Sources: books page update

The sources: books additional page of this blog, which you can find here, has been updated and enlarged with a new section on medieval jewellery books.

 

Four rings from the Chalcis treasure dating from 13th-15th century. The Chalcis treasure was buried 

in 1470 in Chalcis, Greece - a Venetian trading post - to save them from the Ottoman Turks. 

The rings are now at the British Museum, London, UK. 

Image from the book 'Intelligible beauty'  (2010) edited by Chris Entwistle and Noël Adams

A chair à tourner from 1383

So far the earliest mentioning of a strycsitten was a 'keerlijs' in a Flemish farmer household inventory from 1384 (thanks to comments by Bertus Brokamp), but now the time can be set even one year earlier. While looking through the book of Penelope Eames (Furniture in England, France and the Netherlands from the twelfth to the fifteenth century) for names of furniture items for the "multilingual medieval furniture dictionary" (see previous blogpost), I discovered a one person strycsitten (i.e. as the one in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam and the Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte in Dordtmund) dating from 1383:

1383: From the Duke of Burgundy’s accounts

“769 … à Thomas de Sombreffe, maistre des muneus euvres de Mgr, pour le bois et façon de 2 chaieres qu’il a faites … du commendement de Mme pour mademoiselle Marguerite, c’est assavoir l’une à tourner et l’autre à laver.”

To Thomas de Sombreffe, master of minor works to the Duke, for the wood and for the making of two chairs … by order of the Duchess for Mlle Marguerite, namely, one chair à tourner and the other for washing.

More images

To end this post, I have some more - 15th century - strycsitten images.

All ages of men with a French type in the background from a French miniature of around 1420.

 A strycsitten in Le livre des bonnes moeurs. J. le grant, 15th century.

 Birth of Maria. Painting of Hans von Kulmbach showing a geman type strycsitten. 16th century.

Image from O. von Falke Deutsche Mobel des Mittelalters und der Renaissance.

 

 This is the bad quality photo of the one-person strycsitten in the Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte 

in Dordtmund, Germany, supposedly dated 1400.

Multilingual medieval furniture dictionary

It is very useful to have the names of medieval furniture items for research (for instance on internet) in several languages. The list below is a first attempt to create a multilingual furniture dictionary for the Middle Ages. As furniture terms were not used very strictly, it is impossible to attach one name to one furniture type. Many names are used for several types. The list includes names used in medieval times as well those used today for these furniture types. The list below is incomplete - I do not have the names of the items in all languages - so any help is highly appreciated (add a comment, I will add to the dictionary).  I have started with medieval seating types (800-1500 AD) and included as well a simple drawing of each type.  

There is one type of chair, which is commonly found in miniatures, and of which some examples exist in musea, where I could not find a specific name. It looks like a half-round chair with a backrest (see drawing).

Medieval seating furniture

Type	Dutch	German	French	Latin	English
Single person
	.	gedrechselte Armstuhl, Rundpfostenstuhl	.	.	turned post seat, turned chair
	krukje	Dreibeinstuhl, Hocker	tabouret	.	3-legged stool, tabouret
	.	Cathedra	.cathèdre	Cathedra	cathedra, boarded chair
	sitten, benckesken, scabellen	Schemel, Brettschemel	escabeau, scabelle, placet	.	stool
	driestael, schemel, stroestoel, stoel mit een matte	(gedrechselte) Dreibeinstuhl	taboulet triangulaire	.	turned chair
	schemel	(gedrechselte) Driebeinstuhl	.	.	turned chair with a backrest
	eenbeenkruk, hutstoel	.	.	.	.
	troon	Thron	trône	Solium	throne
	hoge stoel	Armlehnsessel	chaire à haut dossier	.	high armchair, close chair
	tonstoel, cuypstoel, boedene	.	.	.	.
	.	Hochsitz	.	.	.
	sgabello	Brettschemel	.	Sgabello	boarded chair
	caqueteuse, caquetoire	.	caqueteuse, caquetoire	.	caqueteuse
	stoel met 4 poten, Spaanse stoel	Armlehnsessel, Lehnsessel	chaise, chaise á bras, chaeze	.	chayere, chair, (upholstered), joynid stole, backstool, armchair
	St. Augustinus stoel	.	.	.	St. Augustine's chair
	schemel	Dreibeinstuhl	.	.	.
	plankstoel	.	.	.	boarded chair
	.	.	.	.	.
	boomstoel	Baumsitz	.	.	tree chair
Multiple person seat
	sittenkist	Kastenstuhl, Kastensitz, Truhenbank	archebanc, banc à coffre	.	box chair
	strycsitten, stricsitten, stricksitten, keerlys, bank met omklapleuning	Sidelbank, Bank mit Klapplehne	banc à tournis, banc à tiédir, banc à perche, banc à marchepied	.	.
	banck, banc, bencke	Bank	banc, fourme, bancelle	Formule	form, bench
	vaste bank, nagelveste bank	.	archebanc	.	(wall) settle, fixed bench
	sitten met een hemelte, schermsitten	Langsettel	langsedile, banc à perche	Scamnum	bench, long seat, settle
	koorstoel	Chorgestül, Session, Priesterbank	stalles, fourmes	.	choir stall
Folding chairs
	prekestoel	(kleiner) Scherenstuhl	tabouret pliant, chaeze ployant	.	scissor chair
	vouwstoel	Scherenstuhl	chaeze ployant	.	turned x-chair
	vouwstoel	Faltstuhl, Klappsella	faudesteuil, siège, faulxdesteuil, faus d'esteuil, chayère de fust	Sella curulis, Faldistorium	folding chair, x-chair, faltstool
	vouwstoel	Scherenstuhl	.	Sedia Savoranola	Savoranola chair
	vouwstoel	Scherenstuhl	siège a Dantesca	Sedia Dantesca	Dante chair
	klapstoel	Klappstuhl	chaise à ciseaux, Siège à tenailles	Sedia a tenaglia	high backed folding chair
	.	Faltlehnstuhl	.	Sedia pieghevole	Glastonbury chair, Petrarca chair
	vouwstoel met hoge rug	.	siège à haut dossier	.	.
Seating related furniture
	voetscemmel, voetenbank	Fussbankchen, Stufe	.	.marchepied	footbench, footrest
	voetstoel	.	.	.	footstool

Note: The cathedra, throne, 'Hochsitz', sella curulis and siège à haut dossier are often used as seats of authority for e.g. kings or bishops. The sedia Dantesca, sella curulis and the backstool have leather, straw or cloth seatings.

I have used the following resources to make this list:

• Eames, P.  1977. Furniture in England, France and the Netherlands from the twelfth to the fifteenth century.  Furniture history, Volume XII. 
• Thuis in de Middeleeuwen – het Nederlands burgerinterieur 1400-1535. 1980. Uitgeverij Waanders, Zwolle, the Netherlands.
• Windisch-Graetz, F. 1982. Mobel Europas I – von Romanik bis zum Spatgotik. Klinkhardt & Biermann, Munchen, Germany. 
• Boccador, J. 1988. Le mobilier francais du moyen age a la renaissance. Edition dÁrt Monelle Hayot, St-Just-en-Chaussee, France.
• Chinnery, V. 1979. Oak furniture, the British tradition. Antique collectors club, Woodbridge, UK.
• Blanc, M. 1999. Le mobilier francais – moyen age renaissance. Editeur massin, Paris, France.