Prilozi rasvjetljavanju heraldičke ostavštine iločkih knezova 15. i 16. stoljeća

A good example of how archaeological finds of the late Middle Ages and early Modern Age supplement archive sources are stove-tiles found in the course of archaeological excavations over a number of years of medieval fortified castles of Ružica-burg and Ilok. Besides being a visual art and artistic value they are an excellent example for the research of family, political and business connections and economic power of the Dukes of Ilok, who as owners and builders of these two most valuable mediaeval complex in Eastern Croatia played crucial role in Hungarian-Croatian Kingdom from the second half of the 14th century until Turkish seizure. Nikola of Ilok (died in 1477) and his son Lovro (died in 1524) were the main bearers of these family’s powers. Their sepulchral slabs in the church of St. John Capistran in Ilok were starting points of my research and reflection on heraldic heritage of this family and indistinctness referring to particular coats of arms and their origin. While processing huge amounts of stove-tiles found at Ružica-burg, fragments with images of different coats of arms drew a particular attention. Although they seemed at first to be imported stove-tiles i.e. the moulds so that the coats of arms had more of aesthetic purpose the detailed analysis resulted in a smaller number of coats of arms (fig. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) of this type. The other group of coats of arms comprises state i.e. royal coats of arms such as Hungarian, Austrian, Bohemian or Portuguese (fig. 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16). The coat of arms of the Pecs bishop of Sigismund Ernuszt has been found almost intact. The small coat of arms of Portugal is ‘‘odd’’ only at first impression. However, keeping in mind the conflict between Nikola of Ilok and the King Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490) and Nikola’s inclination and connections with Austrian Emperor Friedrich III of Habsburg, Roman-German Emperor 1452-1492, whose wife was the Portuguese princess Eleonor (died in 1467) this coat of arms is a confirmation that stove-tiles motifs on show-piece stoves at special court premises such as festivity halls, dining halls, chapels, yards etc. had not been selected by chance (fig. 16). The same applies to the fragment of the coat of arms of Kyburg, an estate in the vicinity of Habsburg (now Switzerland), which was inherited by marriage of Rudolph of Habsburg (1218-1291) (fig. 17). Similar features are carried by the fragment of unglazed terracotta with black bird image presumably raven- the family s