Nyelvtudományi közlemények 91. kötet (1990)

MEDIEVAL PEASANT ARCHITECTURE 77
farming dominated and there was much land left unclaimed and unutilized.
The low population and uninhabited areas made it possible to settle Cumanians
and, nomadic peoples who arrived in the Carpathian basin during late
migratory waves, and whose basis of existence was the extensive keeping of
animals. At the time of their settlement, these peoples lived in felt tents,
and only during the end of the period did they move into mud-houses. It is
very probable, that buildings of economic use were rarely considered necessary
belongings of the parcel on the Great Plains, and if they were, a simple
barn or den was sufficient.
It is possible, that villages and market-towns based on extensive economy
weren't tightly organized, but of the mass type. There is no definite
proof of this however, except for a few facts about fifteenth century towns.
We must add, however, that most settlements were of the linear type; parcels
and houses lied along both or just one side of the road. Frequently the road
became wider at a certain point, or ended in a spindle-shaped or circular
square which was surrounded by houses. The church was usually in the middle
of the square or in a corner of it, and according to medieval transcripts
(which were frequently written when the landowner mortgages his land) the
church was always being worked on: they enlarged it, heightened its tower,
repaired its roof, etc., in other words always found an excuse to augment
this building of prestige with permanent monuments.
Concerning the house, these were either one-roomed or two-roomed. If
someone entered the house through the door, he found himself in an empty
chamber (this was used for storage and may have been called the porch),
from where a door led into the house. A fire was burning within the area
which was the place of daily residence and sleep. Rarely a chamber was
separated from the rest of the house, and was used as a sleeping chamber.
We know this type of building well from areas of southern Germany, and
many like it were built in Transsylvania, southern Poland and the Ukraine.
It is obvious that we stand against an early type of house. An open fire or
oven was used for cooking and heating, they did not have a stove, attic or
basement.
Once the attic was separated from the living area (this probably took
place on the Great Plains by the end of the Middle Ages in the houses of
some market-towns), a stove was placed in the room, i.e. the living area
which had an attic), which was heated from the porch. Sometimes the walls
of the porch were broken through at the back of the building, and a bakingoven
was put in its place, which was also heated from the porch. This solution
was very useful in the summer, since the heat of the oven did not heat
up the house itself. The porch was used as a kitchen. At this time there was
no high fire-bench to cook on, cooking was done over a fire on the ground.
From the porch, across from the door of the room, a door opened into the
sleeping-chamber, which was never heated.
Nyelvtudományi Közlemények 91. 1990.