castles-msg - 9/22/09
Medieval castles and fortifications.
NOTE: See also the files: castles-lnks, buildings-msg, cities-msg, siege-engines-msg, bridges-msg, furniture-msg, lamps-msg, decor-sources-msg, beds-msg, p-kitchens-msg.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: haslock at rust.zso.dec.com (Nigel Haslock)
Date: 14 Aug 91 22:31:35 GMT
Organization: DECwest, Digital Equipment Corp., Bellevue WA
From article <1991Aug13.212948.25017 at agora.uucp>, by trifid at agora.uucp (Roadster Racewerks):
> However, I was surprised that many of the city and castle walls
> we saw in the British Isles were not all that high... 2 meters is a good
> enough aproximation. Tower-houses had walls about twice that height, as did
> some inner curtain walls in large castles.
I took the opportunity, while at Clinton, to listen to Baron Gerhard expound
on the theory and practise of castles (the talk was intended for sergeant
and yeoman candidates for some obscure reason).
Gerhard pointed out that the major constraints on the hight of a curtain wall
were 1) cash and 2) foundations. Cash limits the number of labourers and the
amount of stone available to build the silly thing. Foundations limit the
amount of weight one can build into a wall. Theory says that towers must
overlook the curtain walls and so must be taller. Thus it is the foundations of
the towers that limit the height of the curtain wall.
Another factor is that a town wall can be defended by the citizens. This means
that the designer can trade height of wall for manpower, on the principle that
a high wall needs a few good men to defend it while a lower wall needs a lot
of defenders.
It is also possible that since they built on roman foundations, the foundations
really were inadequate for a larger wall. It is unlikely that the romans
foresaw the need of the Normans to heavily defend York and so
over-engineered the foundations of their wall.
Suggestions that english cities fill up with detritus, materially affecting
the ground level are extremely suspect. For example, I know of no English
historic buildings where the door step is below the level of the surrounding
ground. I will accept that the batters (if they ever existed) are now
buried under a layer of turf. The batters are the stone faced sloped bit
at the foot of the wall (he says, proudly displaying an item of trivia learned
from Gerhard).
The moral of this is that I agree with Baron Gerhard. English fortification
builders built 2 meter high curtain walls because they were adequate for
the purpose.
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: fighting on staircases
From: maryann_butterfield at microlinkbbs.com (Maryann Butterfield)
Date: Fri, 28 Jul 95 07:43:00 -0800
Organization: MicroLink BBS 619-371-4452 5+ Gigs
Greetings All,
While in Ireland last year, I had occasion to walk up and down several
staircases. Some (in round towers) were spiral, others (in square
towers) were straight except at the corners. They always turned to the
right as you ascended. They were about 27" wide (just big enough to
take one of the large scutums used by our local -heavy- shield wall
(called the Gravity Well).
Being a fighter (commander) my thoughts naturally turned to
defensibility. Big shield backed by poleaxe would be ideal. There
was always plenty of room overhead for striking downward.
Yours in the Dream,
Shadowwolf
maryann_butterfield at microlinkbbs.com
From: Suze.Hammond at hubert.rain.com (Suze Hammond)
Date: 10 Oct 96 19:59:01
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Modern Castle building for the Complete Idiot
Ga> From: Gareth.Bull at cc.monash.edu.au (Gareth Bull)
[...]
Ga> Well, here in the burg where I make my abode, I've discovered a number
Ga> of buildings that are so unusual in their design, it takes only a very
Ga> slight step of the imagination to believe that they are indeed castles
Ga> (apart from their colour, red). These buildings that I know of all
Ga> seem to be of around the same period (approx 100 years old), with
Ga> rooms on many seperate levels. They are made of brick and crowned with
Ga> slate roofs. One of these is a few minutes travel from my home and
Ga> faces a rail line which I use often. Putting a rough hewn granite
Ga> veneer over the brick would complete the transformation.
Ga> Gareth Bull
Why bother? Castles were built of brick, especially later in Period. If
these are of a Tudor style (rather popular a century ago) they may be as
authentic as they'll ever get just as they are.
(Well, add a portculis, etc...)
And if you must have stone, sandstone is also perfectly acceptable (and
absorbed the shock of cannonballs better than the more brittle types).
Many of the castles of Scotland are made of this stone, often using one of
the colored ones (yellow or red) as corner, door and window "molding" in a
most attractive way. Sandstone is easier to "dress" (shape) and cheaper.
... Moreach
From: sxymnnkilt at aol.com (SxyMnNKilt)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Modern Castle building for the Complete Idiot
Date: 11 Oct 1996 21:56:22 -0400
In article <53icmj$i8j at harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au>,
Gareth.Bull at cc.monash.edu.au (Gareth Bull) writes:
> I've discovered a number
>of buildings that are so unusual in their design, it takes only a very
>slight step of the imagination to believe that they are indeed castles
>(apart from their colour, red). These buildings that I know of all
>seem to be of around the same period (approx 100 years old), with
>rooms on many seperate levels. They are made of brick and crowned with
>slate roofs.
I lived in Germany for 3 years and Castle hopped on the weekends.....
(Poland, Czech Rep., Germany, Holland, England and Belgium.) There are
MANY castles made of red brick in Europe, In East Germany there was one
(16th C.) that was being torn down to make room for gardens. I kept a
brick. I was amazed to find each was marked with a blazon! Mind you I
would not have taken one if I did not know it was going to be taken to a
land fill. Same as pieces of The Wall!
Niall-
Who wishes his soon to be Ex-wife would give him back the dirty rocks!
From: kellogg at rohan.sdsu.edu (kellogg)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Castles
Date: 14 Nov 1996 17:25:08 GMT
Organization: San Diego State University Computing Services
David Kent (dgkent at deakin.edu.au) wrote:
: I am after information, specifically drawings, technical information and
: the like (anything!), on the following:
: -Krak des Chevaliers
: -Assasin Castles in Iran (Alamut, etc.)
Haven't found anything on those two particular castles.
However, for those interested in castles, check out The Castles of
Wales at <URL: http://www.castlewales.com/home.html>;. A very well
laid out site, with paintings showing the evolution of many castles.
The views of Chepstow, for example, are very nice.
Try Castles on the Web at <URL: http://fox.nstn.ca/~tmonk/castle/
castle.html>. Neither of these appear there, but quite a number do, and
it is another well set up site.
Avenel Kellough
From: jheinen at mcl.ucsb.edu (Jeff Heinen)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Castles
Date: 14 Nov 1996 23:52:22 GMT
Organization: University of California, Santa Barbara
In article <56eac9$69c at jake.probe.net>, viking at probe.net (Natural Born
Cereal Killer) wrote:
> I'll tell you this, friend: I've spent the last seven years
> designing my home (yet to be built, I might add). I wanted
> Neuschwanstein, as a general model, and found that detailed drawings
> on these works of art is entirely unavailable.
Not entirely true. Almost every castle that is open to the public has
floor plans published in tour guides for the site. There is also a
company that publishes a series of pamphlets that has maps of various
castles. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the file that has this
information anywhere (hard drive crashed recently). There are also
numerous scholarly books on architecture that contains the information you
seek.
As I write I am looking at a scale drawing of the layout of Krak des
Chevaliers published in Kelly DeVries' "Medieval Military Technology"
(p.231). This particular book has layout for quite a few castles.
-Gottfried
+--------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Jeff Heinen | "Neccessitas non habet legem." |
| jheinen at mcl.ucsb.edu | -St. Augustine |
| http://www.calpoly.edu/~jheinen| |
|================================+==================================|
| Department of History | Senior Consultant |
| University of California | Microcomputer Lab |
| Santa Barbara | UCSB |
+--------------------------------+----------------------------------+
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 11:15:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: VEARLEY at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Concrete-Off topic
I visited a castle in Colchester, England, as a child. We were shown the
levels of buildings underneath it. One of the layers was Roman, and the
guide let us handle a piece of Roman 'concrete'. He said that what the
Romans made was not the same as our modern concrete. It is much stronger and
has a different composition. At that point, they had not figured out exactly
what is was, although I'm sure they have by now. I believe Roman-built roads
are still used in England in some rural places.
Verena
vearley at aol.com
From: Lise and Marvin Hull <castlesu at harborside.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: castle question
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1998 16:45:39 -0700
Organization: Castles Unlimited
CWebb11458 wrote:
>
> I am looking for some info on castles, esp. any books that have info on castle
> names and floor plans (please send to my e-mail CWebb11458 at aol.com.)
> Thanx-
> Emily
Check out my website, Castles of Britain, at
http://www.castles-of-britain.com/
We have floorplans etc. in the school projects section. While this
section is intended to help students, the info is the same as would be
available to adults. contact me directly for more info.
Lise Hull
Castles Unlimited
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 08:18:18 -0500
From: Alex Wollangk <orion at mailbag.com>
Subject: RE: SC -cooling Creme' Bastarde
Hmmm....
I'm looking at the CADW (Welsh Historic Monuments) booklet on Caernarfon
and don't see anything that resembles a cooling room such as you
described...
In fact, the entire excerpt about the kitchens is as follows:
"To the west (right) of the King's Gate lies the lower ward. Note the
foundations of the broad wall which was intended to separate the two wards,
and of the buildings which formerly occupied the ward, concealing the lower
parts of the enclosing curtain walls. As you walk down towards the Eagle
Tower you will come first, on your right, to the site of the castle
kitchens, lying between the gatehouse and the Well Tower. The springer of
a great arch and bonding for a cross partition, both built as part of the
curtain wall, show that it was intended to build the whole in stone, but
the slight foundation walls on the courtyard side suggest that, as built,
these kitchens may have been relatively flimsy structures.
To the lift of the range of three rooms are the remains of seatings for
two copper cauldrons, with fireplaces below them. Behind them, in the
thickness of the tower wall, is a cavity which may have been used for
smoking meat. At the bottom of the wall on the right-hand side of this
cavity is a small hole marking the end of a water channel running from a
tank in the Well Tower, and below it is a drain running off to the left.
In the window openings at the back of the range there is the line of a
second channel, still bearing the remains of its lead piping, running from
the tower to a stone sink, now much weathered, mounted in a recess in the
wall about the middle of the range. In the wall below the great stone
springer, on the right, is the small opening for a rubbish disposal shaft
in the wall thickness. The accomodation at the right-hand end of these
apartments was of two storeys; a doorway in the curtain wall opens onto a
stair which served the upper room and the gatehouse."
by Arnold Taylor CBE, DLitt, FBA
(c) Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments
Brunel House, 2 Fitzalan Road, CARDIFF, CF2 1UY
I have also talked to a friend of mine who has been there and to a number
of other castles in north wales including Beaumaris, and he doesn't
remember anything like that.
I also checked the Cadw web site in case something had been discovered
since Jack was there and thus before the booklet he brought back was
published (http://www.castlewales.com/home.html) but I couldn't find
anything there either.
I would be interested to know exactly where you are getting this
information...
Alex Wollangk
(Bran MacDavid would know nothing of this kind of research... Though he
may very well have heard of Caernarfon...)
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 18:07:50 EDT
From: LadyPDC at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC -cooling Creme' Bastarde
orion at mailbag.com writes:
> I also checked the Cadw web site in case something had been discovered
> since Jack was there and thus before the booklet he brought back was
> published (http://www.castlewales.com/home.html) but I couldn't find
> anything there either.
>
> I would be interested to know exactly where you are getting this
> information...
>
> Alex Wollangk
> (Bran MacDavid would know nothing of this kind of research... Though he
> may very well have heard of Caernarfon...)
Ironically, we started in much the same place ... that being the
castlewales.com page. Wonderful site that.
In my case, I had originally wanted to make my pastry castle subtlety
resemble an actual castle as might have been done in that time period. I
chose the Caernarfon Castle because it was the site of the investiture of the
first "Prince of Wales" and many since. I was working on the premise that,
even though the castle was not completed at the time of that investiture, the
cooks would want to present a rather grand subtlety for the occasion and
might want to produce a castle as it would one day be completed.
For that reason, I contacted by email the CADW and the CSG as well as each of
the contributors to the Castle of Wales website to ask them if they could
send me any information on the castle structure and design both what was done
and what was originally planned. I have learned that it never hurts to ask
for information as the worst you can get is a rejection.
Several responded, but one was a very nice lady who sent me a package of
copied materials and a very nice letter saying that she works with
"sobtelties" as well and wanted to give me as much information as possible.
Talk about information overload. The package contained (besides pamphlets
and booklets) copies of architectural studies done at the castle for possible
rebuilding, copies of some of the original designs and copies of studies done
on various components of the castle. Many of the notes and drawings are
handwritten, some in old English and at least one in a foreign language with
a translation.
The section on the cold room caught in my memory as much for the
inconsistencies as for anything else (Fahrenheit rather than Celsius, the
mention of the temp measurements being done with the room closed for 48
hours) as well as the fact that it was separately bound.
I can't give you the exact quotes right now because my husband is also
working on a castle reconstruction project and has taken the box on the road
with him (OTR truck driver) to study. Will be happy to give you the info
when he returns.
However, I can think of several possible reasons that your book and your
friend might have different results than I found:
1. It might be a portion of the castle which was planned but never completed.
2. It might be a portion of the castle which was completed but destroyed in
the sacking in 1646.
3. It might be a portion of the castle which is in an unsafe or unrestored
area and therefore not open or mentioned to the general public.
4. It might be something this lady stuck in the packet which is on the wrong
castle or which was written up by unregulated sources. I admit I only gave
it a quick glance and could have misread or misunderstood something like that
(I am certainly not a professional researcher and the thing has footnotes all
over the place)
Any one of the above is certainly possible and many more besides.
As I said, I will look into it when the box returns and plan to look further
into cooling methods used in period. I will be happy to let you all know
what I find once I have verified all of the information. But please be
patient as besides doing the odd A&S thingie, I also hold down 2 full time
plus jobs and a few other small responsibilities. This research fits into
my small amount of "fun" time and I intend that it remain exactly that ...
fun.
Constance de LaRose
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 10:50:22 CEST
From: "Christina van Tets" <cjvt at hotmail.com>
Subject: SC - period ovens
A couple of weeks ago I was at a krak (crusader castle) which still had the
kitchen pretty much intact. Well, roofless, but it was mostly there. There
were 3 beehive/igloo ovens all in a row, about 3 feet across, and maybe
about 2 1/2 feet high, plus there was a fireplace next to them, just a small
one about 2' square. They were all built into the same wall, and
consequently shared one very wide chimney. There was a large room which
held the mouths of the ovens, and a small room maybe 8' across which held
the hive part of the ovens and the open fireplace and, IIRC, some sort of
bench arrangement. Leaving aside the bench bit (oh dear, I'll just have to
go back and check...), why would there be a small, very hot room for the
open fire? What might it have been used for? The other was specifically
stated to have been the kitchen.
Most of the walls in the krak are about 3 feet thick, and the buildings are
very cool inside, but I still wouldn't want to be in that tiny room in
summer. Winter would be different. Maybe you could use it as a general
yeast-culture room in winter (i.e. beer as well as bread). There are
fireplaces or smokeholes in almost every social room in each krak we've
visited. This place gets cold in winter (well, not like Europe, but it
snows), but summer is a very different story (we're not even into summer
yet, and averaging 40 deg C at present).
Cairistiona
P.S. The castle also boasts a stone bath - huge - you could fit 2 in it
quite easily. Those crusaders...
P.P.S. Also some remains of a smithy. Not much, apart from a tempering
bath.
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2000 00:14:22 -0500
From: "Sally Burnell" <sburnell at raex.com>
To: <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: Re: Michael Crichton and the 14th Century
> Michael Crichton's new book, "Timeline", is partially set in the 14th
> century. On page 236, he states the following, and I am wondering whether he
> is speaking from fact or fancy.
>
> "It was a peculiarity of medieval scholarship in the twentieth century that
> there was not a single contemporary picture that showed what the interior of
> a fourteenth-century castle looked like. Not a painting, or an illuminated
> manuscript image, or a notebook sketch -- there was nothing at all from that
> time. The earliest images of fourteenth-century life had actually been made
> in the fifteenth century, and the interiors -- and food, and costumes -- they
> portrayed were correct for the fifteenth century, not the fourteenth.
Well, now, I would kind of have to take issue with that statement. I read
the book and remember coming to that part as well and wondering, "Gee, just
what the heck does he mean by that? Things could not have changed THAT much
between the 14th and 15th centuries that a 15th c. image would be THAT far
off from a 14th c. image, could it?"
In Folio 2 of "Le Cueur d'Amours Espris" there is a scene in a bedchamber
that one assumes must have been inside a castle of some sort. Granted, this
is a 15th c. French MS. and not a 14th c. one, but still, it does give one
an idea how a Mediaeval room would have been appointed. The bedchamber shown
in the MS. image is that of King René of France, so one assumes this is
inside a castle of some sort.
I'm sure if I dug deeper into more of my books on Illuminated Manuscripts, I
could find other examples.
So on that count, Crichton is wrong. Even though I did love his book.
~Saradwen
Midrealm
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2000 15:21:21 -0500
From: Warren & Meredith Harmon <silveroak at juno.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Michael Crichton and the 14th Century
I don't know what century it's from, but check out pics of England's Eltz
Castle. I have a picture of a bedroom in which the walls and ceiling are
covered in a vine pattern. It's certainly not a Victorian pattern, but I
don't know when it's from! Of course, the book doesn't say....
Time-Life Books, _What Life Was Like in the Age of Chivalry: Medieval
Europe AD 800-1500_, ISBN 0-7835-5451-6.
-Caro
Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2000 16:08:09 +0000
From: Amy Betz <idhunna at hotmail.com>
To: SCA-ARTS at UKANS.EDU
Subject: Crichton/14th c. interiors?
>>>Ingvald wrote:
Michael Crichton's new book, "Timeline", is partially set in the 14th
century. On page 236, he states the following, and I am wondering whether
he is speaking from fact or fancy.
"It was a peculiarity of medieval scholarship in the twentieth century that
there was not a single contemporary picture that showed what the interior of
a fourteenth-century castle looked like. Not a painting, or an illuminated
manuscript image, or a notebook sketch -- there was nothing at all from that
time. The earliest images of fourteenth-century life had actually been made
in the fifteenth century, and the interiors -- and food, and costumes --
they protrayed were correct for the fifteenth century, not the fourteenth.
As a result, no modern scholar knew what furniture was used, how walls were
decorated, or how people dressed and behaved. The absence of information was
so complete that when the apartments of King Edward I were excavated in the
Tower of London, the reconstructed walls had to be left as exposed plaster,
because no one could say what decorations might have been there.
This was also why artists' reconstructions of the fourteenth century tended
to show bleak interiors, rooms with bare walls and few furnishings -- perhaps
a chair, or a chest -- but not much else. The very absense of contemporary
imagery was taken to imply a sparseness to life at that time."
>>>
Whether Michael Crichton writes from fantasy or fact, I cannot answer. I
have no direct images of illuminated manuscripts depicting medieval life.
What I do have is my all time favorite rare book find called, "Chillon, La
Camera Domini, la chambre des comtes et des ducs de savoie" by Albert Naef,
Geneve(1908).
It goes into great details on the architectural structures and the interiors
of Chillon. Chillon was built in a Germanic style on an island on Lake
Geneva in Switzerland approx. late 10th century. The Duke's tower was
added 11th c. and other additions into the 13th c. Ornamentation is depicted
on almost all possible surfaces. Anything that was wood was carved with
decoration; stained glass is in many of the bedroom chamber windows,
andirons in the firplace had womens faces cast on their surface and yes,
there are frescoes painted on many of the walls, ceilings, supports and
fronts of fireplaces. Patterns include checkerboard, chevrons, stripes,
dots or tiny circles,5 petal flowers(like those bathtub decals from the
1970's),triangles on curves, repeats of tiny fleur de lies and/or
crosses,ivy-vine patterns, rose vine patterns with open flowers and buds,
crusader shields around a door frame(or the flag of Switzerland?), fake
doorways, fake stonework, draperyfolds with various patterns, repeat of the
design of ornamental ironwork on doors in a border for a room. Then there
are many room size murals which include animals such as a leopard, a lion,
bulls, bears, a camel, antelope, a griffin and a dragon., all possessing at
least one tree in the design pattern. there is also a man on horseback
killing what looks to be an anteater(?)surrounded by branches of several
types of trees and a diaper pattern of fleur de lies for the sky. Many of
the dates are c. XIII-1346 and some specifically noted additions done in
1587. alas the book is written in French so I have not been able to read
much of it, just what I could decipher.
The book was published in 1908 in black and white with some separate color
plates attached to the pages. I guess it would not be considered a primary
source from the 14th/15th c , but it does gives an infinite amount of
details into the art of the time period.
Idhunna
Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2000 16:03:02 -0500
From: Carol Thomas <scbooks at neca.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Crichton/14th c. interiors?
I asked on the needlework list about wall coverings in the 14th c. Here
are some of the responses:
"Check out _Five Centuries of Tapestry_, Anna G. Bennett, isbn
0-88401-019-8, 1976. This book lists several early tapestries: the
Cloth of St. Gereon (Cologne, 11th c), The Baldishol of Norway (11th to
13th c) and the Halberstadt pieces (12th-13th c). I also believe the
"Nine Heroes" tapestry in the Cloisters is pre-15th century. The
Apocalypse tapestry is also late 14th century. Paris and other towns
were extremely busy producing tapestries for nobility in the 14th c.
Also, try _Gothic Painting_, Dupont and Gnudi, isbn 0-8748-0226-4 1979.
Giotto's "The Annunciation to St Anne", (Fresco, 1304-1306) clearly
shows hanging panels on rods, possibly over a bed. They don't appear to
be embroidered or decorated, merely curtains of white cloth.
Lorenzetti's "Sobac's Dream", (Panel from the Predella of the Carmine
Altarpiece, 1328-1329) also shows white cloth being used to separate a
sleeping area off. This time the cloth has bands of decoration, and
appears to be suspended from a rope stretched between a wall and
pillar. I can't tell from the picture if the decoration is woven or
embroidered. A similar banded curtain is found in Giovanni da Milano's
"The Birth of the Virgin" (fresco, 1365).
There are lots of Books of Hours examples of diapering (Tres Riches
Heures ~1410, etc. That one's late, but it's the only reproduction I
can lay my hand on right now) that show cloths over benches, behind
thrones, making up the backdrop for a dias, over alters and such. I
don't see any illuminations in my quick look-see that mimic a picture or
thematic tapestry such as the ones found in the Five Centuries book."
"Schuette has multiple examples of embroidered tapestry work before the 14thc.
Too multiple to list, most are listed as fragments. Two that are whole are
page 24 "ornamental hanging, flight of eagles belonging to Alexander the
Great South Germany 10th century" conflicting information is
given on the next page for the cushion cover of the same to the first half
of the 12th century page 26 "the creation tapestry, Catalonia, 11th-12th
century" more if you look.
"This is just on the cusp of what you want, but don't forget the c.1400
Italian illumination that's on the cover of Kay Staniland's _Medieval
Craftsmen: Embroiderers_, which shows two embroiderers at work, inside, on
two embroidered hangings. The whole illumination is reproduced on page 27 of
the book."
Carllein
Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2001 00:44:27 -0500
From: rmhowe <MMagnusM at bellsouth.net>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Michael Crichton and the 14th Century
Just so we can end the debate on a rather ridiculous statement:
I took a look in
Masterpieces of Western Art, A history of art in 900 individual
studies From the Gothic to the Present Day, edited by Ingo F. Walther.
Barnes and Noble Books, New York, 2000, ISBN 0760722943, originally
copyright 1995 Benedict Taschen Verlag GmbH, Koln. 760pp..
Michael Crichton should take a look.
Even in this rather large, but admittedly small encompassment in
studies, there are several interiors from the 1300's.
Pietro Lorenzetti's Birth of the Virgin, 1342, from Sienna Cathedral,
tempera on wood, depicts two rooms on a tryptych. In the outer room
on the left are seated Joachim and his companion and a boy.
In the center and right panel are Anna lying on a yellow and black
plaid blanketed head and footboarded bed with a white sheet neatly
folded over at the top, a red embroidered, green tasseled pillow,
on what looks to be another white pillow with gold bordered
embroidery.
On the wall hangs a yellow wall hanging on the left wall and rear.
This is topped by red and black trim beneath a gold embroidered edge.
The ceiling is barrel vaulted with blue field and gold stars, diamond
windows (with muntins) are in the vault ends. There is a pretty chest
below Anna and she is attended by five women, one of whom may be
holding a fancy fan rather like a flag, another two are washing Mary
in a hexagonal decorated bowl, one adding water thereto from a ewer,
another carrying what looks to be a pewter ewer, another carrying a
draped pillow. The floor is a multicolor tiled design of green-gray,
red, black and light yellow design - flowers within diamonds, within
squares, within borders. There appears to be a small throw rug as
well.
There were a couple other interiors as well from the same century.
This was simply the nicest. One is proof of misstatement, right? ;)
I haven't even bothered to look at my Italian Renaissance Interiors
yet.
Magnus
Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 15:35:57 EST
From: <Seton1355 at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: NEW DOOMESDAY BOOK
This just came across my desk. It is a website that is in the process of
calatloging and putting on line all of England's castles etc.
Phillip
http://www.cnn.com/2001/STYLE/design/01/09/capturing.history.ap/index.html
Date: Sat, 23 May 2009 21:44:00 +1000
From: Zebee Johnstone <zebeej at gmail.com>
Subject: [Lochac] google maps: castles and abbeys!
To: "The Shambles, the SCA Lochac mailing list" <lochac at sca.org.au>
http://steventill.com/2009/05/15/google-maps-of-medieval-castles-cathedrals-and-abbeys/
"The following maps pinpoint the locations of medieval castles,
cathedrals, and abbeys in England. You can zoom in for a satellite
view of the structure, or click to read more about each building and
its construction timeline."
Silfren
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 18:48:56 -0700
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Castle in Progress in Burgundy, France
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Sharon Gordon wrote:
> 50 craftsmen plus volunteers. They have been working for 10 years
> and are about 1/3 finished
> http://www.mytelus.com/travel/article.do?pageID=home&;articleID=2369547&lid=hp2
>
> I'm wondering if they will get the kitchens finished as one of the
> early rooms and have cooking demos, or cook lunch for the workers on
> a daily basis.
They've got their own website. After the last US election, my consort
was thinking of leaving the US... i was trying to convince him that
Guedelon was the place to move. But he only speaks English, and was
unwilling to take a chance... sigh.
http://www.guedelon.com/uk/presentation/presentation.php
--
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita
Date: Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:25:00 +1200
From: Lila Richards <lilar at ihug.co.nz>
Subject: [Lochac] [Fwd: [BBC NEWS | UK | England | Kent | King's tower
of 'bling' recreated]
To: "The Shambles, the SCA Lochac mailing list" <lochac at sca.org.au>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/8177387.stm
Great Tower interior
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8177969.stm>;In pictures: Dover
castle
The opulent interiors of King Henry II's Dover Castle have been
recreated by English Heritage in a ?2.45m project lasting two years.
The Kent castle's Great Tower has been brought back to life with almost
psychedelic colour and drama, its restorers said. It reopens on Saturday.
It follows extensive research by a team of historians who worked closely
with artists and craftspeople.
English Heritage said the castle had been a palace of "Versace-esque bling".
It is thought that King Henry II built the Great Tower to assert his
power at a time when the shrine toThomas Becket at Canterbury was
becoming increasingly popular, and Dover had become an important focus
for pilgrimage.
The Archbishop was murdered by followers of the king in 1170.
Following Becket's death, the French king Louis VII made a pilgrimage to
Canterbury in 1179.
Sinech.
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:46:10 +1000
From: Zebee Johnstone <zebeej at gmail.com>
Subject: [Lochac] castles
To: "The Shambles, the SCA Lochac mailing list" <lochac at sca.org.au>
http://www.topcastles.com/ see castles, rate castles..... There's
rather a lot of them still about!
Number 1 is Krak des Chevaliers and number 2 is Carcasonne, neither of
which surprise me. I'm still boggled by how *big* they are, look at
the aerial photo of Carcasonne.
Silfren
<the end>