Cârta Monastery
Encyclopedia
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, currently a Lutheran Evangelical church belonging to the local Saxon
Transylvanian Saxons
The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...
community. It lies on the left bank of the Olt River
Olt River
The Olt River is a river in Romania. It is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. Its source is in the Hăşmaş Mountains of the eastern Carpathian Mountains, near the village Bălan. It flows through the Romanian counties Harghita, Covasna, Braşov, Sibiu, Vâlcea and Olt...
, between the cities of Sibiu
Sibiu
Sibiu is a city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 154,548. Located some 282 km north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt...
and Făgăraş
Fagaras
Făgăraș is a city in central Romania, located in Braşov County . Another source of the name is alleged to derive from the Hungarian language word for "partridge" . A more plausible explanation is that the name is given by Fogaras river coming from the Pecheneg "Fagar šu", which means ash water...
, close to the villages of Cârţa
Cârta, Sibiu
Cârţa is a commune in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Cârţa and Poieniţa .-Famous people:* Viktor Kästner , Transylvanian Saxon poet...
(German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
Kerz, Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
: Kerc) and Cârţişoara
Cârtisoara
Cârţişoara is a commune in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Cârţişoara....
(German: Kleinkerz). The monastery was founded in 1205-1206 by King Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II the Jerosolimitan was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was the younger son of King Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the Principality of Halych...
, and was disbanded 27 February 1474 by King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary
Matthias Corvinus , also called the Just in folk tales, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458, at the age of 14 until his death...
. The Cistercian monastery introduced and helped develop Gothic art
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
in the region.
History of the Monastery
The exact founding date of the Cârţa monastery is unknown. A document from KonstanzKonstanz
Konstanz is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland. The city houses the University of Konstanz.-Location:...
, dated 17 April 1418, issued by Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...
states vaguely that the monastery was founded, built, and awarded rights and privileges by his predecessors. The statute of royal establishment is also pointed out in the act disbanding the monastery 27 February 1474, and was made ex auctoritate juris patronatus regii Matthias Corvinus
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary
Matthias Corvinus , also called the Just in folk tales, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458, at the age of 14 until his death...
. Cistercian documents from the 13th till 15th century gathered and analyzed by Leopold Janauschek
Leopold Janauschek
Leopold Janauschek was an Austrian Cistercian historian.-Life:Janauschek was born at Brünn, Moravia. In 1846 he received the religious habit at the Cistercian Zwettl Abbey, Lower Austria, where he was professed in 1848. His superiors then sent him to their house of studies at Heiligenkreuz Abbey...
mention the founding year of the monastery as being somewhere around 1202-1203.
The best approximation of the monastery's date of foundation can be obtained from a document issued by the royal Hungarian chancelry in 1223. This document states that the territory on which the monastery was built - delimited by the Olt River
Olt River
The Olt River is a river in Romania. It is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. Its source is in the Hăşmaş Mountains of the eastern Carpathian Mountains, near the village Bălan. It flows through the Romanian counties Harghita, Covasna, Braşov, Sibiu, Vâlcea and Olt...
at the north side and its tributaries the Arpaşu River at the east, the Cârţişoara River
Cârtisoara River
The Cârţişoara River is a tributary of the Olt River in Romania. It starts at the junction of headwaters Pârâul Doamnei and Bâlea-References:* Administraţia Naţională Apelor Române - Cadastrul Apelor - Bucureşti...
at the west and the Făgăraş Mountains
Fagaras Mountains
Făgăraș Mountains , are the highest mountains of the Southern Carpathians, in Romania. The highest peaks are Moldoveanu , Negoiu , Viștea Mare , Lespezi , Vânătoarea lui Buteanu , and Dara .They are bordered in the north by the Făgăraș Depression, through which the Olt river flows, and in the west...
) at the south - was awarded by King Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II the Jerosolimitan was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was the younger son of King Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the Principality of Halych...
, for the blessing of his soul, through the Transylvanian voivod Benedict (pro remedio animae nostre per fidelem ac dilectum nostrum Benedictum tunc temporis vaivodam assignari facientes). It is known that Benedict was Transylvanian voivod between 1202-1206 and 1208-1209. This means that the founding date must fall between 1202 and 1209. An additional document, the General Chapter of the Cistercian Order from 1206, further narrows the date of founding. This document mentions the presence of a Cistercian monk from Transylvania, most probably from Cârţa (abbas ultra Sylvas in Hungaria, filius abbatis de Egris), at the Cîteaux Abbey
Cîteaux Abbey
Cîteaux Abbey is a Roman Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. Today it belongs to the Trappists, or Cistercians of the Strict Observance . The Cistercian order takes its name from this mother house of Cîteaux, earlier Cisteaux, near Nuits-Saint-Georges...
, in Burgundy, the main abbey of the Cistercian order.
Summing up this historical data, the date of the monastery's founding by the King Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II the Jerosolimitan was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was the younger son of King Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the Principality of Halych...
can be established as occurring between 29 May 1205 and 14 September 1206. 29 May 1205 is when Andrew II became king of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and 14 September 1206 is the day when the works of the Cistercian Order's General Chapter began, when the existence of the first monk of Cârţa is documented. The colonising convent was most probably the mother abbey in Igriș
Igriș Abbey
Igriş Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Sânpetru Mare, Timiș County, Romania. The Igriş Abbey was founded in 1179 as a filial abbey of Pontigny...
(Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
Egris, Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
Egres), in the Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
plain, today located in Timiş County
Timis County
Timiș , , Banat Bulgarian: ) is a county of western Romania, in the historical region Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the largest county in Romania in terms of land area....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. Filiation reports between the two monasteries can be dated from 1206, 1368 and 1430.
History of the surviving structure
Transylvanian Saxons
The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...
art historian and archeologist Victor Roth. Also, subsequent researches were carried out in the period 1983-1985 to better study these remains.
The construction of the main stone edifice started a little bit later, most probably between 1220 and 1230. The construction occurred in two stages, separated by the Great Mongol invasion of 1241
Mongol invasion of Europe
The resumption of the Mongol invasion of Europe, during which the Mongols attacked medieval Rus' principalities and the powers of Poland and Hungary, was marked by the Mongol invasion of Rus starting in 21 December 1237...
. In the first stage of construction, the main elements are of Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
influence. The general plan was traced and the walls were erected up to aa height of about 3-4 m. In 1260 the works were restarted under a new architect trained in the mature Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
, and with the help of a new masons' workshop. During this period, the old stone oratorium was dismantled and on its foundations was built a part of the north wing of the transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
and a part of the choir with the polygonal apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
. At around 1300, the church and the east wing of the Cărţa Monastery were already finished and the works on the south side will continue for about two decades.
Possessions of the monastery
A document issued in 29 January 1322 by the king Charles I of HungaryCharles I of Hungary
Charles I , also known as Charles Robert , was the first King of Hungary and Croatia of the House of Anjou. He was also descended from the old Hungarian Árpád dynasty. His claim to the throne of Hungary was contested by several pretenders...
states that ten villages were in the possession of the cistercian monastery of Cărţa: Cârţa
Cârta, Sibiu
Cârţa is a commune in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Cârţa and Poieniţa .-Famous people:* Viktor Kästner , Transylvanian Saxon poet...
(Kerch), Criţ (Cruz), Meşendorf (Messendorf), Cloaşterf (villa Nicholai), Apoş
Apos
apos is a key copyediting term for apostrophe which is a mark of punctuation used to indicate possessive case or omission of a letter from a word. In XML it is one of only five predefined character mnemonics....
(villa Abbatis), Cisnădioara (monte sancti Micahelis), Feldioara
Feldioara
Feldioara is a Romanian commune located in Transylvania, very close to Braşov . It is composed of three villages: Colonia Reconstrucţia , Feldioara and Rotbav ....
(Feldwar), Colun (Colonia), Glâmboaca (Honrabah) and Cârţa Românească
Cârtisoara
Cârţişoara is a commune in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Cârţişoara....
(Kercz Olachorum) which correspond to the area between present day cities of Sibiu
Sibiu
Sibiu is a city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 154,548. Located some 282 km north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt...
and Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
and the Târnava Mare River
Târnava River
The Târnava is a river in Romania. It is formed by the confluence of the Târnava Mare and Târnava Mică in the town of Blaj. The Târnava flows into the Mureş River after 28 km, near the town of Teiuş.- Etymology :...
valley. In the second half of the 13th century, in its vicinity, on the right bank of the Olt river
Olt River
The Olt River is a river in Romania. It is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. Its source is in the Hăşmaş Mountains of the eastern Carpathian Mountains, near the village Bălan. It flows through the Romanian counties Harghita, Covasna, Braşov, Sibiu, Vâlcea and Olt...
, the village of Cârţa
Cârta, Sibiu
Cârţa is a commune in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Cârţa and Poieniţa .-Famous people:* Viktor Kästner , Transylvanian Saxon poet...
was founded and also on the Hârtibaciu River valley, close to Agnita
Agnita
Agnita is a town on the Hârtibaciu river in Sibiu County, Transylvania, central Romania. It is considered the locality in the center of the country. The town administers two villages, Coveş and Ruja...
, it founded the village of Apoş
Apos
apos is a key copyediting term for apostrophe which is a mark of punctuation used to indicate possessive case or omission of a letter from a word. In XML it is one of only five predefined character mnemonics....
(German: Abtsdorf, or "the Monk's Village"). Both villages were populated with German colonists (Transylvanian Saxons
Transylvanian Saxons
The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...
) and later in the 13th and 14th centuries on the Sighişoara
Sighisoara
Sighişoara is a city and municipality on the Târnava Mare River in Mureş County, Romania. Located in the historic region Transylvania, Sighişoara has a population of 27,706 ....
seat, it founded the villages of Criţ (German: Deutsch-Kreuz; ), Meşendorf (German: Meschendorf; Hungarian: Mese) and Cloaşterf (German: Klosterdorf; Hungarian: Miklóstelke), and also the villages Colun (German: Kolun; Hungarian: Kellen), Glâmboaca (German: Hühnerbach; Hungarian: Glimboka) and Feldioara
Feldioara
Feldioara is a Romanian commune located in Transylvania, very close to Braşov . It is composed of three villages: Colonia Reconstrucţia , Feldioara and Rotbav ....
(German: Marienburg; Hungarian Földvár) situated on the right bank of the Olt River
Olt River
The Olt River is a river in Romania. It is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. Its source is in the Hăşmaş Mountains of the eastern Carpathian Mountains, near the village Bălan. It flows through the Romanian counties Harghita, Covasna, Braşov, Sibiu, Vâlcea and Olt...
between Sibiu
Sibiu
Sibiu is a city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 154,548. Located some 282 km north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt...
and Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
.