Woodworking tools in medieval Italy, part 2

A lucky coincidence for medieval woodworkers is that that the bible contains some stories on building, e.g. Noah's ark and the tower of Babel, or the construction of the cross. Furthermore there are several Saints that met a gruesome death with a woodworking tool (Simon with a saw, Matthew with a axe). It is no surprise that some of these scenes were popular as well in fresco cycles in Italy. Previous post showed the building of Noah's ark in the Camposanto in Pisa. Noah's ark was also painted on walls of some other Italian churches.

Florence (Firenze), Santa Maria Novella

 

The front of the Basilica Santa Maria Novella in Firenze.

The Santa Maria Novella is a church of the Dominican order connected to a large cloister complex, some parts with very lovely medieval frescoes. Church building began in the 13th century and was consecrated in 1420. In the 16th century and later in the 19th century the church was remodelled. The medieval fresco showing the building of Noah's ark, however, is detached from its original wall in the green cloister and now hanging in the museum inside the complex. The damaged fresco was painted by someone in the circle of Paolo Uccello, a Florentine painter and mathematician, around 1430.

Inside the museum, the fresco containing the building of Noah's ark from around 1430.

 A two-handed large plane, with the typical Italian open handles.

 A detail from the fresco: an auger being used.

San Gimignano, Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assuntais

 

Many frescoes and even more tourists in the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assuntais in San Gimignano.

 

San Gimignano, the medieval city with its many towers; a lovely place, but swarming with too many tourists - one was me. The Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assuntais located in the main square of the town and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Romanesque style church dates largely from the 12th and 13th century, but with parts added in the next centuries. The church is most famous for its largely intact scheme of fresco decoration, the greater part of which dates from the 14th century. The wall of the left aisle had six decorated bays with frescoes containing stories from the old testament that are the work of Bartolo di Fredi, and were completed around 1356. One of these is that of Noah and his family building the ark.

 

 

Noah building the ark by Bartolo di Fredi around 1356.

On the roof are three people busy with clawhammers and an auger.

 Below several axes and adzes are being used.

A man using the plane is offered a drink.

 

From the wall on the other side of the church, Christ bearing the cross, 

and another one bearing a clawhammer and nails.

Siena, Palazzo Pubblico

The Palazzo Pubblico in Sienna with preparations for the palio race.

The Palazzo Pubblico is Siena's  medieval administrative building on the main square of  the city where also the horse races take place. It was built in the 13th and 14th century, and the large bell tower contains a 14th century mechanical clock. Nearly every major room in the palace contains frescoes. The medieval frescoes on the walls inside the building were meant to impress the visitor of the power and goodness of the city. Two frescoes containing woodworking tools - the allegories of good and bad government - by Ambrogio Lorenzetti can be found in the Sala della Pace.

Part of the allegory of good government fresco in the Palazzo Pubblico.

The Allegory of Good Government contains a large plane with the name 'Concordia' on it.  The plane is a typical example of the Italian medieval planes, but also unusual as the wedge holding the iron seems to consist of two separate wedges. Could it be that one wedge serves as a chip-breaker? In the allegory of Bad Government a large frame saw can be seen.

The concordia plane contains a typical double wedge.

Part of the allegory of bad government frescoin the Palazzo Pubblico.

A large frame saw being used on something unknown.

Some more frescoes

Below are two more frescoes containing scenes from building Noah's Ark from elsewhere in Italy (and not visited by me). It is likely that many more of these frescoes with woodworking tools are hidden in other not so famous medieval churches in Italy.

Basilica of San Francesco, Assisi, Italy, upper vault, 

painted between 1288-1300, likely by Giotto. Image from internet.

 Fresco from the vault of stairs of the Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Palatio, Rome, Italy  

by Baldassare Croce (1558 - 1628). Image from internet.

Woodworking tools in medieval Italy, part 1

Information on medieval woodworking tools usually comes from four sources: archaeological finds, mention of it in written sources (like wills, payments for work, or guild regulations), tool marks left on surviving pieces of wood or furniture, and art (manuscript illuminations, paintings, sculpture) showing the woodworking trade. While I do not know of archaeological finds of medieval tools in Italy, and am unable to read - for example - the 13th century woodworkers guild regulations of Bologna, something on medieval woodworking toolmarks on Italian altar pieces has been written by N.E. Muller in 'The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association'. There they also discuss a specific fresco in the Camposanto in Pisa, depicting the construction of Noah's ark. In this fresco many scenes of woodworking are depicted and it has something that makes it especially interesting.

Guild regulations of the carpenters of Bologna, 1270. Archivio di Stato di Bologna. Image scanned from an  art encyclopedia on the 14th century by Sandra Baragli.

Fresco painting

In short, a fresco is a wall painting. This type of wall decoration was used in churches, castles and other buildings throughout Europe and through different time periods. It is thought that the shortage of available mosaic artists has led to the creation of this alternative, the fresco. The fresco had the additional advantage that it was relatively cheap to make, and that it lasted longer. In northern Europe, church reformation has whitewashed and eradicated almost all frescos; though some are now uncovered during restoration work. Italy remained catholic, and as such, frescos can be found everywhere. 

How a medieval fresco was made is clearly described in section III of 'Il Libro dell'Arte', a 15th century treatise on the art of painting by Cennino Cennini, a painter from Firenze (Florence).

'In the name of the Most Holy Trinity I wish to start you on painting. begin, in the first place, with working on a wall; and for that I will teach you, step by step, the method which you should follow.

When you want to work on a wall, which is the most agreeable and impressive kind of work, first of all get some lime and some sand, each of them well sifted....'

The lime and sand were mixed with water to make a plaster, which was left to cool down for some days. Then the wall was wetted thoroughly, after which the first plaster layer (the arriccio) was put on, creating a rough and uneven surface. When this layer was dry, a raster of charcoal lines was made by snapping lines (similar as was done on wood to create lines for sawing planks) against the wall. Then, the scene and figures were sketched onto the wall with either charcoal or very thin red ochre (the sinopia). After that, the painter had to know how much he could work in a day, plastering only that much of the wall with a second layer of mortar (the intonaco). This layer had to be very smooth. The painting was then made on the wet plaster with pigments dissolved in water ('in fresco') which absorbed/adhered to the plaster. Each day a new part (a giornate) was plastered and painted until the complete wall was covered. The artist started at the top of the fresco and worked over the days to finish at the bottom. The different working days still can be recognised (see Figure).

The number show the order of the giornata on consecutive days, starting at the top right.
 Image scanned from the book 'Art in renaissance Italy' by Evelyn Welch.

Then, the details were added on the dry painting ('in secco') using pigments in tempera (egg yellow) or oil. Also colours from pigments that did not dissolve in water were used in secco. After this the fresco was finished and could last for many centuries.

These sinopia in red ochre from the Camposanto frescoes already show very much detail on the rough plaster.

The Camposanto in Pisa

The inner court of the camposanto in Pisa with the galleries containing the frescoes.

The Camposanto in Pisa is a large, oblong Gothic cloister which functioned as a cemetery. Building began in 1278, however in 1464 the complex was finally completed. It is situated in the Piazza dei Miracoli, where also the duomo and the famous leaning tower are found. The outside wall is composed of blind arches with two doorways allowing the entrance to the inner court with its galleries containing the fresco cycles and most of the tombs. The cemetery has three chapels, one of which is chapel Dal Pozzo, named after the archbishop who commissioned it. In this chapel the relics of the Cathedral are found, among them relics of eleven of the twelve Apostles. Guess which Apostle is missing ... (you can find the answer at the bottom of this post)

 

A detail of the sinopia of a Camposanto fresco in the Museum of the Sinopie, Pisa.

The walls of the galleries are covered in frescoes; the first was painted in 1360, the last about three centuries later. During the following centuries the frescoes began to degrade to the particular climatic conditions of the building (exposed to open air). In 1806, Carlo Lasinio, master engraver at the Accedemia di Belle Arti di Firenze, visited the Camposanto. Impressed by the frescos, he decided to portray each scene and also to record their state of conservation; at this time the degradation of the frescoes was already very advanced. Lasinio made 40 etchings, collected in a volume entitled Pitture a fresco del Campo Santo di Pisa, of which the first edition was published in 1812.

 A restorator at work in the Camposanto, August 2018.

During the second world war, another misfortune befell the Camposanto. On 27 July 1944, a bomb fragment from an Allied raid started a fire, which could not be put out in time. The roof was destroyed, severely damaging everything inside the cemetery, including the frescoes. After World War II, restoration work started. The frescoes were separated from the walls to be restored and displayed elsewhere. With the frescoes removed, the underlying preliminary drawings, the sinopia, became visible. These, in turn, were also removed. Today, most frescoes have been restored and transferred back to their original locations in the Camposanto.

Building Noah's Ark 

 

The restored fresco of Noah's ark in the Camposanto, Pisa, Italy.

The fresco of building of Noah's ark in the north gallery was painted by Piero di Puccio at the end of the 14th century. Of this fresco we now have three versions: the original fresco, the preliminary sketches (the sinopia), and the 19th century coloured engraving by Carlo Lasinio. The first has been restored to its original place in the Camposanto, while the last two can be seen in the Museo delle Sinopie on the other side of the Piazza dei Miracoli.

The sinopia do not give a clear overall view of the Building of Noah's ark, some parts are very shady, where others show more detail. I only took photos of parts that showed most details. The sinopia of the sawyers is interesting: here the artist was not satisfied by the placement of the top sawyer and sketched a second one at a higher position.








The top sawyer appears twice in the sinopia.

Noah's ark as depicted in the engraving by Carlo Lasinio, 1806.

Also the coloured engravings by Carlo Lasinio are a bit different: while the drawings are quite accurate, the colours are sometimes curious. This is especially evident by the toolbasket: Lasinio shows many tools in metallic blue (for instance the mallet), while the fresco shows them in brownish colours. Brown is certainly more logical for a (wooden) mallet. I think that Lasinio was not familiar with woodworking tools and that he coloured them as he thought they were.  But also the colours of some of the clothes differ.






The basket with with the woodworking tools. The mallet and the two-handed plane have brownish - wooden - colours.


Two men are busy snapping straight chalk lines on a wooden beam.

The sawyers are not using a pit or a scaffold, but a trestle, which was still used in the early 20th century in China.

The large plane is used on a low working bench, consisting of a felled tree that is split in half with four legs added. One end of the workbench shows a gap in the middle; it is possible that this is used to hold pieces of wood (wedged) upright. A second workbench is used as seat by a workman busy with a collared adze. This type of adze was/is common in southern Europe.

Beside Noah stands a man drilling a hole in the wooden frame with an auger. Directly next to him another man drives an iron nail into the wood with a hammer, probably a clawhammer as seen in the tool basket.

Of course, Noah's ark is a popular theme that appears on frescoes in other places as well. The next post will show some more medieval frescoes containing woodworking tools.

Sources:

• Muller, N.E.,  1993. Some medieval Italian tools and techniques. The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association, volume 46, issue 4, page 99-108.
• S. Roettgen, 1996. Italian Frescos. The early renaissance 1400-1470. Abbeville Press, NY, USA.
• Cennino Cennini, 15th century [1933/1960]. The craftsman's Handbook - Il Libro dell'Arte. Translation by D.V. Thompson. Dover Publications, New York, USA.
• E. Welch, 1997. Art in renaissance Italy 1350-1500. Oxford University Press. 

The missing Apostle is Saint Thomas, the patron saint of our re-enactment group.

A medieval carpenters inventory from Deventer

Sometimes you find something in a book that you have overlooked, or because it is placed in a chapter that did not directly arouse your interest (due to lack of images). Such was also the case with me for the book Huusraet (household items in Burgundian time) by B. Dubbe, a well illustrated book exept for the last chapter. The end of the book also contain some household inventories, but another inventory was hidden in a meagre paragraph on tools and goods in the last chapter. It contained part of an inventory of a carpenter/joiner that lived in 1461 in the Corte Bisschopsstrate in Deventer, the Netherlands.

 A map of the city of Deventer from 1652. The Corte Bisschopsstraat is indicated by the red arrow and dot.

The following items are on the list:

• Twieschavebancke (2 shaving horses)
• II lange schave (2(long) try planes)
• III korte [schave] (3 short (block) planes
• II ploech ende een heft-schaiffken (two ploughs and a plane with a toat)
• III beytell (3 chisels)
• I spadeken (in this context most likely a billhook)
• een deel kortelinge van wagenschate (short pieces of oaken planks)
• I scuppe (a spade or a spud?)
• II lyemtangen (2 clamps)
• I timmerbensken (workbench, likely a small one)
• I krebber (scraper)
• I negeliveetken mit negelen (something that holds nails)
• I stoter (mallet)
• I lyemblock (block of glue, likely hide glue)

Interesting in the list is the mention of two ploughs. I have not seen this type of plane mentioned before in a medieval context! Also interesting is the mention of clamps and the glue, and the scraper. These tools are not often mentioned in inventories. A clamp implies the use of a screwing system What I do miss from this inventory are saws and braces.

'Kortelinge' are short ('kort') pieces, while 'wagenschate' (or 'wagenschot') are oaken planks, imported from eastern Europe that were either split or sawn along the length of the log. These short pieces of oak could have serve very well for panels in frame and panel constructions of late medieval furniture.

Medieval and later woodworkers inventories

Medieval house inventories (of deceased or banished inhabitants) and wills can give an insight in what people owned or valued. It also gives a good indication how much of certain items are in the house or the workshop. In the case of inventories often prices are given how much value (groups of) items have. However the information in these wills and inventories should be treated with care. That items are not mentioned does not mean that they did not exist in the house. It could be that they were considered worthless - for instance wooden items that could easily be made by the household members themselves.

Several wills and inventories have been found of medieval woodworkers, but they seem to be rather scarce. I have found two dating from the fifteenth century. They become more common during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Below, for comparison, also a few wills/inventories from these periods are shown. The images are from the Hausbucher of the Mendelschen and Landauersche Zwölfbrüderstiftung.

Jan Heynemanszone

1422. Inventory of Jan Heynemanszone from Helle (near Sluys), wheelwright (In old Dutch).  

Wouter Coolman, Jacop Wychaerde, Jan de Weghe ende Jan Poppe, hebben ghedaen arresteren tgoed bleven naer Jan Heynemanszone, die ghevloon es. Eerst 2 haexen, 1 bochude, 1 diesele, eene baerge, 2 scaven, 11 hanghen, 3 snimessen, 2 yserine staven, 1 cloofmes, 2 spikerboren, 1 handtzaghe, 1 kerfzaghe, 2 grouf haken, 2 ketels, 11 avegheers, 4 wetsteene, 1 groot spikerboore, 3 vilen. 

(Rijksarchief te Brugge, Belgium, Brugse Vrije, Register van Verbanden 1421/1460, nr. 16.937, f.4, printed in Frida van Tyghem 'Op en rond een middeleeuwse bouwwerf' ).

Translated from old Dutch the woodworking items would be:

•  2 Axes
•  1 Bochude?
•  1 Adze
•  1 Baerge?
•  2 Planes
•  11 Hanghen?
•  3 Carving knives
•  2 Iron staves
•  1 Froe
•  2 Braces
•  1 Hand saw
•  1 Small (tenon) saw
•  2 Grouf haken? (large hook = holdfast? or square?)
•  2 Kettles (for glue?)
•  11 Augers
•  4 Whetting stones
•  1 Large brace (breast auger?)
•  3 Files

There are several items of which I do not know what tools they are like the bearge and the bochude.

Thomas Vyell

Woodworking tools were handed down from father to son with other possessions. The following is a copy of the will of Thomas Vyell, of Ixworth in Suffolk, of 1472:

Radulph Penteney al’ Sporyer de Ixworth 1402
Lego ad vsum gilde S’c’i John i’s Bapt’e in Ixworth. Iij s iiij d.

Thomas Vyell 1472.

In die no’i’e. Amen. I Thomas Vyell of Ixworth the yeld’, the xj day of the moneth of October, ye yeer of oure lord m’cccclxxij of very sad and hoole mynd and good avysemente, make myn testament in this wyse. Fyrst I beqweth and bytake myn sowle to almyghty god, to yet blessed lady and to all the Seyntes of heven, and myn body to be beryd in the parysh cherche of Ixworth be for sayd befor the auter of Seynt James. Also I beqweth to the heych awter there ijs. Also I beqweth to ye stepyll of the same cherche vj marcs. Also I beqweth to ye pryor of Ixworth ijs, to the Suppryour xxd. Also th Sire Edmund Stowe xxd, to eu’y chanon preste ther xijd and to eche movyse vj. Also 1 beqweth to the newe freers of Thetford to a trentall xs. and to the same hows ijbs of whette and a combe of malte. Also I beqweth to the holde hows of the same town to a trentall sx. Also the sreets of Babwell to a trentall Ns. Also I beqweth myn mass hyngfatte to ye gylde of Seynt Thomas, so that myn wyffe and John my brother have the kepyng thereof ther lyve. Also I beqwethe and assigne to myn beforeseyd wyffe alle the ostylments of myn howssold.  Also I beqwethe to Thomas myn sone, myn splytyng saw, myn brood axe, a luggyng belte, a ffellyng belte, a twybyll, a sqwer, a  morteys wymbyll, a foote wymbyll, a drawte wymbyll, a compas, and hande sawe,a kytting sawe. Also I geve and beqwethe to Thomas myn sone myn place that I dwelle jn wt. all the purtenance and to his heyers wt. owtyn ende, and yeffe he deye wt. owtyn heyers the seyde place to remayne wt. the purtenance to John myn sone, and to his heyers wt. owtyn ende. So that myn beforeseyde wyfe have the seyde place wt. the purtenances outo the tyme myn assyned ever be of age to meynteyne it by him selffe. As I gave and beqwethe to Crystyan myn wyffe by forsey myn place wt. the purtenances that was John Knotts for terme of her lyffe, and aft her decesse to remayn to John myn sone to his heyers and assignes wt. owtyn ende. But yeffe it happe the seyde John to Hereryte myn other above seyd place, thanne I wolde and assigne that place wyche John Knotts hadde be solde and dysposyd for myn and for myn frendes sowly, to execucion for this myn laste wylle and testaments. I make and ordeyn befor seyde wyffe and John Vyell myn brother.

(Bury and West Suffolk Archaeological Institute and Suffolk Institute Archaeology, Vol. I, p. 108 reprinted in H. Cescinsky and E.R. Gribble 'Early English Furniture and Woodwork'). His woodworking possessions were:

• A rip-saw with large teeth
• A broad axe
• An adze
• A felling axe
• A twybyll
• A try square
• An auger or a brace for boring holes
• A large auger
• An auger with a guide for accurate boring
• A compass or divider
• A hand-saw
• A cross-cut saw>

Very interesting is that the carpenter is named Thomas, as is his son and that he bestows his mass to the Guild of Saint Thomas - likely the same patron saint as our woodworkers guild..

Cornelius Eversen

This is an inventory of tools left by an Essex joiner at his death in 1592. Although he is an Essex joiner, the name sounds very Dutch. It is known that many Dutch and Flemish joiners worked in the United Kingdom in these days and influenced the style of the 'Britsh oak furniture'. 

• 15 Joiners planes of divers woods
• 2 Jointers
• 2 Foreplanes
• 1 Smoothing plane
• 4 Squares
• 1 Mitre square
• 1 Adze
• 1 Hatchet
• 1 Handsaw
• 1 Frame Saw
• 1 Hammer
• 2 Holdfasts
• 2 Gauges
• One brace and 5 bits for the same
• 3 Files
• 2 Broad pairing chisels
• 3 Mortise chisels
• 3 Small Flemish chisels (perhaps this also point to the Flemish origin of the joiner?)
• 1 Gouge
• 3 Ripping chisels
• 1 Line rowle with the line upon it (chalk line)
• 2 Staples or bank hooks (bench dogs)
• 2 Rules of two foot apiece
• 3 Mallets
• 2 Spare planing irons

From the Newsletter of the Tool and Trades History Society 47, pp. 41–43, and found on internet.

John Thorp of Plymouth

The tools of joiner John Thorpe of Plymouth, died 1633, mentioned in his inventory included:

1 Great gouge, 1 square, one hatchet, One Square, 1 short 2 handsaw, A broade Axe, An holdfast, A handsaw, 3 broade chisels, 2 gouges & 2 narrow chisels, 3 Augers, Inch @ 1/2, 1 great auger, inboring plaines, 1 Joynter plaine, 1 foreplaine, A smoothing plaine, 1 halferound plaine, An addes, a felling axe. 

From C.H. Simmons 'Plymouth Colony records: wills and inventories', printed in Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee 'Make a joint stool from a tree - an introduction to 17th century joinery'.  

In total there are:

•  3 Gouges, of which one large

•  2 Squares
•  1 Hatchet
•  A short handsaw
•  3 Handsaws
•  5 Chisels, of which 2 narrow
•  A broad or side axe
•  A holdfast
•  4 Augers of which one large one
•  Moulding planes
•  Jackplane
•  Smoothing plane
•  Round plane
•  An adze
•  A felling axe

Missing from this list are braces and tools like dividers and measurement tools.

William Carpenter senior 

William Carpenter passed away in Plymouth in 1659. Among the items he had listed in his estate were the following tools. They were given a specific worth as well.

Smale tools att 10s; one axe and a peece of Iron att 7s; a foot and an old axe att 1s; one old axe...; the Lave and turning tools att 13s; 3 Crosscut saws 15s; smale working tooles 12s; smale saws 8s; an adds and 2 turning tooles att 6s; three Joynters 3 hand plaines one fore plain 10s; one bucse a long borrer one great gouge 10s; Rabbeting plaines and hollowing plaines and one plow att 1 pound 3 Drawing knives att 7s; 2 spokeshaves att 3s; Chisells a gouge and a hammer and a Round shave att 19s; 2 adds att 8s; one vise ... 2 beetles...; a grindstone 15s; 2 axes att 6s

Summing up, his tools consisted of:

• 5 Axes
• A foot?
• A lathe and turning tools 
• 3 Crosscut saws
• Several small tools
• Small saws
• 3 Adzes
• 3 Jointer planes
• 2 Hand planes
• A fore plane
• A buck saw
• An auger
• A large gouge
• Rabbet planes
• Hollow and round planes
• A plow (plane)
• 3 Draw knives
• 2 Spoke shaves
• Chisels
• A hammer
• A gouge
• A vice
• 2 Beetles (ringed mauls)
• A grindstone

From C.H. Simmons 'Plymouth Colony records: wills and inventories', printed in Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee 'Make a joint stool from a tree - an introduction to 17th century joinery'. 

Joseph Carpenter

An Inventory of the goods and Cattle of Ioseph Carpenter of Rehoboth deceased (1675), exhibited to the Court held att Plymouth the 2cond of Nouember on the oath taken by those whose hands are heervnto. 

Item a Grindstone 00 16 00
Item 500 foot of board 01 10 00
Item spoaks and timber for work 00 05 00
Item 2 broad axes 00 15 00
Item 4 [------] axes 00 15 00
Item a Croscutt saw and a hand saw 00 10 00
Item 2 adds 00 10 00 (adzes)
Item a sledge 00 08 00   (for carrying logs out of the woods)
Item a frow and a hold fast 00 05 06
Item 2 [-----] Ringes & 4 w[ --- ]s 00 10 00
Item 2 hatchetts 00 05 00
Item a viz 00 02 00  (a vice)
Item a spoke shav and Gripers 00 05 00
Item a paire of Chissels and a Gouge 00 05 00
Item a paire of doggs 00 04 00 (bench dogs)
Item a [-]arre and screw & bow[ -- ] and turning tools 00 16 00 (bow lathe with turning tools)
Item plowes plaines & a Ioynter 01 05 00
Item 2 paire of Mallett Ringes 00 03 00 (rings for a maul)
Item a Great Ioynter 00 05 00
Item a [ - ] are screw and turning points 01 04 00
Item a square and spokeshaue 00 06 00
Item a Coopers adds and drawing kniffe & a rond shaue 00 09 00
Item a Round shaue [no value given]
Item 2 bursses 1 Great Gouge 00 18 00
Item Ringe and stapl & foot 00 04 00
Item 5 augers 3 wrybitts 01 01 00
Item 3 paire of pincers 00 04 06 (braces)
Item 2 paire of plyers 00 03 00
3 files 00 03 00
Item 3 plaine Irons 00 02 06
Item smale tools 00 07 00
Item wimble bittls & a sett 00 04 06
Item seiring Irons 00 03 00
Item Calking Chissels & Cold Chissells 00 02 00
Item 2 smale saues & a scribe 00 04 00
Item a hammer and a markeing tool 00 02 00
Item more smale tools 00 01 00
Item a maderell 00 01 06  (is this a woodworking tool? a mandrel lathe?)
Item a brake 00 05 00
Item red occur and Glew 00 01 00
Item smale nailes for wheeles 00 01 00
Item a burning Iron 00 01 00
Item a Coller 00 03 00 (is this a woodworking tool?)
Item 2 paire of Compassas & prickers 00 02 06 (compasses and awls)
Item smale moulds 00 00 06
Item workeing benches 00 05 00

This man was, next to his occupation as a carpenter, also a farmer owning a cider press. The list contained numerous other items, unrelated to woodworking, which I left out. Some items were very unclear to me and left in, as they might be woodworking tools. The worth of the items is given in pounds, shillings and pence after the mentioned items. From the Plymouth Colony Wills 3(2):33-36, found on internet at the Plymouth colony archive project.

Making wooden pattens

Writing about making pattens was quite out-of-place at the moment I started working on this post. Last week, it was very hot in the Netherlands, but now it is soaking wet outside: an ideal patten-weather ... Rain is destructive for medieval leather shoes: water stretches the leather and loosens the stitching. Water is transported through the soles, making the feet clammy and cold, and prone to foot diseases. Mud makes your shoes dirty and slippery. The medieval solution was to use wooden pattens (trippen in Dutch) as a protective layer between the ground and the shoe. This really is a fantastic invention that works very well and we all are happy to have one pair in case it rains. We did buy them (at the Gelderse Roos), but my son, who just had his first pair of shoes this year did not have them yet.

My sons shoes and pattens, both on 14th century patterns.

We did find a log of poplar in the Genniper Parc, next to the Historic Open Air Museum Eindhoven, which was a splendid opportunity to try to make his pair of pattens ourselves. We did have some patterns for period pattens in the books "Stepping through time" by Olaf Goublitz and "Shoes and pattens. Medieval finds from excavations in London 2" by Francis Grew and Margrethe de Neergaard. The process of making the pattens is illustrated in photos below, though I must confess that at the stage of leather-working my mind was solely thinking on the construction and I forgot to make photos of the different steps.

Bram is removing the bark with a draw-knife. The log is fixed to another log  with a dog to keep it stable. 

When you have a log, you start with the removal of the bark. One way to do it is with a large draw-knife. This is a very slow process as we discovered. Another method is to use a bark-spud or barking iron, a chisel like tool mounted on a long pole. This tool already existed in medieval times (see excavated ones from Novgorod, Russia) and luckily for us one was available at the historic open air museum as well. The bark-spud removed the bark very fast and efficiently.  

  The bark spud iron smoothly slices the bark from the log.

Bram using the bark spud.

Two barking irons from Novgorod, both dating from the 14th-15th century. The size and form are exactly like the modern (forged) bark spud. In the book 'Wood use in medieval Novgorod' they are however classified as adzes, which I think is incorrect. 

Next, the debarked log had to be sawn in two in order to split it easily. Also, for the pattens only half the log was necessary. We used our two-handed saw on a museum saw-horse, which was at the wrong height for us, making sawing a slow process as most of the energy was wasted. In the end, my son finished the job. One half of the log was split afterwards using a froe.

I am sawing with the log with the two-handed saw. The sawing horse is too high to use the saw efficiently.

The reward for sawing is waiting for me, and the job finished.

The form of the patten was marked on the shoe and roughly sawn with a frame-saw. Then the shape of the patten was cut on a shaving horse with a draw-knife and smoothed with a spoke shave. In the end, we did have two shaped wooden soles for the pattens.

Bram with the draw-knife on the shaving horse, working on a patten of a quarter of the log. 

On the right three other sets of pattens.

(Left) The finished wooden soles from beneath.(Right) The finished wooden soles from above.

The next step was to make the leather straps. In the book shoes and pattens, a nice 14th century leather pattern was shown, which was more elaborate than the leather on our own pattens. I had to scale up the pattern and try and fit it (using duc tape) on the wooden soles with the shoes. This also gave a good idea where the leather straps had to be nailed to the sole. The leather was cut with a sharp knife and holes where punched for the nails. Also a back-strap for the heel was added. This provides a more comfortable way of walking with the pattens.

The 14th century pattern and attachment to the sole. Many leather patten straps were decorated with stamps, stripes or stitchings, as shown here. Our leather proved unsuitable for such decorations.

 












(Left) The leather parts flattened out. (Right) Nails for attaching the two leather strap parts. 
Two are needed for each patten.

Nails are used to hold the two parts of the front leather together. By adding extra punch holes the size for the shoe can be adjusted. The nail heads were flattened with a file, to prevent damage to the leather or accidentally pulling the nail out and the patten loose.

The finished pattens. You can still see the pencil markings on the wooden sole where the leather should be fixed. 

Finally the shoes and pattens complete. (Left) From the front. (Right) From above.