Brigandage, Museum – Orawa Ethnographic Park

The work in a lodge was hard and dangerous but the baca, juhas and honielnik shepherds were hardy people. They had to protect the flocks from wolves and bears and had their ways of dealing with magic but there were other dangers too. The mountain pastures were often (especially in the 17th century) visited by the bold men who ‘levelled the world’ – ‘harnasie’ brigands and their companions. Wars and rebellions (such as the uprising of Emeryk Thököly’s ‘kurucs’ against the Habsburgs and the army’s march to Vienna in 1683) as well as the proximity of trade routes and the mountainous area fostered an increase in their numbers. A well-known legend says that the building of the church in Lipnica was financed with brigands’ money and a ‘bunkos’ – a brigand’s mace – was kept there before the last war. The archival documents also mention a brigand from Zubrzyca who lived in the first half of the 18th century: Jan Kowalik. He visited an inn in Zubrzyca Górna with his companions. The local inhabitants seized him when he fell asleep and took him to the Orawa Castle as was the case with Juraj Janosik from Terchova. Interestingly, his wife was also a brigand, usually disguised as a lackey. Brigands’ lives were intense and colourful but usually very short even though they are still remembered in folk legends. Most interesting stories about brigands in the Carpathians and on other topics are those collected and written down by Urszula Janicka-Krzywda (e.g., ‘Niespokojne Karpaty, czyli rzecz o zbójnictwie’, ‘Poczet harnasi karpackich’, ‘Legendy babiogórskie’).


 
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