Revište Castle

1. The beginnings of the manor and the castle

The charter also includes the metering (demarcation) of the Revištská land, which is formed on the east side by today's Prochotský stream, on the north side by Pokutský stream (tributary of Kľakovský stream), the west side is bordered by Kľakovský stream and south side by ford near Voznice and Revištský stream.

The name of the country Ryvchka, later Revište is undoubtedly of Slavic origin. It is probably derived from the word rvati - rvat and could indicate a place that has been excavated, dug or uprooted. The toponym Revište / Revištia can be found in eastern Slovakia as well as in Croatia and Slovenia, which testifies to its antiquity dating back to the early Middle Ages.

Revište Castle was built in a strategically advantageous location, at the bend of the Hron River, and was included in the system of Pohronie guard castles (Breznica Castle, Rudno nad Hronom Castle, Teplice Castle, Žakýľ, Šášov). Below the castle there was a ford, which was crossed by an important trade route leading from Esztergom through the Hronskobeňadice abbey, then the most important abbey in Slovakia, towards Zvolen, which was the center of the great Zvolen dominion and a popular and often visited seat of Hungarian kings. The important location is also confirmed by the nearby toll places in Voznice, Hliník nad Hronom and Žiar nad Hronom, which are first mentioned in the sources in 1226.

The castle was probably built sometime in the late 13th or early 14th century. Experts differ on the closer determination of the origin of the castle. Historians have so far believed that the castle was built by the aforementioned county Leustach or his descendants in the second half of the 13th century. [4] However, Leustach's robe had only daughters, so the castle was inherited by his brother Borša Jr. and his sons Brezo, Zadur and Peter. These nobles lived in Vozokany or Plášťovce. Written reports point to the possibility that Revište Castle was built by Peter's son Peter, the grandson of Borsa. In the second decade of the 14th century, he illegally took over the property of the Hronskobeňadice abbey in Kováče (today Kozárovce). In 1335, King Karol Róbert ordered the land to be returned to the abbot of Hronskobeňadice, because Peter's subjects used it even after his death and thus acted with the authorization of the castellan of the Revište castle. [5] The origin of the castle at the beginning of the 14th century is also supported by a dendrochonological analysis of the scaffolding beam from the perimeter fortifications. It proved that the tree for the production of the beam was cut down sometime in the years 1301 - 1321 and therefore the construction of the castle can be dated earlier to the beginning of the 14th century. [6] During this period, oligarch Matúš Čák Trenčiansky ruled in western and partly central Slovakia. We know nothing about the relationship between Matúš Čák and Petr Jr., but it cannot be ruled out that Peter may have been one of his followers. He could take advantage of a situation where King Charles Robert had not yet mastered Matthew's domination and therefore could not protect the interests of the church or the lower nobility.

After the death of Matúš Čák in 1321, the king gained control of the rest of his estate. The monarch probably took away the Revište castle together with the Miškovec estate and left it in the administration of his castellan.

2. The owners of the castle until the end of the Middle Ages
In a written report from 1331, Revište Castle is mentioned for the first time, although still indirectly. The Hronskobeňadice abbey confirmed that on St. Martin, a certain Job, a servant of the left-wing castellan Imrich, paid Michal, the vice-castellan of Ban Ján of Revišť (Michael ... vicecastellano Johani Bani de Reuisce) 10 hryvnias in denarii.

The second report on Revište Castle has been preserved in connection with the solution to the aforementioned illegal confiscation of the Hronskoňadice abbey in 1335. The judgment of the Hungarian palatine mentions the authority of the castle administrators - Ban Pavel Michal called Rykathay.
Since 1339, we have found the master Ján, son of Alexander of the Ákoš family, in the post of the Reviště castellan. Perhaps even more than the previous administrators, John belonged to the circle of the most faithful courts of King Charles Robert and Queen Elizabeth. As a young man, he served at the royal court as an assistant to the queen's table. When the assassin Felicián Zach attacked the royal family during lunch in Visegrad in 1330, the janitor Ján promptly neutralized it with his waiting. The king did not forget this act and rewarded John with numerous possessions.

In 1346, the new Hungarian king Louis I, his parishes John named Gutundorph, son of John, and Peter called Zudor, son of Dominic, took away the property they owned in Nova Bana (it was a mill, slaughterhouse, baker's and shoemaker's residence) with an annual yield of 40 hryvnia silver and for the compensation of their faithful services he donated property to them in Pilišská stool. At the same time, the monarch added the former estates of the royal parishes in Nova Bana to the benefits of the Revište castle (for usu castri nostri Ryuche). [11] This is the first literal mention of the castle, although previous reports of castellans and vice-castellan undoubtedly indicate its presence.
The castle with the manor remained in royal hands in the following decades. Conditions changed when Sigismund of Luxembourg ascended the throne. In 1388, at the request of her husband Žigmund, Queen Mária removed Revište Žarnovica from the jurisdiction of the castle and donated it to Frank and Šimon, the son of Ban Kóňa of Sečian (Hungarian Szécsény). At that time, Žarnovica also included a toll and several other accessories. It is remarkable that they were identical with the later known accessories of the Revište castle. This significantly reduced the castle estate and reduced its income. The monarch probably became aware of this situation and changed his decision the following year. He confiscated Žarnovica and accessories from Frank and Šimon and granted them the Topoľčany estate.

Peter Čech, who in 1414 "found out that knighthood is the mission of man on earth", decided to travel to distant lands and explore the world. He needed money for this trip and so he paid the castle of Revište to Ján Maróti, the uncle of his wife Katarína, for 4,000 gold coins. [14] He was able to recover the property after paying off the debt, which he soon did. In 1426, in connection with the confiscation of the property of the Pavlín monastery from Lefantovce, the Revešt castellan Tompa (Tomáš) from Beladíce is mentioned as a family member of Petr Čech. The king apparently ordered the return of the monastery's property and at the same time gave Peter a new donation to its castles and manors.

Revište Castle was marked by a turbulent period associated with the struggle for the Hungarian throne after the death of King Albrecht of Habsburg. After the death of Petr Čech, Revište Castle was owned by his son Ladislav Čech, who supported Vladislav I. Jagelovský's claims to the Hungarian crown. Supporters of Sigismund's daughter Elizabeth of Luxembourg and her underage son Ladislav Pohrobek stood in opposition to him. In 1441, the Revi castellan Ladislav Soboňa is mentioned in connection with the payment of a ransom for the prisoner Imrich of Šimovian, who was captured by the Kremnica captain Haško. The interests of Queen Elizabeth at that time were represented by the captain of Czech origin Ján Oškrd, who in 1446 is mentioned as the captain of Reviště. It is not clear how Oškrd acquired Revište.

It probably took place on the orders of Ján Jiskra, the chief captain of King Ladislav Pohrobek. According to the agreement that Jiskra concluded with the Hungarian barons in September 1446, he was to return the occupied castles, including Revište, to their former owners. In 1447, Governor Ján Huňady subordinated most of the castles in the region, but Revište did not. Based on the following peace agreement, Jiskra could keep Revište not only fortresses in Šariš and Spiš until Huňady and his barons returned Zvolen Castle, Vígľaš, Ľupča, Šášov and the town of Krupina, as well as Dobrá Niva Castle. Ján Oškrd was replaced at the castle by Jiskrov's faithful ally, Šášov captain Peter Koler and Kolár, also called Šafár. Koler's work in Šášov and Reviště interrupted his captivity. Unnamed Hungarian lords (allies of Huňady) in a force of 1,500 riders in July 1449 launched an attack on Kremnica. Although they did not conquer the city, they captured Petr Koler and other servants Ján Jiskra. As in the case of Imrich of Simonovian, the prisoners could be bought at a high price. This probably happened in Koler's case as well. In the following period, we find Koler as captain only in Šášov. It is remarkable that Revište no longer appears between Jiskrov castles in other peace agreements. It seems that the castle was not directly subject to him and was controlled by Spark's former soldiers - brothers. In August 1456, Peter Koler reappeared as the captain of Šášov and Reviště.

Later we learn that Revište was in advance and at the request of the Hungarian prelates and barons he bought the castle "at his own expense" from the hands of Czech bandits plundering the upper regions of the kingdom. " We know only modest data about these Czechs. We know that they interfered in the administration of the castle estate and transferred the toll collected in Nova Bana to Hronský Beňadik, where Revište Castle was also subject.

At the beginning of 1465, the Hungarian king Matej Korvín took Peter Koler's castle and the Šášov manor, which he had in advance for 6,000 gold coins. Of this amount, the king paid Koler 1,000 gold coins and for the remaining 5,000, at the request of the prelates and barons, granted him a deposit of Revište. On that occasion, the monarch remarked that this was the amount for which Koler had previously bought Revište with accessories from the above-mentioned Czech bandits. In 1466, Matej Korvín also confiscated Revište Castle from Peter Koler and, together with the manor, granted it to the Archbishop of Esztergom, Ján Vitéz. The Archbishop, as compensation for Koler, backed his Szanda Castle in the Novohradská seat for 3,800 gold pieces. The exchange was clearly disadvantageous for Koler, as he was entitled to a higher amount. Szande belonged only to a small estate, which also lay in a remote region. It was decided by the will of the monarch, who inclined the archbishop with this step. In 1471, Ján Vitéz, together with other prelates and nobles, led a conspiracy against Matej Korvín. The main reason was foreign policy.

The insurgents blamed King Matthew for failing to defend the country's southern borders from the Turks. The following year, he backed Revište Castle and his estate to his family member Ladislav Markus. However, the conspiracy was revealed and Ján Vitéz fell into disfavor with the monarch. Matej Korvín imprisoned Ján Vitéz and asked him to extradite the archbishop's castles. Revište is then mentioned among the castles, which began to be besieged by the royal army. Subsequently, the king granted Revište Castle together with other property (only formally?) To the Bishop of Jáger, Ján Beckensloer. Ladislav Markus held the castle until the summer of 1472, when Ján Vitéz died and successful negotiations took place. After Ján Beckensloer's escape from Hungary, the castle fell back into royal hands.

In 1479, Matej Korvín backed up the castle and manor for 5,000 gold to the post office of Belgrade and the royal treasurer Urban of Veľká Lúč (now the village of Lúč na Ostrove) and his brothers Blažej and Ján. Urban from Veľká Lúče did not stay at the castle. Revište was therefore administered by his brothers and nephews. From 1490, the nobles from Veľká Lúč also acquired the castles and estates of Šášov and Ľupča. After Urban's death (1492), they used the property together, but Blažej from Veľká Lúč lived in Reviště. Their nephew, the royal chamberlain František Dóczy, the son of poor Benedict, protested in front of the king against the property division between Ján and Blažej. according to an agreement from 1500, Revište was to belong to Blažej and his son Ladislav, as well as to František Dóczy. However, the division did not come into force in the end. In the following years, František and his uncle Ján and his sons owned shares in the castle estate. According to the property inventory from 1505, half of the castle belonged to Revište Gregor, the son of Ján. In 1510, cousins Ladislav and František had their own castellans in Revište. In 1518, František Dóczyv took over the castle and expelled Ladislav's people from there. After the death of František Dóczy in the battle of Mohács, the castle was owned by his descendants and relatives during the following generations.

3. Castle and manor under the Dóczy family, Lipchey family and Hédervár family (1526 - 1662) [19]

At the beginning of the 16th century, Revište Castle, together with Šášov and (Slovenská) Ľupča Castles, represented the property domain of the nobles of Veľká Lúč. In order to avoid mutual conflicts, in 1500 they proceeded to share all their castle estates, which ultimately led to the beginning of the use of two family surnames. Holders of Revišť began to use exclusively the family surname Dóczy and the owners Ľupče a surname derived from the hungarian name of the castle Lipchey (Lypchey).

After the relocation of the Lipchey family to Šášov, it was necessary to change the older division from 1500. The fact that at the time of its conclusion in a hitherto unknown year only two adult members of the nobles from Veľká Lúč - Damián Lipchey and František Dóczy - contributed to the faster signing of the new agreement. Based on a later document from January 27, 1550, we know that both cousins divided the estates of Revište and Šášov into two equal halves, and each of them also owned half of the castles. From the point of view of the report, it was certainly easier if Revište as a whole fell into the hands of Dóczy and Šáš Lipchey, but it was probably also insurance in case of extinction of one party without descendants, which could prevent the transfer of the whole estate to the monarch. If half of the manor were taken away, there would be a better chance of buying or receiving a donation from the king for the other half.

Over time, it turned out that the division of both estates and castles into two halves would bring mutual contradictions, as Damián Lipchey and František Dóczy fathered several male descendants and there was no threat of extinction of one of the branches of the nobles from Veľká Lúča. However, a new division did not occur until after Damián's and František's death. At an unspecified time in 1531, Lipchey's widow Margaréta Macedonyay met Margaret Forgách's widow of Dóczy and concluded a new agreement. Macedonyay gave up her half of the castle and manor of Revište in favor of Forgách and her descendants, and Forgách again gave Macedonyay half of the castle and manor of Šášov. Thanks to the concluded agreement, Revište has since become the exclusive residence of the Dóczy family.

After the agreement from 1531, on the basis of later documents, it seemed that sometime in the 1930s, the manor was further divided between the children of Margareta Forgáchová and František Dóczy. In addition to the exact determination of the shares in the individual villages, Revišť was probably set aside for Mikuláš Dóczy and a manor in Žarnovica for Mikuláš's brother Gabriel Dóczy. During the second third of the 16th century, Revište demonstrably used the above-mentioned Mikuláš Dóczy as its seat. The oldest document was a letter from Queen Widow Mary from 1538, addressed to Mikuláš as the "lord of Revište". The youngest source that confirmed the presence of Nicholas at the castle was a document from 1551, designating Nicholas as "from Revišť".

From the last third of the 16th century, Revište Castle probably gradually came into the background as a permanent residence for the children of Mikuláš Dóczy, who began to use the landowner town of Žarnovica more for living. By 1575, written sources documented that the son of poor Nicholas Imrich Dóczy had "a permanent residence in a house or aristocratic mansion in the landowner town of Žarnovica." which provided more convenient access and, mainly thanks to long-distance trade and markets, better security of the aristocratic court with more expensive food, fabrics and utility objects. However, in the case of the Tekovská stolica, where Žarnovica lay, there was a danger of a fall by the Ottomans, which would rather lead to the assumption of a safer residential function of Revišť, but in Žarnovica the advantage was that the Dóczy family lived on a rocky outcrop above the town and certainly had basic fortifications. .

The marginality of Revišť and, in essence, the gradual transfer of the center of the manor administration to Žarnovice was also confirmed by the fact that on the occasion of the funeral of Andrej, son of Gabriel Dóczy, a meeting of family members took place on March 30, 1620 in Žarnovice's "Dóczy family manor". After the death of Andrej Dóczy, the last important member of the family remained Štefan Dóczy, living in (Nitrianská) Blatnice, who was documented in 1623 and 1627 as the guardian of the Hungarian crown and the imperial-royal adviser. With the passage of time after the death of Andrej Dóczy, in an unspecified date, the representatives of the Tekovská stolica divided the accessories of the Revište castle and the landowning town of Žarnovica. Melichar Dóczy also protested against the division on behalf of his younger brothers Ladislav, Žigmund and Michal Dóczy. At the time of the protest, Melichar and his brothers, after two divisions in 1626, acquired the manor of the Šášov castle after Mikuláš Lipchey's death, and there was probably another redistribution of property among the Dóczy family, as in addition to Šášov Revište Castle. According to later documents and property and legal development, Šášov probably gradually became the residence of the brothers Melichar and Ladislav Dóczy.

In the case of Revišť, the sources have not yet clarified whether any of the Dóczy family began to use the castle as a permanent residence. Based on a document of the convent in Hronský Beňadik, it was clear that its representatives visited Michal Dóczy on September 23, 1634 in the "manor house" in Žarnovice to write the foundation of Michal's share from the ownership belonging to the Šášov castle. The document stated that Michal lived in Žarnovica.

After the death of Michal Dóczy in an unspecified year and the execution of Žigmund Dóczy by the Ottomans right in front of the entrance to the manor house in Žarnovica in 1647, the entire Revište estate together with the seat in Žarnovice fell into the hands of the surviving brothers Melichar and Ladislav Dóczyov, living in Šášov.

Melichar and Ladislav Dóczyovci got into several lawsuits due to non-respect of the rights of the Lipchey family heirs along the women's lines on the Šášov estate, and Michal Majthényi († 1655) demanded royal power (brachium) for the execution of Šášov. The brothers therefore sought influential protectors not to lose their family heritage and, in addition to the Lippay family, found their patron in the person of the highest Hungarian dignitary - palatine Ján Draskovics (* 1595 † 1648). For the palatine's care and protection, on February 25, 1648, the siblings left the entire Revište castle, the manor house in (Nitrianská) Blatnice, together with Žarnovica and all its affiliations, to Draskovics under the set conditions.

By his actions, Melichar Dóczy evidently violated the property rights of the Hédervári family, with which Dóczy's ancestors concluded a treaty on mutual inheritance of Revišť in the second half of the 15th century in the event of the extinction of one of the families without male descendants. Therefore, on June 7, 1648, before the convent in Hronský Beňadik, representatives of Alžbeta Eszterházyová (* 1616 † 1668), widow of Štefan Hédervári protested that the brothers Melichar and Ladislav Dóczyovci the whole castle of Revište, the landowner town of Žarnovica in Tekovská stolica and the manor house in Blatská v The Nitra seat, together with all its affiliations, was attributed to the palatine Count Ján Draskovics.

However, the contract did not have a long validity, because after the death of the palatine Melichar lost the reason to leave him Revište, as his surviving family did not have as much influence as the palatine, who died some time ago. The agreement of 25 February 1648 was revoked by Melichar on 8 December 1648.

Ferdinand III. On December 2, 1648, he donated the Revište castle and manor house in (Nitrianská) Blatnice together with accessories to the abbot of Zirc Ján Hédervárim († 1662), widow of Štefan Hédervári Alžbet Eszterházy and Eszterházy's son Vavrinec Hédervárim († around 1658). When granting the donation, the monarch accepted the document of 30 January 1485 on the mutual inheritance of the Revište estate between the Héderváriov family and the nobles of Veľká Lúča in the event of the extinction of one of the families.

The Tekište county, the imperial-royal councilor and prefect of the Hungarian Chamber, Gašpar Lippay († 1652), who acquired the Šášov Castle from Melichar Dóczy, was also interested in the Revište estate. Therefore, in 1649, he protested the granting of Revišť in favor of the Hédervári family. On the other hand, the Héderváris also tried to acquire Šášov, as they considered themselves the legitimate heirs of the entire Dóczyov estate thanks to the treaty of 1485.

Mutual protests between the Hédervár family and the Lippay family ended on August 17, 1650 with an agreement concluded in front of the chapter in Bratislava between Gašpar Lippaym on the one hand with the abbot of Zirc Ján Héderváry and Alžbeta Eszterházy on the other. Eszterházy represented her children, boy Vavrinec Hédervári and girls Katarína and Helena Hédervário when signing the contract. By mutual action, both parties tried to prevent disputes over the castles and estates of Revište and Šášov. It was decided that Shashov, with all his powers, would remain the property of Gašpar Lippay, and the Hédervári family would no longer take any legal action against him. As curator of property on behalf of the "confused and mad" Ladislav Dóczy, Lippay relinquishes the administration of the real estate that Ladislav holds in Revište and the manor house in (Nitrianská) Blatnice and hands them over to Ján Hédervári with all the documents and privileges he has. In the event of the extinction of one of the families without male or female heirs, both parties will have the opportunity to inherit the two estates. They promised to stop all disputes against each other over the possession of Šášov and Revišť. In addition, Lippay will pay the Hédervarii four thousand Hungarian gold coins. In the end, they pledged that the Hédervarii would defend Lippay's rights to the Shashites after the deaths of Ladislav Dóczy and Dóczy's widows and women. Conversely, Lippay will protect the rights of the Hédervari family on Revište after the deaths of Ladislav Dóczy and Dóczy's widows and women.

Although Revišť was taken over by the Hédervár family, certain shares in the manor were owned by the widows of the last Dóczy family. The widow of the Ottomans killed by Sigismund Dóczy Euprosine Kayserin was captured by the Ottomans and her relatives did not know what had happened to her, so on September 5, 1650, at the request of Gašpar Lippay, representatives of the convent came from Hronský Beňadik to Revište. At the castle, they inspected three of Euprozina's chests, which they left to Andrej Bosányi, the husband of Euprozin's sister, Katarína Kayserin. Bosanyi was to keep them until his sister-in-law returned from captivity or learned that she had died. On the same day, they agreed at Revište that her brother Juraj Kayser would keep part of her silver and gold jewels after the Euphrosine. The Convention on the whole matter gave written testimony on September 14, 1650.

A few days later, on October 5, 1650, the convent in Hronský Beňadik issued another document relating to the visit of their representatives to Revište on September 5. In addition to inspecting the real estate of Eufrozína Kayserin, the envoys of the convention officially took over the castle from Krištof Majthényi († 1654), husband of Zuzana Dóczyová, sister of Melichar Dóczy. Shortly after Melichar's death in the spring of 1650, Majthényi forcibly occupied the castle and did not hand it over to the rightful owners of the Hédervári family until September 5, while Gašpar Lippay took over on their behalf from Revište.

Among the Dóczy widows, the widow of Žigmund Dóczy, Euprosín Kayserin, survived the most remarkable events. Euphrosine testified that at the time of the occupation of Žarnovice by the Ottomans in 1647, about a hundred people were captured, leaving the landowner depopulated. Then her husband was pulled out of the gate of the local "mansion" and then cruelly murdered. As a true Christian, Euphrosine wanted to follow her husband and was captured. She then spent seven years in captivity in Esztergom, Buda, Istanbul and other places in the Ottoman Empire. She was released only after the payment of 6,000 Reich tolars, which poor Melichar Dóczy acquired not only by selling Šášov to Gašpar Lippay, but also by founding parts of the manor to his brother Ladislav Dóczy and his sister Zuzana Dóczy. Since the process of paying the ransom was taken over by the Lippays after Melichar's death, Euprosine left all the property established for her to the Archbishop of Esztergom, Juraj Lippay, the brother of Gašpar Lippay.

Meanwhile, the last known written reports about Revište were made on September 16, 1662. At that time, Štefan Borcsiczky informed the prefect of the Hungarian Chamber about six points, which he did not specify, relating to the contract with Ján Hédervári and Alžbeta Eszterházyová. Revište sold.

Without further information, we can only assume that King Leopold I exercised the possibility of paying the Hédervári family from the manor according to the provisions of the deed of 2 December 1648. As in the case of the later Länder Šášov, the manor was to serve as a raw material base for mining production.