Zemplín Castle
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Zemplín Castle (; ) was a former stronghold, administrative center, and later private residence near the River
Bodrog The Bodrog is a river in eastern Slovakia and north-eastern Hungary. It is a tributary of the river Tisza. The Bodrog is formed by the confluence of the rivers Ondava and Latorica near Zemplín in eastern Slovakia. It crosses the Slovak–Hu ...
in the village of Zemplín,
Trebišov District Trebišov District (, ; ) is a Districts of Slovakia, district in the Košice Region of eastern Slovakia. Until 1918, the district was mostly part of the Administrative divisions of the Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian county of Zemplén County, Ze ...
,
Košice Region The Košice Region (, ; ; ) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. The region was first established in 1923 and its present borders were established in 1996. It consists of 11 districts ( okresy) and 440 municipalities, 17 of which ...
in eastern
Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
.


Etymology

The name of the castle is derived from Slavic ''zem'' ('soil' or 'earth'). ''Zemnen'' in the meaning ''zemný hrad'' (literally 'the earth castle', earthwork) was still recorded in the early 14th century. The original Slavic form has been preserved in the local Slovak and Ruthenian dialects as ''Zemno'', ''Zemné'' resp. ''Žemno'', ''Žemňe'' along with the official name until the 19th, rarely until the 20th century. The official Slovak name ''Zemplín'' has been influenced by the
Hungarian language Hungarian, or Magyar (, ), is an Ugric language of the Uralic language family spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighboring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Out ...
and medieval transcription into
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
.


History

The location was first occupied by farmers of the Bükk culture (5000 BC). After settlements of the
Baden culture The Baden culture or Baden-Pécel culture is a Chalcolithic archaeological culture dating to 3520–2690 BC. It is found in Central and Southeast Europe, and is in particular known from Moravia (Czech Republic), Romania, Hungary, southern Pola ...
, the Nyírség-Zatín culture and the Gáva culture, Zemplín become the local center of mixed Celtic-Dacian population in the Medzibodrožie region with the largest boom in the 1st century BC. A small hill fort stood at the place of the later castle. In the 1st century CE, the hill fort lost its function until the arrival of the Slavs. Probably in the last third of the 9th century, the Slavs built the hill fort at the same place. The Slavs reused older walls, extended them and strengthened with a wooden construction. The
Great Moravia Great Moravia (; , ''Meghálī Moravía''; ; ; , ), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in the area of Central Europe, possibly including territories which are today part of the Czech Repub ...
n hill fort was surrounded by additional settlements. The presence of the Hungarians is documented already in the turnover of the 9th and 10th century. The grave of a Hungarian chieftain in the oak coffin, dressed in luxury clothing with exclusive gifts and weapons was attributed to
Álmos Álmos (), also Almos or Almus ( 820 – 895), was—according to the uniform account of Hungarian chronicles—the first head of the "loose federation" of the Hungarian tribes from around 850. Whether he was the Sacred king, sacred ruler (''k ...
by Hungarian archeologist Nándor Fettich. The Slavic hill fort is mentioned in
Gesta Hungarorum ''Gesta Hungarorum'', or ''The Deeds of the Hungarians'', is the earliest book about Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian history which has survived for posterity. Its genre is not chronicle, but ''gesta'', meaning "deeds" or "acts", which is a medie ...
, describing how legendary chieftain of the Hung (
Uzhhorod Uzhhorod (, ; , ; , ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Uzh, Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistan ...
) castle fled "ad castrum Zemlun". The continuity of the population has been preserved also after the fall of Great Moravia and the Slavic settlement of the hill fort is documented between the 9th and the 12th century. Neighbouring Slavic settlements were preserved as well and later become a market village and then a small medieval town Zemplín. The castle was incorporated into the early administrative structure of the
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
. Between the 11th and the 13th century, the hill fort (the castle) was owned by Hungarian kings and later by several noble families. As an important strategic point, it became the center of the comitatus and the seat of ''
ispán The ispánRady 2000, p. 19.''Stephen Werbőczy: The Customary Law of the Renowned Kingdom of Hungary in Three Parts (1517)'', p. 450. or countEngel 2001, p. 40.Curta 2006, p. 355. (, , and ),Kirschbaum 2007, p. 315. deriving from title of župan, ...
''. A romanesque church dedicated to St. George was built probably between the 2nd half of the 11th and the 1st half of the 12th century. In the 13th century, the hill fort was rebuilt to the feudal seat. Around the same time, it was made the administrative center for the
Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
in the region. The original Slavic inhabitants were slowly assimilated and in the 13th century the population became mostly Hungarian. By the early 14th century the castle was owned by the Drugeth family, followed 250 years later by the Perényi family. During the anti-Habsburg revolts of later centuries the castle was burned and today nothing remains. Nowadays, the area is a part of the village and is occupied by two churches (Greek-Catholic built 1804 and Evangelical rebuilt in 1628) and the modern cemetery.


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See also

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List of castles in Slovakia This is a list of castles in Slovakia. This list includes palaces, citadels and manor houses. These Slovak language, Slovak words translate as follows: #''hrad'', ''hrádok'' - castle #''zámok'' - correctly: château, commonly translated as cas ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zemplin Castle Castles in Slovakia Buildings and structures in Košice Region 11th-century architecture in Slovakia