Győr | Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár

Jelenlegi hely

1 / 4

The drawing was made as a plan for the camp of a large imperial army recruited for the 1566 campaign of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II (1564–1576) at Győr, after the city was designated as a gathering place for Christian troops. The deployment of an army of about seventy thousand people required serious preparation: the precise definition of the camp site, which in this case, is the relatively flat area enclosed by the Danube and Rába rivers, and by protective ramparts. Each team had to be positioned so that the movement within the camp would be possible, and also taking into consideration other aspects like the rank of the team leaders, nationality, number of weapons, type of weapon, location of cannons, safe storage of gunpowder, and so on. Presumably a copy of the present drawing was received in advance by the troops arriving at the scene, in order to facilitate their camping. The copy of the plan preserved in Modena was probably placed in the family archives by the military engineers of Alfonso II d'Este (1559–1597) Duke of Ferrara, (brother-in-law of Emperor Maximilian II). The Duke arrived at the camp at Győr with his troops in August 1566.

The drawing itself is a simple sketch with few inscriptions and some geographical names: Giavarin, Danubie, Isola di Comar, Borgho. It shows the areas for artillery and ammunition (piaza per la monizion della artigliaria (1)), the piaza del imperator (2) in the middle of the camp site, so the place designated for the emperor's escort, the roads (strade) and the area between the ramparts and camp sites, piaza per la bataglia (3), meaning battlefield.

The original record held by: State Archives of Modena
Reference code: Archivio di Stato di Modena, Mappario Estense, Militare, n. 129
Date of creation: Győr, 1566

ElőzőKövetkező

The next two engravings have also been preserved in the State Archives of Modena and are the works of the Venetian Giacomo Franco. They depict the Ottoman siege and occupation of the city in 1594. Győr was defended by Captain Ferdinand Hardegg with six thousand, mainly German and Italian soldiers. Hardegg, seeing the superiority of Pasha Sinan handed over the castle to the Ottomans on the condition of free retreat.

Franco’s drawing, the title of which appears in the lower left-hand corner (Giavarino Fortezza in Ungheria Assediata dall”essercito di Sultan Amorath Imp[eratore] de Turchi, in num. di 200 m[ila] L’anno 1594 Giacomo franco f[ecit]. et Excu[dit].), shows the troops of cavalry (Spahi, Tartari) and Janissary (gianizzeri), some of the names of each army and the names of its leaders are also inscribed: Bassa di Buda, Sangiaco di Scutari, Bassa di Temisuar. Images of several burning settlements also appear. In the right corner of the engraving an ornate leader's tent can be observed, at the entrance of which you Pasha Sinan was depicted.

The original record held by: State Archives of Modena
Reference code: Archivio di Stato di Modena, Mappario Estense, Militare, n. 126
Date of creation: Győr, 1594

ElőzőKövetkező

The other section is a semi-finished test copy. The test section shows the floor plan of the city of Győr and the area of Újváros directly to the west, and a thin strip of Szigetköz to the north. The buildings of the city have already been demolished, the bastions have crescent-flags flying and only Ottoman troops can be seen around the city. The section shows the state after the occupation of Győr.

The original record held by: State Archives of Modena
Reference code: Archivio di Stato di Modena, Mappario Estense, Militare, n. 130
Date of creation: Győr, 1594

ElőzőKövetkező

The following picture, which shows the fortress of Győr and its surroundings in a south-north direction, is probably a sketch of the preparation for the siege of 1594. It shows the terrain around the city with the rivers, their size, the future bridges through them, marking, according to the draftsman, the most suitable area for camping between the Danube and the Rába. The name of the latter is not known to the draftsman, but its width and yield are specified: “questo fiume e‘ largho incircha 8…” (1), “questo fiumo non so il nome e fiumo che si passa aqua la piu parte del anno” (2). The camp could be located all the way down to Győr, and beyond the Rába he is planning a ditch system (trincieri) (3), the existing parts of which are marked with a dashed line.

The original record held by: State Archives of Modena
Reference code: Archivio di Stato di Modena, Mappario Estense, Militare, n. 127
Date of creation: Győr, sine data