Floods and Long-Term Water-Level Changes in Medieval Hungary

906 Pages·2019·15.058 MB·English

by  Andrea Kiss

Springer Water
Andrea Kiss
Floods and Long-
Term Water-
Level Changes
in Medieval
Hungary
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Andrea Kiss
Floods and Long-Term
Water-Level Changes
in Medieval Hungary
123
Andrea Kiss
Institute of Hydrological Engineering
andWater Resources
Vienna University of Technology
Vienna,Austria
ISSN 2364-6934 ISSN 2364-8198 (electronic)
SpringerWater
ISBN978-3-319-38862-5 ISBN978-3-319-38864-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38864-9
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DE INUNDATIONE
Tantus ab assiduis, quid vult sibi, nubibus imber?
Quid tempestatum copia tanta parat?
Unde tot humores nebulis? tot nubila coelo?
Quando potens madidi, tam fuit aura Noti?
Quisve unquam tantum variae bibit Iridis arcus?
Pontus an arcana scandit in astra via?
Saepe exhalatos, ima de parte, vapores,
Smintheos igniferi sustulit acre iubar.
Nec potuit tantum radiis consumere, quantum,
Traxerat, in tenues, sed solvit pluvias,
Non tamen a levibus, manant tam grandia, causis,
Nec de consuetis, rara venire solent.
….
Iam Savus et Marisus, iam Dravus et ipse Tibiscus,
Inter et Arctoas, maximus Hister, aquas;
Terrarum quamvis longo discrimine distent,
Confusis, inter se coïere, vadis.
Noscere nec possis, ubi rus, ubi collis, ubi arbor,
Omnia sic facies aequoris una tegit.
….
Janus Pannonius, 1468
Preface
What, Why, How and for Whom?
Floods are one of the leading natural hazards all over the world (see e.g. IPCC
report 2014): a natural hazard primarily dependent on climate variability and
changes. In the Carpathian Basin concerning the Middle Ages, flood is the most
well-documented natural hazard. Due to the fact that during transitional periods
betweentwomajorclimateanomaliesusuallythereisanincreaseinthenumberof
weather-related extremes, flood can be a good indicator of climate variability. Its
fluctuations and extremes on the long run may help us in answering questions
related to climate change mechanisms such as the dating and a deeper under-
standingoftheMCA-LIAtransition(e.g.beginning,end, amplitudeoffluctuations)
inEast-CentralEurope.Itisalsoimportanttoprovideinformationbothonhighand
low resolution: short- and long-term changes have different causes and impacts—
theunderstandingofchangesonbothlevelstakesusclosertoanswerthequestions
related to large-scale mechanisms.
The present work is the first attempt so far that aims to provide information to
theunderstandingofshort-andlong-termfloodpatternsandwater-levelchanges in
medievalHungarythatoncecoveredmostoftheCarpathianBasin.Furthermore,as
withintheCarpathianBasinmedievalHungary andSlavoniabelongedtothesame
hydrological system, floods that were documented in medieval Slavonia, when
available, are as well considered in this book. Apart from the analysis of docu-
mentary evidence, in the present work an overview of sedimentary and archaeo-
logical evidence is also provided and compared to the information known from
writtendocuments.Asforflood-relateddata,inthewrittensourceswemainlyseek
for the information that refers to floods primarily of natural origin. Floods of
artificial origin were only mentioned as one of the flood groups in the analythic
chapter (Chap. 6), but are not included in the statistical analysis.
Concerning detailed investigations, documentary evidence contains the most
preciseandadequate,high-resolutioninformationonannual,monthlyandseasonal
level.Thus,amajoraimofthebookistoprovideanoverviewandafirstanalysisof
vii
viii Preface
medieval floods based on contemporary written sources. With the help of
documentary-based data, it became possible to discuss seasonality patterns, detect
high flood-frequency (and intensity) periods, and some of their documented con-
sequences on the physical environment and society. Although in documentary
evidence multiannual flood-related information is sometimes also available, med-
ium- and long-term changes can be mainly detected in archaeological and sedi-
mentary evidence; these investigations provide medium (multidecadal) and low
(centennial)resolutionflood-andhigh (andlow)water-level relatedevidence.The
low-resolution reconstructions offer an excellent basis for comparison with the
results of documentary-based research (e.g. flood-rich periods).
Documentary sources not only providethe highest-resolutionevidence and some
multiannual information, but it is also an adequate tool for the detection of flood
seasonality and approximate magnitudes. Archaeological evidence may sometimes
provide very important flood-frequency and magnitude-related information about
multiannual,multidecadalorlongervariabilitiesandchanges,andmayalsoserveasa
ratherusefultoolinthedetectionofvulnerabilityorthehumanimpactonthechanges
of flood risk and human response on flood damages, such as flood protection and
prevention.Archaeologicalevidencemayrendersignificantinformationonlong-term
water-level and hydrological changes. Sedimentary evidence, on the one hand, may
reveal long-term information on hydroclimatic changes, shifts, characteristic wet or
dry spells, and water-level changes in case of stagnant water bodies. On the other
hand, sedimentary evidence may be also available for some lake- or river-related
information on periods with increased sedimentation, most probably related to
increased flood activities. In general, apart from long-term water-level changes of
lakesandstagnantwaterbodies,river(andlake,stagnantwater)floodsareoneofthe
best, most sensitive and most frequently documented signals of climatic variability
and long-term changes in flood frequency, magnitude, risk and societal impacts
related to climatic variability and change.
Duetotherestrictedavailabilityofdocumentarysources,thetemporalcoverage
of the investigations, based on written evidence, mainly exceeds to the eleventh–
fifteenthcentury;untilthefourteenthcenturyonlyalow(evenifagrowing)number
of evidence is available that does not provide us enough data for drawing major
conclusions. On the other hand, low-resolution sedimentary and archaeological
evidence gives us a chance to follow long-term changes through the entire Middle
Ages,includingtheearlyandmostofthehigh-medievalperiod—thatcouldnotbe
studied merely based on documentary evidence. Therefore, on the one hand, both
high- and low-frequency analysis can be provided concerning the first centuries
oftheLittleIceAge(LIA).Ontheotherhand,alow-frequencyreconstructionona
millennial scale, related to the sixth–fifteenth centuries—that concerns the hydro-
climaticconditions oftheMigration Period orDarkAge ColdPeriod (DACP),the
MedievalClimateAnomaly(MCA) orMedievalWarmPeriod(MWP)andthefirst
centuries of the Little Ice Age (LIA)—is also the topic of discussion.
Thespatialcoverageofthepresentresearchconcernstheareathathasbelongedto
theHungariankingdom,whichmeansalmosttheentireCarpathianBasin(seeFig.1).
However, if data is available, other parts of the Carpathian Basin, formerly also
Preface ix
Fig.1 Present-daycountriesandborderlinesoftheareasthatbelongedtothemedievalHungarian
crown (with country codes, applied throughout the book, in brackets. As most of the evidence
presented inthevolumeoriginatesfrom thepresent-dayHungary,andherethemedieval names
almostinallcasesareequivalenttothemodernnames,incaseofHungarianlocations,nocountry
codeisaddedthroughoutthebook).
belongedtothecountriesoftheHungariancrown(e.g.Slavonia),arealsoconsidered.
The spatial determination of the study area is primarily dependent on historical
traditionsandsourceavailability:medievalsourcesfortheseareasarepredominantly
kept(eitherinoriginalorcopy)inthecollectionoftheHungarianNationalArchives
whose documents are bynowreachable online.The other mainreasonfor choosing
this area is the common, and relatively uniform—and compared to other European
regions sometimes rather unique—style of medieval documentation. On the one
hand,thisareaalmostcompletelylacksthesourcetypestraditionallyknownasmain
source for detecting any weather-related phenomena including floods (e.g. narra-
tives).Ontheotherhand,thisareahadacommonlegalandadministrativetradition:
in medieval Hungary, mainly charters—following the fixed literary procedure and
providingveryexact,punctualdatingandlocationoffloodevents—andpartlyother
sources(anaccountbook,privateandofficialcorrespondence,protocolsetc.) provide
information on floods. Additionally, the Carpathian Basin itself is also a separate
large region in the sense of its geography and hydrology.
In the present work, an attempt is made to collect and provide an overall, basic
analysisoftheavailabledocumentaryevidencemainlyintheformofcasestudies;a
similar approach was followed while accounting the results of sedimentary and
x Preface
archaeological research. Whereas documentary evidence also allowed the discus-
sionofphysicalandsocietalimpacts,allthesourcetypestogetherformanadequate
basis for the detection of medium- and long-term changes in flood
hydroclimatic behaviour.
In the present work, the floods that occurred in medieval Hungary (and
Slavonia), are discussed on different levels:
(1) As an introduction, in Chap. 1 the European scholarship regarding medieval
floods and long-term water-level fluctuations, with special emphasis on the
areas surrounding the Carpathian Basin and Central Europe, is discussed in
brief, based on documentary, sedimentary and partly archaeological evidence.
(2) Concerning the study area and period, basic hydrological/hydrographical as
well as the medieval environmental and social background are discussed in
Chap. 2, while methodological background and interpretation questions of
medieval flood-related written documentation are presented in Chap. 4.
(3) A systematic overview of the available sedimentary- and archaeology-based
long-term investigations on water-level fluctuations, wet–dry periods and
flood-related information is provided in Chap. 3, identifying major high and
low water-level and/or wet and dry as well as potential flood-rich periods
that occurred in the period from sixth to the fifteenth centuries.
(4) Each reported flood event or flood-related multiannual information (i.e.
impacts), documented in the eleventh–fifteenth centuries, is presented and
analysed in its local context as case studies in Chap. 5.
(5) InChap.6,allthereportedsinglefloodeventsandflood-relatedarchaeological
evidence are studied together, when flood-rich and flood-poor periods, the
distribution of high-magnitude events as well as potential seasonality changes
of all recorded flood events are identified and major flood-rich periods sepa-
rately analysed. The floods of the largest rivers and catchment areas of med-
ievalHungary,alsorichestinmedievalflood-relateddocumentation,aswellas
the major (late) medieval flood-rich periods, are discussed separately.
Socio-economic consequences and social response on floods, including prac-
tical and spiritual approaches, are presented and concluded on both short- and
long-term.
And a last question to be answered: beside flood (and weather/climate) recon-
struction issues, who may benefit from this research and might find answers for
someoftheirquestions?Amonghistoricalsciences,environmentalhistory,climate
history, history of agriculture, history of water management, water history, settle-
ment history, history of travel and transportation, general economic and social
history,historicaldemography,historyoftechnology(conditionsofmillutilisation,
risks of building and maintaining bridges, etc.) and history of industry (e.g.
changing conditions of mining, environmental risks of salt and metal production)
maybenefitfromthepresentinvestigations.Theinformationonthesocio-economic
impacts (and perceptions) of floods can as well provide interesting data to social
history, thehistoryofmentalitiesandchurch history. Through theexampleslisted,