In the spring of 1241 a Mongol army destroyed the Hungarian royal host at the river Slaná and rode across the kingdom, burning villages and open towns. It is the year Slovak history turns on — but not in the way people usually assume. Most of the stone castles you can visit in Slovakia today were built because of that year rather than before it: King Béla IV came out of hiding convinced that only stone on high rock would hold, and spent the rest of his reign handing out permissions to build. Trenčín is one of the exceptions, because its tower was already standing, which is why it belongs to the story as a strongpoint and not as a building site. What exactly happened under this rock in 1241 is not recorded in the detail we would like; what is certain is that the castle-building wave which followed filled the whole Váh valley with the neighbours Trenčín still looks out at.Na jar 1241 rozdrvilo mongolské vojsko uhorskú kráľovskú armádu pri rieke Slanej a prehnalo sa krajinou; pálilo dediny aj neopevnené mestá. Je to rok, na ktorom sa slovenské dejiny lámu — len inak, než sa bežne predpokladá. Väčšina kamenných hradov, ktoré si dnes na Slovensku môžete pozrieť, vznikla práve preto, a nie predtým: kráľ Belo IV. sa vrátil z úkrytu s presvedčením, že obstojí len kameň na vysokej skale, a zvyšok vlády rozdával povolenia stavať. Trenčín je jednou z výnimiek, lebo jeho veža už stála — preto v príbehu vystupuje ako opora, nie ako stavenisko. Čo presne sa pod bralom v roku 1241 dialo, pramene neopisujú tak podrobne, ako by sme chceli; isté je, že vlna hradov, ktorá po vpáde nasledovala, zaplnila celé Považie susedmi, na ktorých sa Trenčín pozerá dodnes.
