Z dejín hradu Beckov. Historický vývoj, majitelia a stavebné úpravy v novoveku

(From the History of Beckov Castle. Historical Development, Owners, and Construction Changes in the Modern Period)

Ivan Mrva

Download PDF

MRVA, Ivan. From the History of Beckov Castle. Historical Development, Owners, and Construction Changes in the Modern Period. In Historický zborník, Vol. 33, 2023, No. 1, pp. 24 – 35.

Abstract: The first evidence of the existence of Beckov Castle dates to the end of the 12th century. In the first half of the 13th century, Beckov castle became the seat of the Beckov County governor and the centre of Beckov County. In 1388, King Sigismund of Luxembourg granted the castle to the Polish nobleman Stibor. After the death of Stibor the Younger in 1437, the King gave it to Paul, the son of Stephen, the Ban of Slavonia, who set his surname to Bánffy. His descendants became the owners of the castle and the villages that belonged to it for more than two centuries. Gradually, several magnate families became co-owners of the castle and the estate through marriages and family unions. After the death of Krištof Bánffy in 1644, the monarch confirmed the establishment of the Beckov Composssessorate, i. e. the joint ownership by several noble families related to the Bánffy family. In the middle of the 17th century, construction works on the castle began to be carried out. During the Francis II Rákóczi uprising, the castle was seized by the kuruc (anti-Habsburg insurgents), who inflicted great damage and set the castle on fire in 1709. The work of destruction was completed by a fatal fire in 1728. In the second half of the 20th century, stabilization works started first, then systematic research was carried out, and the most valuable parts of the castle were reconstructed recently.

Keywords: Beckov Castle; Bánfi (Bánffy); gothic; Nicholas Esterházy of Galántha; Beckov Compossessorate; Turks; construction changes.