10th century mass grave at a hill fortress in Buděc in the Czech Republic may in all likelihood be linked to a rebellion, which followed the fratricide of Wenceslaus in AD 935
In AD 928 the German King, Henry I (the Fowler), opened up an eastern campaign, in which he besieged first the fortress of Brennaburg and later another fortress, Gana (Jahna) probably Stauchitz on the Western bank of the river Elbe on one of its tributaries, the river Jahna. This siege took according to Widukind 20 days. After having taken the castle, he allowed his men to take the valuables; “all the grown-ups were killed, while boys and girls were spared slavery”. [1] After this he went with his whole army to Prague, where the duke, Wenceslaus I, accepted to pay tribute to his German overlord. (Widukind calls Wenceslaus I ‘king).
It is around the same time, someone besieged and took a walled fortress 14 km north of Prague at Buděc. The victors seem to have killed off the males in the same fashion as Widukind reported from Ganna, while leaving the woman and children impoverished.
Buděc is one of Bohemia’s most important medieval sites. It lies on top of a steep promontory, surrounded by rivers to three sides. Covering more than 4500 m2, the hill-fort was very early on fortified with a 1400m long outer wall. It is estimated that the settlement housed at least several hundred people, of which the garrison must have been a substantial part. In the internal compound or ducal Curtis, a rectangular structure was identified as a ducal residence combined with the core of the round church still standing. Unfortunately a modern cemetery prohibits wide scale archaeological excavations near the church.
Some time in the first half of the 10th century 56 people were buried inside the compound in a cemetery near the church. These were obvious elite burials as witnessed by high status jewellery and spurs found in the graves. To the north east, at the foot of the steep hill, people in the village called Zákolany had their dead buried outside their settlement (to the north-west).
Mass Burial
The most interesting part of the excavations around the fortress took place 150 m south- east of the fortress. Here archaeologists excavated a pit 2.7 x 2.9 m and 1.2 m filled with the remains of a number of individuals. New studies carried out by Ivo Štefan and his team have yielded significant new knowledge about the people buried, and how they were killed. All in all between 33 and 60 individuals were dumped in the mass grave. The minimum is based on the number of complete or almost complete skulls, whereas the higher figure stems from a general estimate based on the mass of fragmented bones. Probably all were tall and fit males between 20 to 40 years of age characterised by a significant muscle mass (medium to massive muscular attachments).
Recent studies have shown that most of the men died a violent death after having suffered extensive cranial and spinal injuries; most of these were carried out by swords – the elite weapon of the tenth-century warrior. A number of the dead had obviously been decapitated. After their gruesome death – which seems to have been inflicted upon many of them after having been taken prisoners – it appears their dead bodies were left in the open, lying around unburied. Bites of dogs and animals testify to this.
Women and Children
However, the dead men were not the only individuals buried at the site. Surrounding the mass-grave, the archaeologists found 114 graves containing 119 individuals. It is estimated that app. 150 graves can be found in the area. This population differed significantly from those buried in the mass grave. 61 skeletons belonged to children, 34 to women and only 9 to men. The average age of the adults were between 44 and 48 years. Many of these were buried in a disorderly fashion (non-Christian), lying either on their side or in a prone position. Grave goods were sparse and not very valuable.
AD 930 – 990
Fragments of pottery, a radiocarbon date of some bones plus an evaluation of the personal ornaments found in surrounding graves place the burials inside a time-frame c 900 – 950. Tentatively the archaeologists have offered the hypothesis that at some time in the first part of the 10th century, the important stronghold of Buděc was besieged and conquered. Afterwards, the garrison was killed off leaving the women and children to their fate.
There is no written testimony as to who and why took part in the events. However, the archaeologists speculate that the siege and mass execution took place in the wake of the violence, which erupted in AD 935, when the ruler, Wenceslaus was killed by his brother Boleslav at Stará Boleslav. According to a 10th century chronicle, Crescente Fide: “[Boleslav’s men] at once made haste to Prague, where they murdered all his [Wenceslaus’] friends and pursued his clerics” [2]. According to another source, this was carried out by “various and cruel deaths, and drowning their children alive in the river Vltava”…[3].
Neither chronicler mentions Buděc, but the legend suggests that this was where the future royal saint, Wenceslaus, had received his basic education from a priest connected to the church at Buděc, which was built around AD 900. It seems obvious to imagine that Buděc was filled with retainers of the killed Wenceslaus. His brother, Boleslaus simply needed to weed out the opposition in order to establish a more secure Prěmyslid principality.
However, to control Prague, it was necessary also to control the fortress at Buděc and it is reasonable to believe that Buděc was laid waste in the aftermath of the murder of the king. At least we know archaeologically that, the inner ducal court was demolished sometime between AD 930 – 960. Now, the inhabitants of the fortress came to be buried to the east in a new graveyard next to the second church on the hill, while the fortifications of Buděc were once more enlarged.
Notes:
[1] Widukind von Corvey. Res gestae Saxonicae. Die Sachsengeschichte. Lateinisch/Deutsch. I:35, p. 82 – 83
îbersetzt und herausgegeben von Ekkehart Rotter and Bernd Schneidmüller.
Reclam1981
[2] , Fontes rerum Bohemicarum Vol 1
By J. Emler
Praha 1873: p. 187)
[3] Kristiánova legenda
Ed. by Jaroslav Ludvíkovský
Praha : Vyšehrad, 2012, p. 82
SOURCE:
The archaeology of early medieval violence: the mass grave at Buděc, Czech Republic.
By Ivo Štefan, Petra Stranská and Hana Vodrova
In: Antiquity (2016) vol 90: issue 351, pp. 759 – 776
Zánik knížecího dvorce na Budči – [The demise of the ducal curtis at Budeč]
By Andrea Bartošková
In: Archeologické rozhledy (2011) Vol. LXIII, pp. 284 -306
FEATURED PHOTO:
Stuttgarter Psalter. Cod bibl fol 23, fol 15. Württembergischen Landesbibliothek