest house was located.

This rock was also made much lower. In 1984, archae-

ologists discovered the foundation of the medieval wall

under the western wall of the Renaissance kitchen which

has survived until today [5]. It was the foundation of the

medieval kitchen. However, it is dicult to say whether it

was made of stone or made of wood and clay. The outow

of waste, i.e. the gutter, ran through a stone gutter through

the perimeter wall in the northern section. Today, it is visi-

ble from the zwinger of the castle. The evidence of inhab-

iting the room located in the kitchen vertical at the attic

level is reected in the remains of whitewashed plaster

which was preserved under the Renaissance kitchen chim-

ney. The plaster was laid on the layer of cladding which

was placed on the older defensive wall in order to even out

its face and cover the dirt and soot deposited during long

years in the open air. As the room above the kitchen was

the warmest interior in the late Gothic building, it might

have served as kinderstube, i.e. a children’s room or alter-

natively a dining room.

On the level of the 4

storey in the southern wing,

a window overlooked the kitchen side, which indicates

that the space between the storey above the kitchen and

the storeys of the southern wing could not have had too

many structures. In the rock crevice situated right next to

the fortication tower from phase 1, a small cellar – possi-

bly a starvation one – was built by bricking the rocks with

stone walls, which could still have been justied in the

turbulent times of the 15

and early 16

centuries. The

only entrance led to it from above through an opening in

the oor from the level of the 2

storey.

The former western wing was also remodeled, at least

in the scope of two lower storeys. It is clearly visible in

the structure of the remains of window openings made in

the defensive wall which originally surrounded this wing

from the west. On the ground oor there were two large

A B

16 Małgorzata Chorowska

windows, each one with a small niche on the right side,

but now bricked up. The windows had lintels in the form

of segmented arches with a wide facette or cavetto on the

edge, which can be considered a characteristic feature of

the late Gothic phase. Windows of this type were also at

the level of the 2

storey, whereas the 3

storey was com-

pletely remodeled in the next phase. A possible 4

storey of

this wing does not exist at present and it is rather doubtful

whether it had a medieval origin at all. The stairs leading

to the level of the battle porch, and therefore to the upper

storeys of the western wing, were in the thickness of the

defensive wall on its short northern section. Zemplin men-

tions them [1, p. 13], explaining the reason for the collapse

of this wall by weakening the structure due to the presence

of stairs. One more stairway, which served the eastern end

of the southern wing and was partially made in the rock,

was outside this wing in the place where we now have

a short porch connecting the southern and eastern wings

at the level of the 2

storey. The lower part of the stairs,

made in rock, has been preserved in the Renaissance kitch-

en, whereas the upper part, probably wooden, was replaced

with Renaissance stairs in the 2

half of the 16

century.

The most important room in the house was a magnicent

hall which occupied the entire central part of the south-

ern wing at the level of the 3

storey. This hall was 30 m

long and almost 6 m wide and its height, which consisted

of two full storeys of the 3

and 4

storeys, was about

6 m

plus around a 3 m high wooden barrel which was

usually used to cover this type of interiors by suspending

it to the roof trusses of attics. In Grodno, its representative

character is conrmed by the articulation of lateral walls

with a characteristic arrangement of windows which were

accompanied by (Figs. 13, 14) probably polychrome re-

cesses on both sides. This composition was reduced by

replaces in relation to the known solutions of this type

from halls of European castles

Measuring from the original usable level of this room, which

was situated about 1 m below the present oor on the 3

storey, to

the level of the base of the wooden barrel, which was usually used to

cover this type of interiors. The level of nests of wooden cantilevers

which might have supported the barrel was accepted as the barrel

basis.

On the walls of castle halls there were alternating windows with

recesses and replaces. The most famous examples include ceremonial

halls at the castles of Coucy (France, 14

century) and Castel del Mon-

te (Italy, 13

century). In Silesia, a similar, though slightly simplied

model was represented by the relics of the hall at the castle in Milicz,

which was built after the mid-14

century [20, pp. 89, 90].

Fig. 13. Grodno Castle.

Window openings, niches

and nests in the northern wall

of the southern wing,

photo-scan outlined

(elaborated by R. Biel)

Il. 13. Zamek Grodno.

Otwory okienne, wnęki i gniazda

w ścianie północnej skrzydła

południowego, obrysowany

fotoskan (oprac. R. Biel)

Fig. 14. The interior

of the southern wing from the east,

during construction works in 2019.

To a large extent it corresponds

to the lost knight’s hall,

which, like today,

was of two storeys height

(photo by M. Chorowska)

Il. 14. Wnętrze skrzydła

południowego od wschodu,

w trakcie prac budowlanych

w 2019 r. W dużym stopniu

odpowiada zaginionej sali

rycerskiej przechodzącej

podobnie jak dziś

przez dwie kondygnacje

(fot. M. Chorowska)

Chronology of transformations in Grodno Castle from the 13

to the mid-16

century 17

Window niches in the northern wall of the hall were

2.4 m wide and were covered with high almost semicircu-

lar arches of 1.5 brick thickness. As mentioned above, they

were accompanied by symmetrically placed recesses with

the following dimensions: width 60 cm and height approx-

imately 140 cm. The bricks in arches had trimmed edges

forming wide chamfers. On the southern wall, window

niches were large as well and the recesses were in their

jambs, one for each opening. They were probably sedilia.

On the façade of the southern wing overlooking Bystrzyca

Valley, at the levels of the 2

and 3

storeys, there are visi-

ble fragments of simple-form sandstone window frames

Describing the building in 1827, Zemplin mentioned

the paintings in the window recesses, currently not pre-

served, and the existence of a knight’s hall on the highest

storey of the southern wing [1, pp. 12–18]. The latter was

conrmed in the castle’s architectural research thanks to

the discovery of beam nests in the courtyard wall of the

wing. These nests were not carved in the wall, but care-

fully shaped and covered with stone little beams. Their di-

mensions were about 23 × 23 cm and the depth was up to

0.9 m, which indicates that wooden cantilevers might have

been placed in them. They were situated 1.6–1.7 m above

the former battle porch on the defensive wall which, after

adding the southern wing, was inside the hall in question.

Even if this height made it possible to walk under the

cantilevers or joists (because people in the Middle Ages

were not too tall), there was another circumstance which

eliminates thinking of these elements as joists for ceiling

beams. They were located halfway up the window recess-

es and the accompanying decorative niches. Thus, taking

into account the location of nests in 2/3 of the height of the

oor, as well as the dimensions and articulation of the

room walls, it is possible to risk a statement that Grodno

Castle had a ceremonial hall of the height of two storeys

and covered with an apparent barrel vault penetrating into

the attic space. So far, this would be the only example of

this type conrmed in the castles of Lower Silesia.

A question arises as to the function which the former

battle porch might have performed in the hall discussed. It

was connected with the 3

storey by comfortable single-

ight stairs shaped in the thickness of the southern wall.

The ight of stairs, which was 1.1 m wide, climbed the

arcade of the window recess, now being a poorly readable

relic (Fig. 15). Its cover was a barrel vault

. The porch

provided connection with the 4

oor of the fortied tow-

er on the rock and the rooms which occupied the upper

storeys of the western part of the southern wing.

The western part of the southern wing, which was locat-

ed in the vertical of the gatehouse, had dimensions of 10 ×

5.6 m on each of its three storeys. Each storey was illumi-

nated by two windows situated in analogical recesses

These were the remains of one post and two window sills. The

window sill on the 2

oor is approximately 70 cm below the current

usable oor on the 3

storey.

The entrance to the former porch was used in the 19

century for

tourists to walk around the ruins of the castle walls. The colored postcard

from the 20

century shows the entrance and brick stairs as well as the

relic of the vaulted passage between the rooms of the southern wing.

similar to those described above, but without the accompa-

nying side recesses and sedilia. In the architectural re-

search which was carried out in 2018 at the level of the 3

and 4

storeys, several nests of large-size beams were

found along the western section of the southern wall. Their

dimensions indicate that they might have been a remnant

of the construction of wooden walls and partitions which

were usually found in residential parts of castles. In the

urbarium from 1595 (after: [21, pp. 308–311]), i.e., the

early modern description of Grodno Castle, at the level of

the 2

and 3

storeys, “rooms separated from the bedroom

by means of boards”, which should be located in the verti-

cal of the entrance to the castle and in the adjacent western

wing, were mentioned. There, at the level of the 4

storey,

in the walls which were completely replaced in the 2

half

of the 16

century, there were grooves in wooden parti-

tions which divided this interior.

In the 15

century, the castle’s defenses were increased

by surrounding it from the north with a low stone defensive

wall, the so-called fence, which was situated in the mid-

dle of the present zwinger. Its remains were discovered by

archaeologists in the season of 2018 and 2019 along with

Fig. 15. Grodno Castle. The outline of plaster on the wall shows

the flight of stairs leading to the porch (photo by M. Chorowska)

Il. 15. Zamek Grodno. Zarys tynku na ścianie pokazuje

miejsce biegu schodów na ganek (fot. M. Chorowska)

18 Małgorzata Chorowska

a priceless cultural property – papal bull of Avignon Pope

Benedict XIII (Pietro de Luna)

. This wall was probably

destroyed during the Hussite wars. If we were to believe

Weber’s information, who without giving any sources

included it in his calendar of events taking place in the

castle, it happened in 1429 when the stronghold was rst

destroyed by the Hussites and during the time of the next

owners of the pledge, in particular the Czettritz family,

[…] it was reinforced with an outer perimeter wall with

round towers and protruding lower gatehouse [22, p. 27].

During the architectural research of the roundel bastion

perimeter, in particular the north-western section of the

walls of the middle castle and zwinger which are dated

back to the 2

half of the 16

century, the author had

the opportunity to conrm the truthfulness of Weber’s re-

ports. Two “round” towers of the middle castle, in fact two

pure stone shell fortied towers (Fig. 1, fortied towers

1 and 2) and the low perimeter wall connecting them, as

well as the lower section of the roundel bastion wall,

preserved almost to tower 3, should be dated similarly

Information is included in two articles in this quarterly: by

R. Biel, The functional analysis of the 15

century fortication of the

Grodno Castle, and Ł. Orlicki, Papal bull of Benedict XIII (1394– 1417)

from Grodno Castle.

to phase 3 of transformations of the upper castle to the

beginnings of the 16

century at the latest

. At the time

when the owner of the castle was Matthias von Logau,

these walls were made higher in the area of the middle

castle, whereas during Georg von Logau’s ownership, the

western sections of the zwinger walls were made high-

er and the eastern sections were extended together with

roundel bastions Nos. 3 and 4.

Summarizing the issue of the development of structures

of Grodno Castle in the Middle Ages, it should be empha-

sized that in fact the upper castle was fully formed at that

time, in terms of the plan and the full height of the walls,

which was attributed so far to the construction actions of

owners of the stronghold in the early modern period. The

medieval origin also refers to the fortied tower perimeter

of the middle castle and the low zwinger wall. The latter,

probably also representing the type of the so-called fence.

Translated by

Bogusław Setkowicz

Compare the article by M. Bogdała and A. Chodkowska, Roun-

del bastion fortications of Grodno Castle in Zagórze Śląskie, in this

issue of “Architectus”.

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nym, Autorska Pracownia Macieja Małachowicza, Wrocław 2019

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kiego Konserwatora Zabytków, Wałbrzych].

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1881.

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nictwo Poznańskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk, Poznań 1998.

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mit Erinnerungen aus dem Fremdenbuch auf derselben, Verlag der

Kunst- und Buchhandlung J.D. Grüson & Comp., Breslau 1827.

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1995, roč. 20, č. [1], 355–388.

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zamku w Miliczu, [in:] M. Chorowska, E. Różycka-Rozpędowska

(red.), Nie tylko zamki. Szkice oarowane profesorowi Jerzemu

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na Wydawnicza PWr, Wrocław 2005, 83–96.

[21] Schaetzke V., Schlesische Burgen und Schlösser (Iser, Riesen,

Waldenburgergebirge und Vorberge). Ein Beitrag zur Burgenkunde

mit Abbildungen, Verlag L. Heege, Schweidnitz 1927.

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Dresden–Breslau 1910.

Chronology of transformations in Grodno Castle from the 13

to the mid-16

century 19

Abstract

Chronology of transformations in Grodno Castle from the 13

to the mid-16

century

The aim of the article is to present the results of the architectural research on Grodno Castle which was carried out by the author in the years

2017–2019 in cooperation with Radosław Biel and a query of published written sources by Agnieszka Gryglewska. They shed new light on the chro-

nology of transformations in the structures of the upper castle in the period from the end of the 13

to around the mid-16

century. Contrary to what

has been previously thought, the shape of the upper castle consisting of three wings of buildings with a height of 3–4 storeys was formed in a dierent

way at that time. This was previously attributed to construction actions undertaken in the early modern age. The late-medieval origin also refers to

the tower perimeter of the middle castle and the lower part of the wall protecting the zwinger.

As a result of the conducted studies and eld research, construction actions which were undertaken in the Middle Ages in the upper castle, can

be grouped into three phases that occurred in around 1300, 1350 and 1500. In phase 1, a high perimeter wall with battlements and a hoarding over-

hanging the entrance gate to the castle and a section of the southern wall from the rocky slope and the road running along the River Bystrzyca Valley,

were constructed. The wall climbed a rocky slope, culminating on the eastern side. There, at the highest point of the hill, it formed a square tower in

plan with the same height as its adjacent sections. This fact makes us connect Grodno Castle with the type of the so-called coat castles, relatively rare

in Silesia, but numerous in the territory of Bohemia. The wall surrounded a large courtyard and the rock on which the princely house was built. The

entrance to the castle led from the south-west through a high ogival gate arcade secured with a portcullis.

In around the mid-14

century, a long two-winged house was added to the inner side of the defensive wall. It had two storeys and reached half the

height of the present 2

storey of the castle. From the east, the southern wing reached the rock on which the oldest castle building was built. The last

medieval extension probably took place at the beginning of the 16

century, due to the fact that the Czetryc family obtained a royal privilege in 1502

and a lucrative customs house in Jedlinka. As a result, the two-storey stone house was transformed into a four-storey stone and brick house, although

some of its internal divisions and the rooms above the kitchen were made of wood. The storeys of the heightened house “climbed onto the rock” on

which the house from phase 1 previously stood and were closed from the north with a thick stone wall. Even further to the north there was a brick

kitchen. The most important room in the house was a magnicent two-storey hall which occupied the entire central part of the southern wing on the

storey. Thus, it turned out once again that the scope of construction works which were carried out in the castle in the Middle Ages and the size of

its body turned out to be larger than originally assumed.

Key words: Grodno, castle, Middle Ages, Knights’ Hall

Streszczenie

Chronologia przemian na zamku Grodno od XIII do połowy XVI wieku

Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie wyników badań architektonicznych zamku Grodno przeprowadzonych przez autorkę w latach 2017–2019,

przy współpracy Radosława Biela, oraz kwerendy publikowanych źródeł pisanych przygotowanej przez Agnieszkę Gryglewską. Rzucają one nowe

światło na chronologię przeobrażeń zabudowy górnego zamku w okresie od końca XIII do około połowy XVI w. Inaczej niż dotychczas sądzono,

ukształtowała się wówczas bryła zamku górnego, złożona z trzech skrzydeł zabudowy o wysokości 3–4 kondygnacji, co przypisywano dotąd dzia-

łaniom budowlanym podejmowanym w dobie nowożytnej. Średniowieczną metrykę przypisano także do obwodu basztowego średniego zamku

i dolnej części muru osłaniającego międzymurze.

W wyniku przeprowadzonych studiów i badań terenowych stwierdzono, że działania budowlane podejmowane w średniowieczu na górnym

zamku można pogrupować w trzech fazach zaistniałych ok. 1300 r., ok. 1350 i ok. 1500 r. W pierwszej fazie powstał wysoki mur obwodowy z blan-

kowaniem i hurdycją nadwieszoną nad bramą wjazdową do zamku i odcinkiem muru południowego od strony skalnego zbocza i traktu drożnego

biegnącego doliną rzeki Bystrzycy. Mur wspinał się po skalnym zboczu, osiągając kulminację po stronie wschodniej. Tam, w najwyższym punkcie

wyniesienia formował kwadratową w planie basztę, o tej samej wysokości co przyległe jego odcinki. Stwierdzenie tego faktu każe wiązać zamek

Grodno z typem tzw. zamków płaszczowych, stosunkowo rzadkich na Śląsku, lecz licznych na terenie Czech. Mur opasywał obszerny dziedziniec

i skałę, na której zbudowano książęcy dom. Wjazd do zamku prowadził od południowego zachodu przez wysoką, ostrołuczną arkadę bramną zabez-

pieczoną broną.

Około połowy XIV w. do wewnętrznej strony muru obronnego został dobudowany długi, dwuskrzydłowy dom. Miał on dwie kondygnacje i sięgał

do połowy wysokości obecnego I piętra zamku. Od wschodu skrzydło południowe dobijało do skały, na której wznosił się najstarszy budynek zamko-

wy. Ostatnia średniowieczna rozbudowa nastąpiła zapewne w początkach XVI w., w związku z uzyskaniem przez właścicieli zamku przywileju kró-

lewskiego i lukratywnej komory celnej w Jedlince. W jej efekcie dwukondygnacyjny, kamienny dom został przekształcony w czterokondygnacyjny

dom kamienno-ceglany, choć część jego wewnętrznych podziałów i izby nad kuchnią pozostały wykonane w drewnie. Piętra podwyższonego domu

„weszły na skałę”, na której wcześniej stał dom z I fazy, i zostały zamknięte od północy grubą, kamienną ścianą. Jeszcze dalej na północ znajdowała

się murowana kuchnia. Najważniejszym pomieszczeniem domu była potężna, dwukondygnacyjna aula zajmująca na poziomie II piętra całą środko-

wą część skrzydła południowego. Tym samym po raz kolejny okazało się, że zakres prac budowlanych, jakie prowadzono na zamku w średniowieczu,

i jego bryła były znacznie bardziej rozległe, niż początkowo przypuszczano.

Słowa kluczowe: Grodno, zamek, Middle Ages, Knights’ Hall

Zagórze Śląskie, Grodno Castle.

The gate building of the lower castle

from around 1570.

View of the gable wall to the south-east

(photo by A. Gryglewska, 2021)

Zagórze Śląskie, zamek Grodno.

Budynek bramny dolnego zamku

z około 1570 r.

Widok ściany szczytowej

od południowego wschodu

(fot. A. Gryglewska, 2021)