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Maria Emilia CRÎNGACI ŢIPLIC
Another discovery certifying the activity of foundries is the bronze manufactory from
Sibiu, which seems to be among the first centres of medieval bronze craftsmen in
Transylvania 25 . It is possible that this centre produced the brass vessel 26 or some of
the bells mentioned in specialized literature 27 . There were probably other modern
foundries at Sighişoara, Braşov and Bistriţa. While, in the 12 th and 13 th centuries, in
Hungary most of the founded parts were produced in monastery workshops 28 , in
Transylvania the situation was different – they were produced in workshops within
the Saxon settlements. Naturally, this does not exclude the possible existence of
workshops in shire (comitatus) centres, monastic or Episcopal centres 29 . Furthermore,
the relatively numerous swords found in the area of Sibiu and in Ţara Bârsei (Braşov-
Cetatea Neagră, Codlea, Sânpetru, Vurpăr, Şeica Mică), presumed to belong to the
German population 30 , may attest the existence of other blacksmith’s workshops than
those of Şelimbăr or Rimetea. An additional proof for this are the tests made on
swords of the same pattern from the collection of the Brukenthal Museum.
Microscopic analysis has shown that the blade from Vurpăr has a hardness of 600
HV0,1, while the sword blade from the workshop in Şelimbăr has a lower hardness of
only 220 HV0,1, and the other sword fragment from Şelimbăr records an even lower
hardness of less than 200 HV0,1 31 . This information indicates the fact that, within the
same geographical area, there were also other blacksmith’s workshops that produced
more hardened sword blades, therefore, of higher quality. Regarding the blacksmith’s
from Şelimbăr, it may be possible that we are dealing with a craftsman who was not
specialized in manufacturing swords 32 , given the existence of crafts and agriculture
tools within the same hoard (see plate 5 and 2:1), or with a so-called “provincial”
blacksmith’s. The quality differences between the above mentioned swords could be
caused by a faster forging process due to the events that were imminent in the spring
of 1241, when the craftsman might have received the order to forge several swords 33 ,
25 In Sibiu, in the backyard of the old City Hall, a bell forging pit was discovered (P. Munteanu Beşliu
2000, p. 18 sqq). In the same context, we would like to announce the existence of another bell forging
pit next to the Lutheran parish church in Sibiu, in the yard of the Brukenthal High-school.
Unfortunately, we cannot offer other chronological data or of any other nature, as this discovery was
made without any archaeological supervision, on the occasion of works required by the City Hall of
Sibiu in May 2005.
26 M. E. Crîngaci Ţiplic 2005, p. 253, 263.
27 For a repertoire of early bells, see Fr. Müller 1860, p. 200-254; E. Benkő 2002.
28 Z. Lovag 1999, p. 9.
29 There was also a workshop in the vicinity of the Bishopric in Oradea according to the 1977 discovery
of a Corpus Christi (the 14 th century) in the fortress of Oradea and the analogies for it. For the 13 th –
14 th centuries, in the Hungarian kingdom, the attested existence of at least two centres for the making
of liturgical objects is recorded, one at Visegrád and one at Oradea, under the patronage of the
bishoprics and the monastery centres in the area of their dioceses. (A. A. Rusu 2008, p. 53-65).
30 According to typologies, the clearest parallels for these swords can be encountered in the south of
Germany – see note 45.
31 M. Rill 1983, p. 83.
32 Z. K. Pinter 1999, p. 78.
33 The king is known to have ordered: “both the nobility and those who call themselves the king’s
servants, as well as the soldiers (castrensi) and those depending on fortress (castrum) [...] to prepare