Plavecký Castle ( sk, Plavecký hrad, hu, Detrekő vára) is a ruined

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

castle in the municipality of

Plavecké Podhradie Plavecké Podhradie ( hu, Detrekőváralja) is a village and municipality in western Slovakia in the Malacky District in the Bratislava region. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1247 AD. Geography The village lie ...

in the

Bratislava region The Bratislava Region ( sk, Bratislavský kraj, , german: Pressburger/Bratislavaer Landschaftsverband (until 1919), hu, Pozsonyi kerület) is one of the administrative regions of Slovakia. Its capital is Bratislava. The region was first esta ...

of south-west

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. It is located on the western foothills of the

Little Carpathians The Little Carpathians (also: ''Lesser Carpathians'', sk, Malé Karpaty; german: Kleine Karpaten; hu, Kis-Kárpátok) are a low, about 100 km long, mountain range, part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountains are situated in Western Slov ...

History

Most likely the building of the castle was an initiative of king

Béla IV of Hungary Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group of influential noblemen in his father ...

. It was built shortly after the middle of the 13th century as a castle on the frontier of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

. The castle was first mentioned in relation to the Hungarian-Czech wars in documents of

Ladislaus IV of Hungary Ladislaus IV ( hu, IV. (Kun) László, hr, Ladislav IV. Kumanac, sk, Ladislav IV. Kumánsky; 5 August 1262 – 10 July 1290), also known as Ladislaus the Cuman, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1272 to 1290. His mother, Elizabeth, was ...

. In 1273, one of the battles against the Czech king

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II ( cs, Přemysl Otakar II.; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his deat ...

took place right below the Plavecký castle. The oligarch,

Matthew III Csák Máté Csák or Matthew III Csák (between 1260 and 1265 – 18 March 1321; hu, Csák (III.) Máté, sk, Matúš Čák III), also Máté Csák of Trencsén ( hu, trencséni Csák (III.) Máté, sk, Matúš Čák III Trenčiansky), was a Hungar ...

seized the castle at the end of the 13th century. A century later, in 1394,

Sigismund of Luxembourg Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia (''jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1 ...

donated the castle to his loyal duke

Stibor of Stiboricz Stibor of Stiboricz of Ostoja (also written in English as Scibor or Czibor; pl, Ścibor ze Ściborzyc, hu, Stiborici Stibor, ro, Știbor de Știborici, sk, Stibor zo Stiboríc; c. 1348 – February 1414) was an aristocrat of Polish origi ...

. When the male line of the Stiboricz family died out, the Plavec estate came into the hands of other landlords. In 1438, these were the count

Szentgyörgyi The Szentgyörgyi, also Szentgyörgyi és Bazini, was a noble family of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 13-16th centuries. The ancestor of the family, Thomas descended from the ''gens'' ("clan") Hont-Pázmány and he was the head ''(ispán)'' of Nyit ...

family. They died out in 1543 as well and the Plavecký castle passed on to their relatives, the

Salm family The House of Salm was an ancient Lotharingian noble family originating from Salmchâteau in the Ardennes (present-day Belgium) and ruling Salm. The dynasty is above all known for the experiences of the Upper Salm branch which came to be located a ...

. As the Salms had to pay back the pawn money for the castle, an amount they could not afford, they exchanged the castle for a loan with the

Fugger family The House of Fugger () is a German upper bourgeois family that was historically a prominent group of European bankers, members of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mercantile patriciate of Augsburg, international mercantile bankers, and vent ...

from

Červený Kameň Červený Kameň ( hu, Vöröskő) is a village and municipality in Ilava District in the Trenčín Region of north-western Slovakia. Etymology Both Slovak and Hungarian names mean "red stone". The first written mention about the village is "''po ...

( hu, Vöröskő). In 1560,

Anton Fugger Anton Fugger (10 June 1493 – 14 September 1560) was a German merchant and member of the Fugger family. He was a nephew of Jakob Fugger. Biography Anton was the third and youngest son of George Fugger and Regina Imhof. He was born in Augsburg o ...

, the head of the Fugger family, suddenly died. Subsequently, the family considered moving out their activities of the kingdom of Hungary due to the political situation and the increasing threat of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Melichar Balassa settled the debt of the Fuggers to the Salms and gained control over the Plavec castle estate. His son inherited the property in 1570 for his brave actions during the

Ottoman wars A series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states took place from the Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, waged in Anatolia in ...

. The Melichar branch of the Balassa family died out in 1621 when the last male member, Peter Balassa, passed away. His widow, Magdaléna Pálffy and her brother

Pál Pálffy Pál Pálffy ab Erdőd ( hu, erdődi Pálffy Pál, german: Paul Pálffy von Erdöd; 19 January 1592 Červený Kameň Castle, Castle of Vöröskő, Kingdom of Hungary – 26 November 1653 Pressburg, Kingdom of Hungary) was a Hungarian noble and Pal ...

immediately took over the vacant Plavec castle estate in pledge and obtained it in 1634 as a royal donation. Pál Pálffy then had a renaissance manor built in Plavecké Podhradie ( hu, Detrekőváralja), the village under the castle. The manor acquired the residential function while the castle fulfilled the strategic functions during the rebellion of estates. During the Thököly anti-Habsburg rebellion in 1683, the Plavecký castle was the scene of some fighting. Also at the beginning of the 18th century the castle was involved in some fights. In 1706 the imperial troops conquered the castle from the rebels led by

Francis II Rákóczi Francis II Rákóczi ( hu, II. Rákóczi Ferenc, ; 27 March 1676 – 8 April 1735) was a Hungarian nobleman and leader of Rákóczi's War of Independence against the Habsburgs in 1703–11 as the prince ( hu, fejedelem) of the Estates Confedera ...

. After these fights, the

Pálffy family Pálffy or Palffy is a Hungarian surname which means "son of Pál (Paul)". The family name is common in Hungary and Slovakia. Pálffy ab Erdöd noble family The most famous bearers of the name Pálffy are the members of the Austro-Hungarian noble ...

was forced to abandon the damaged castle.

References

{{reflist Ruined castles in Slovakia Buildings and structures in Bratislava Region

History

See also

References