Archaické mlyny a mlynárstvo v tradičnej kultúre Slovenska

Milling is a trade in its own right which expanded across central Europe in conjunction with the water mill between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries. On the territory of today's Slovakia there was the so-called Roman water mill, which reached to the cultural/geographical border at which the Greek mill took over. Water-mill technology was introduced on the territory of today's Slovakia in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, a time when the feudal system was on the rise in the territories of western Europe; it was indicative of technical, economic and - not least - civilizational development. Evidence of appropriating and adapting to mill technology is found in folk language and literature, as is the integrating of the figure of the miller into the community We give a description of muling technology, making use of terminology for the technical parameters which determined a mill's capacity and output. We look at the mill race system, which placed an emphasis on the construction of the mill wheel; the transmission system, which was used principally in conjunction with the seeding mechanism of a flour chest; and the grinding system in the form of a pair of grinding stones. We note certain changes in construction, together with the use of new materials, such as iron. We devote particular attention to versatility and craftsmanship, the economic and social standing of the miller in the community, guilds, and rights and responsibilities in respect of the manorial nobility. We illustrate by records from the archives the prestige of the miller and the hierarchy which existed in his trade, including examples from folk literature (especially proverbs and sayings) to provide evidence of the "popularization" of mill culture and its roots in the Middle Ages.