Archaeologists in the Czech Republic recently made an unusual and interesting discovery that dates back many centuries. While digging up a medieval house in the historic center of Nový Jičín in the Moravian-Silesian region of the country, the excavation team found a surprisingly well-preserved kitchen hidden in the lower part of the pile ruin of the house.
Initial estimates are that the kitchen was built around the beginning of the 15th century. The 600-year-old room was unearthed inside a buried wooden house built near the historic city walls of Nový Jičín. The location is notable because it suggests that the people who lived there were an elite family of the burgess class, a medieval aristocracy that referred to the wealthy and politically powerful class.
“Since the house was located close to the town walls, this could have been a less wealthy family of thieves,” Novojičín Museum historian Pavel Stabrava told Prague Radio International. “The richest thieves must have lived in houses called ‘beer courts’ around the town square.”
Modern Masaryk Square, Novy Jicin town, Moravia, Czech Republic (kaprikfoto/AdobeStock)
The wooden house is supported by a stone foundation and a fully equipped medieval kitchen equipped with a brick oven and fireplace. Czech archaeologists also unearthed a number of intact ceramic pots that still had their lids intact. Other items recovered include a wooden cooking spoon that miraculously remained intact.
“This is a wooden house built on a stone foundation. Based on the surrounding evidence, including the items we found inside, we were able to date it roughly to the early 15th century.” As Pavel Stabrava explains, the design of the house, kitchen and associated artifacts date the kitchen to the early 1400s.
Left: A typical medieval kitchen (hubb67 / Adobe Stock); Right: Overview of the excavation (František Kolář, National Heritage Institute)
Hussite heretics and Hussites attack
Interestingly, fire marks were found on the walls of the excavated medieval house. This could mean that the home’s residents are forced to flee suddenly and leave behind many of their valuable possessions to escape a raging and life-threatening inferno. Some of the ceramic vases in the medieval kitchen were lying on the mantelpiece, suggesting they had just been washed and dried before the occupants ran out and abandoned them forever.
Archaeologists who excavated the site believe that the house and surrounding village may have been attacked by Hussites. They were a Protestant religious reform movement that fought against the Catholic religious and political system in Bohemia (including the lands of Moravia and Silesia) in the fierce Hussite Wars from 1419 to 1434.
“The initial hypothesis was that the house was destroyed during the conquest of the city by the Hussites in 1427, when Hussite forces campaigned in Moravia and Silesia,” Stabrava said. “Several independent historical sources mention the siege and conquest of the town, including the massacre of some of its citizens.”
The Hussites were named after their leader, the religious reformer Jan Hus, who was condemned and burned at the stake by the Catholic Council of Constance (1414–18). Efforts to suppress the Hussite heretical uprising were supported by the Holy Roman emperor and the pope, highlighting the seriousness with which this conflict was viewed by medieval Catholic authorities.
Map of Bohemia during the Hussite Wars (Cameron Pauley / CC BY SA 4.0 )
Hidden history is revealed, one discovery at a time
At this time, not much is known about the medieval settlement at Nový Jičín. This is why archaeologists have recently been active at the site, not far from the country’s eastern border with Poland.
The current theory is that the medieval version of the village was founded in the 14th century by the Lords of Kravaře, a Moravian noble family with a long history in the region. Before that, there seems to have been a smaller settlement at the site, built around the castle of Starý (Old) Jičín. The castle was built as a defensive fortress to protect the important route through the area. It seems likely that the site may have been a center of trade or commerce, with traders moving back and forth between the Bohemian region and Poland as well as further afield.
The latest excavation at Nový (New) Jičín, partly funded by the National Heritage Institute of the Czech Republic, led to the discovery of this medieval kitchen. Its spokesman, František Kolář, said that in medieval times the town largely consisted of wooden houses of various shapes and sizes. However, he admitted that this conclusion was based on a relatively small number of discoveries.
“This is because there have not been many archaeological excavations in the historic center of the city,” says Kolář. “This is one of the first works undertaken and we hope that we will be able to continue excavations as historic houses in the city are renovated.”
Artifacts recovered from the very well preserved kitchen are now being processed to ensure they can be preserved and maintained. Once these works are completed, they will be kept at the Novojičín Museum and may be displayed at a later date. Meanwhile, excavations at Nový Jičín are expected to continue in the hope of discovering more about the medieval settlement that once occupied the site.
