Examining lead bullets from the siege of Novi Zrin in 1664

ABSTRACT

The fortress of Novi Zrin is a unique location, not only in Hungary, but also more generally in Europe. It was constructed by Miklós (VII) Zrínyi, the seventeenth-century poet, general and military scientist, and was a thorn in the side of the Ottoman Turkish armies occupying parts of Hungary at that time. This led to the subsequent destruction of the stronghold, and the abandonment of its location essentially left a time capsule that was only rediscovered in the 2000s. The remains of the fortress provided archaeologists with hundreds of artefacts, and in particular, more than 300 untouched lead projectiles from the late seventeenth century. This discovery led to the creation of this work where the aim is to analyse in detail the projectiles found, scientifically categorize them and, with the help of battlefield archaeology, answer previously unanswered questions about the 1664 siege of Novi Zrin.

KEYWORDS:

• Novi Zrin
• musket
• lead
• projectile
• battlefield archaeology
• seventeenth century
• Zrínyi

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. It cannot be a coincidence that already in 1664 – during his lifetime – a laudatory pamphlet was published on him in London by someone with the initials of O. C. and titled: The Conduct and Character of Count Nicholas Serini, Protestant Generalissimo of the Auxiliaries in Hungary. The most Prudent and resolved Champion of Christendom. With his Parallels Scanderbeg and Tamberlain. Interwoven with the principal Passages of the Europe, in the year 1313 (Kovács 1987).

2. Accounts of the siege of Novi Zrin all agree on that constant and intense fighting took place, which caused great casualties on a day to day basis on both sides. (Esterházy; Çelebi; Montecuccoli) .

3. These examinations were conducted with the support of colleagues at the Department of Material Science and Vehicle Technology at the Széchenyi István University in Győr. The detailed examination reports are available at the authors.

4. The examination of these projectiles was done as part of a joint research project between the National University of Public Service and the Archaeometallurgical Research Group of the University of Miskolc. The detailed examination reports are available at the authors.

5. However, cuboid shaped projectiles are known to have been manufactured using another method too. During this process – in the lack of a suitable projectile (bullet) – a lead rod with a rectangular cross-section was sliced up with an axe into smaller cuboids, and these cuboid shaped pieces of lead were used as projectiles later (Marsigli 2007). On the other hand, it must be stated that up to this date, no damaged or impacted cuboid shaped projectile has been recovered from the siege area, thus the use of such projectiles in this case cannot be considered proven. It may not be excluded that their cuboid shape is only an earlier stage in the process of modifying them into the right calibre, and these projectiles might have been turned into that desired calibre and a traditional bullet shape later.

6. The equipment used was the Fischerscope XRAY XAN 252, with which 10 pieces of variously shaped and different calibre projectiles were examined in two series of tests.

7. The 2018 archaeometric examinations were also executed by the Archaeometallurgical Research Group of the University of Miskolc. The detailed examination reports are available at the authors.

8. The measurements were undertaken with a digital scale and a digital calliper, both to the accuracy of one hundreds of a gram and millimetre, respectively. When determining the diameter of the bullets, they were measured along their casting/moulding line, and the occasional anomalies on their surfaces, which would have impacted the end results, were avoided.

9. The Sivilich Formula is based on the known concept that the size of a sphere is always the same when calculated from a given weight of a material with a given density. In other words, if one knows the weight of the projectile and the density of its material, then the original diameter of a spherical bullet can be calculated. In the case of lead, the uniformly accepted density at room temperature is 11.34 g/cm³. For the sake of this research, the material examination was deemed necessary, because the possible occurrence of alloying materials might change the density.

10. http://nadasdymuzeum.hu/lovassagi-pisztoly-a-torok-idokbol-2016-07-14 Downloaded: 4. November 2018.

11. The drachm (or also used as dram) weights 3.205 g.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

József Padányi

Dr. József Padányi is a professor of military engineering, a major-general of the Hungarian Defence Forces and vice-rector for science at the National University of Public Service in Hungary. Furthermore, he is also a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He has published extensively in the field of military engineering, civilian-military cooperatio and peacekeeping operatio, while also being one of the leading figures in battlefield archaeology in Hungary. As an upholder of Miklós Zrínyi’s legacy in Hungary, has lead the archaeological research of Novi Zrin and has also written books as well as numerous other scientific works about the excavations there. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6665-8444

József Ondrék

József Ondrék is a PhD student at the Doctoral School of Military Science at the National University of Public Service in Hungary. He obtained his MA-s in American Studies at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, and in Translation and Interpretation at the Eötvös Lóránd University in Budapest. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1831-5479