VISEGRÁD, HUNGARY—Hungary Today reports that researchers from King Matthias Museum and the National Archaeological Institute of the Hungarian National Museum excavated the site of a medieval palace in northern Hungary, and discovered a pair of gilded silver clothing clasps in its courtyard. The jewelry, dated to the first half of the fourteenth century, would have been worn at a woman’s neckline. The researchers think the clasps may have been worn by Queen Elizabeth Piast, a member of the Polish royal house of Piast who married Charles I of Hungary in 1320. She is thought to have lived at the Visegrád palace after the death of her husband in 1342. The building was eventually demolished at the end of the fourteenth century. Replicas of the historic structures will be built as part of the Visegrád Renaissance Development Program. To read about a Roman doctor's instruments unearthed near present-day Jászberény, go to "Around the World: Hungary."
Royal Medieval Jewelry Unearthed in Hungary
News January 7, 2024
Recommended Articles
Digs & Discoveries January/February 2022
Russian River Silver
Artifacts May/June 2024
Medieval Iron Gauntlet
Digs & Discoveries January/February 2023
Storming the Castle
Letter from Germany September/October 2022
Berlin's Medieval Origins
In the midst of modern construction, archaeologists search for evidence of the city’s earliest days
-
Features November/December 2023
Assyrian Women of Letters
4,000-year-old cuneiform tablets illuminate the personal lives of Mesopotamian businesswomen
(Attraction Art/Adobe Stock) -
Letter from El Salvador November/December 2023
Uneasy Allies
Archaeologists discover a long-forgotten capital where Indigenous peoples and Spanish colonists arrived at a fraught coexistence
(Courtesy Roger Atwood) -
Artifacts November/December 2023
Sculpture of a Fist
(Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Bridgeman Art Library) -
Digs & Discoveries November/December 2023
The Benin Bronzes’ Secret Ingredient