12 Aug 2011 Medieval treasure at Brandy Castle

Coins and other objects dating back to the period before Jan Žižka were discovered by archaeologists ten years ago in an abandoned castle in Brandýs nad Orlicí. Specifically, they found eleven coins from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

The archaeologist David Vích from the Regional Museum in Vysoké Mýto commented on the research at the time. "I dare say that this is the first significant coin set from castle architecture in the Pardubice Region," said Vích, who led the archaeological research.

He added that in the castle ruins they found specifically Bavarian coins, Moravian coins from the time of Margrave Josht and Czech money with a lion from the time of Wenceslas IV. According to Vích, the finds were interesting in terms of space, because they included coins from Bavaria, Austria, Silesia, Moravia and Bohemia.

In addition to these, we found several arrowheads, a padlock, a fragment of a stirrup, two keys and an iron projectile from a firearm used 600 years ago. It's not treasure, it's more like lost cash on an area of roughly 10 by 10 metres," Vích added.

The findings surprised the archaeologists. "What is interesting is that it was found there at all, because the survey was triggered by the illegal activities of the detectorists, and we were afraid that the castle would be looted durch. Partly it probably will be, but they probably missed important things," Vích added.

Archaeologists have returned to Brandýs Castle several times. For example, in 2017, when they examined the original walls and arches of the ruins. They took away many wheelbarrows of dirt to carry out the research. They only uncovered the walls for a few months.

After they documented everything, a specialized company stepped in to reinforce everything. Afterwards, the walls were re-bound with soil to prevent damage. "If we hadn't re-bound the walls with soil, they would have crumbled and collapsed due to the effects of moisture and weather. And this has happened very quickly now that they have been uncovered," he explained.

There is no historical drawing or plan of the castle. The intervention of the builders was necessary, otherwise the vaults in some rooms would have collapsed over time. Brandýs Castle was an aristocratic castle.

It differs from the others in that it was restored for a time in the first half of the sixteenth century. However, it soon lost its function because the nobility's demands for housing began to change dramatically from the end of the 15th century and the castles could no longer meet them.

Sources: www.rozhlas.cz, www.idnes.cz, www.denik.cz