History
The castle in Brześć Kujawski was probably built within the town walls by King Władysław the Elbow-high, when the settlement was moved from the village of Stary Brześć to a new location, although the first fortification works began during the Czech rule in Kujawy in the early 14th century. At that time, the town held a high position as the seat of the royal starost and burgrave Zbrosław, recorded in documents in 1303. In 1306, a truce was concluded in Toruń between the starost Paweł of Paulštejn and the townspeople of Brześć, in which the Brześć castrum and the town fortifications were mentioned (the townspeople agreed not to raise the towers above the castle fortifications).
With the commencement of military operations by the Poland of Kazimierz the Great, fighting against the Teutonic Knights, the castle in Brześć became an important border point of resistance. In 1327 and then in 1329 and 1331 it withstood Teutonic sieges. The castle crew capitulated only after an eleven-day siege in 1332, which was followed by bloody reprisals. The castle was probably not damaged significantly, because it was soon chosen as the seat of the Teutonic commandry. In 1334, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and King Kazimierz the Great concluded an agreement under which “castrum, civitatem et terram Brestensem” were to be handed over to the Masovian Prince Siemowit or the Bishop of Włocławek Maciej of Gołańcz, and in the event of a lasting peace not being signed, it were to be given to the Teutonic Knights in a state of proper maintenance and after the castle had been renovated (“conservacionis et restitucionis castri civitatis Brestensis”). Ultimately, Kazimierz the Great capture Brześć from the Order in 1344.
From the second half of the 1340s, castle in Brześć was used as a royal residence. In 1364, the king donated a considerable sum of 500 fines for the renovation of the castle. These works were probably supervised by the starost, because during the rulers’ absence, Brześć was managed by royal officials whose jurisdiction in the 14th century covered the entire Brześć Kujawy region. In the 15th century, the castle was again an important point of resistance on the border with the Teutonic Knights. It was often visited by Polish kings, especially Władysław Jagiełło, who visited Brześć as many as 26 times between 1399 and 1430, both in connection with his tour of the kingdom and in connection with military operations. In the 16th century, the castle was also visited many times by Sigismund the Old, although starting from the second half of the 15th century, due to the poor management by the starosts it began to decline. The greatest neglect was brought about by the long-term rule of starost Mikołaj of Brudzewo from 1455 to 1494.
In the early modern period, major renovation works of the castle were carried out only in the mid-16th century by starost Sebastian Mielecki, who, among other things, rebuilt the main castle house and smaller buildings along the curtains of the defensive wall. In its early Renaissance form, the castle was burned down by the Swedes in the 17th century. The inspection from 1644 showed only burnt walls, which were finally demolished in the early 19th century.
Architecture
The castle was built on the right bank of the Zgłowiączka river, on the southern edge of the area elevated over 10 meters. From the north, that is, from the town side, there was outer bailey, separated by a ditch, through which the road to the core of the castle led. So it was linked to the town, but at the same time it was an autonomous defensive work, because it was separated from Brześć by a ditch 23-24 meters wide. The whole town and castle complex was also surrounded by a second moat forming the outer defense line. It is known that in the 16th century the outer bailey was surrounded by a wooden fence or pallisade within which a half-timbered stable and a equerry ‘s house were located.
The castle was built of bricks laid in a Flemish bond, bound with lime mortar and set on a stone foundation. Based on historical plans, it can be assumed that it had the shape of a polygon measuring 40 x 47 meters, enclosed on all sides by a perimeter wall about 7 meters high, while the town defensive wall ran around the castle headland a little further, constituting the second line of the castle’s fortifications from the outside. The only entrance to the castle probably led from the north, and the adjacent main castle house was located on that side. Its dimensions were 12 x 23.5 meters. It is not certain what the gate looked like in the Middle Ages, perhaps similar to the building known from 16th century survey, when the gatehouse was made of bricks, two-storey with a half-timber superstructure or foregate. The southern and western parts of the courtyard were occupied by other residential and utility buildings attached to the inner walls of the perimeter walls. The chapel was also associated with a castle, first recorded in 1436.
In the south-eastern corner stood a cylindrical tower with a diameter of about 6.5 meters. It could have served as a bergfried, that is a tower serving as a place of final defense, not fulfilling permanent residential functions, but it is also possible that it was a tower with a smaller role, while the bergfried was located in the north-western corner, as indicated by a 16th-century survey, in which it was written that it had four storeys. According to E. Dahlbergh’s engraving, it had a quadrangular or polygonal form. The cylindrical tower, on the other hand, could have been the Kesza, or Kusa Tower (Polish: small, little) also recorded in the survey.
Current state
Today, the castle site is occupied by a early modern building that has no medieval stylistic features and is a later construction built on the site of demolished buildings. It is currently used by the Post Office and a library.
bibliography:
Leksykon zamków w Polsce, red. L.Kajzer, Warszawa 2003.
Olszacki T., Rezydencje Andegawenów po obu stronach Karpat. Wstęp do badań [in:] Zamki w Karpatach, red. J.Gancarski, Krosno 2014.
Pietrzak J., Zamki i dwory obronne w dobrach państwowych prowincji wielkopolskiej, Łódź 2003.
Widawski J., Miejskie mury obronne w państwie polskim do początku XV wieku, Warszawa 1973.