Ornamented gravepost
from 1885 (Pest county)

Typically decorated
gravepost in the
cemetary of Harta

Table shaped gravepost
in the cemetary of
Albertirsa (Pest county)
(1883)

Graveposts between the Rivers Danube and Tisza

ethnographical permanent exhibition

This essay is on particular cultic gravepost-culture of popular art in the protestant villages of a wider geographical region - this is the territory between Rivers Danube and Tisza. The author underlines that it is interesting to pay attention not only to history of religion but to different ceremonies, burial ceremonies, which are in close connection with religion. Reformation made a round of Hungary in the first half of the 16th century. After having made clear different theological controversies protestants, mainly protestant Hungarians took up Calvin's ideas, Calvinism. It was the central religion in Transylvania but Hungarians living in the territory under Turkish rule also took it up. This was a very important element in development of country town and in organization of country town's self-government. Religious and social, economical, political, communal lives were in close connection: Calvinism became ideology of Hungarians living in the territory under Turkish rule, who tried to keep national existence. Graveposts are known in protestant cemeteries, mainly in the circle of reformed Hungarians.

Speaking about usage of gravepost's setting, it is necessary to pay attention to religious ceremonies, too, because signing the grave (gravepost's setting) is inseparable part of them. In Hungary the Catholic Church preserved certain elements in its ceremonies until the second half of the 16th century - which were characteristically Hungarian ones. Ritual Books ordained to arrange burial ceremonies in this way, too.

Military pompous of funeral ceremonies preserved many cultic characters of pagan Hungarians' culture before Hungarian Conquest (89G) (e.g. horses in the procession, flags, arms, pikes). These horses are in close connection with the pagan Hungarians' horse-sacrifice because they sacrificed white horse when their leader, head died. Among Christian conditions, this event became a symbolic one: they didn't kill the horse and of course they didn't bury it with the died head but they gave it to the Church.

Signing graves also belongs to the funeral ceremony. Calvinist adopted the funeral ceremony used in Hungary. They also made pompous funeral ceremonies for their dignified nobles or heroics: they made big burial-mounds for them hoisted flags, put marble stones on these mounds, and made epitaph.

In the Middle Age gravestone was the most dignified generally used grave-signs. As people of rank were buried in the crypt of the church or in the churchyard (coemeterium) wanting to show and high their ranks grave-stones were setting only for them.

It wasn't an unusual thing not to sign the graves in the Middle Age. The church with a cemetery around its building had a christian signing function in this sense, too, but later they often put stones for these unsigned graves mainly to sign or show the rank or richness of the dead. Gravepost as a sing for grave appeared in the l8th century in Hungarian folk Culture and its spreading can be explained by religious and political reasons, first of all Counter-Reformation.

After driving out the Turkish (1686), liberated parts of Hungary and the separated independent state, Transylvania also got under the rule of Habsburg dynast. Purpose of All-German, great power politics of the Habsburg dynast was to eliminate the separated, independent Hungarian Community and social power: so, to surpass the Hungarian protestants and to bring them back into Catholicism. In the l8th century protestants' freedom of worship became paralysed. In this respect II. József (Joseph) King's Edict of Tolerance (Edictum Tolerantiae) in 1781 brought considerable change: so every protestant and other denominations can live freely in their believes. Country-towns with their homogeneous, strong, organized society could stand up against Counter-Reformation (e.g. Nagykőrös) and could preserve their religious unity, using e.g. their characteristic gravesign in case of burials, the gravepost. After the religious reconciliation everywhere in Hungary people set graveposts. Its fast spreading can be explained not only by religious reasons but also by awakening of people's national mind: this is nothing else but national feeling in religious form.

After finishing the wars of the l7th century age of knights also put on end, according to it funeral ceremony changed and disappeared the dignified, pompous funerals. Later in the end of the l8th century when protestants and Unitarians could live freely with their religious ceremony this pompous ceremony of funeral became used again - generally, but more simply with black flags, Catholists accompanied their deads with flags of the church and procession.

Catholists set wooden-cross to the grave while protestants only a simple post or left the grave without sign. They usually put the wooden poles (used for carrying the coffin) into the grave: one to the head (terminology fejfa) and the other to the feet (terminology lábfa). So gravepost as a sign for grave in more simple form and commonly, generally used by lower parts of society is originated in the formerly mentioned dignified, pompous funerals, it is the memory of glorious past and Hungarian pompous of arms and battle.

The simple woodenpost, the "head-post" as such (terminology "fejéhez való fa", "főtől való fa") developed and its shape, model, decoration changed and became richer and richer. In the first stage developed the so-called button- shaped (terminology gomb, gombot) decoration and the antropomorphous one of graveposts. It means that they formed the butt-end of the simple post as a globe or a button and because of this decoration it became button- shape gravepost. This type of gravepost can be connected in similarity with pike or lance. The other group of grave- posts, the antropomorphous graveposts are nothing else but people made, formed graveposts for their own shapes, bodies (parts of a gravepost are: head, neck, shoulders, body, waist).

In the second half of the l9th century appeared the new style of graveposts. This period is the golden age of folk- art in Hungary. After the failed revolution in 1848/49 there came the period of the Habsburg's oppression, the so called absolutism, named often Bach (Bach-period). They persecuted not only the soldiers of the revolution but also they wanted to eliminate the Hungarian nationality. The Compromise of 1867 brought a temporary arrangement. After this Hungarian national consciousness strengthened and folk-art started to flourish, as the artistical mode of expression of people's national feeling. This thing left its mark on culture of graveposts, too, and from this time, people began to make beautifully decorated graveposts for their deads. They put different motives on the graveposts: tulip, star, crown, flower-stand, ring and button. This type of graveposts is called ornamented of fancy one (terminology "cifrafejfa").

At the beginning of the 20th century culture of gravepost began to decline, when simple post-shaped graveposts without any decoration or motive spread all over Hungary. For about the centre of the 20th century the formerly beautifully decorated graveposts of Transylvania also became simpler. But in the 1970-ies graveposts' setting became usage again and people make beautifully decorated graveposts of popular fine workmanship by people's artist or wood-carver masters. These graveposts are called pikes, too, referring to old Hungarian funeral traditions, to heroic past of Hungarian Nation.

In the territory between Rivers Danube and Tisza we can find graveposts (archaic graveposts and new-style ones, too) in the cemeteries of Protestants, Calvinists Lutherans and Baptists. The archaic style of graveposts can be found in the cemeteries of towns with continuous development (it means that the settlements were, developed continuously from the age of Turkish rule to the l7th or l8th centuries). Graveposts of button-shaped can be found in the cemeteries of the so called "three towns" - Cegléd, Nagykőrös, Kecskemét - and less settlements around them (e.g. Abony, Tószeg, Tiszavárkony, Vezseny). This part of the country was the estate of the sultan underTurkish rule (because of its saloetre) and it could develop, too. In later centuries graveposts of recent data the so-called wooden headboard appeared, in the cemeteries of territory between Rivers Danube and Tisza. These graveposts of popular fine workmanship are beautifully decorated and mostly made or carved by people's artists but they don't preserve the local gravepost's motives (button- -shaped or antropomorphous) and its traditions at all.

Button shaped graveposts
from Nagykőrös

Button-shaped graveposts
Pest County, 1972

Ornamented gravepost
carved from one body

Graveposts in the permanent
exhibition from Tószeg
and Vezseny