A 15th century trestle table from Bruges

Trestle tables were ubiquitous during the Middle ages, however surviving medieval trestles are very rare. I personally now only two places where surviving examples can be found. One in a museum in Paris, France, and the other in the Onze Lieve Vrouwe ter Potterie museum in Bruges, Belgium. This museum used to be a hospital during middle ages and dates from the 13th century. Among the inventory of the museum are late medieval furniture pieces, one being a very large trestle table. We visited the museum during our holiday, and took photos and measurements of the table and trestles.

This image shows the trestle table in the large hall, where it also stands today, but is moved to one of the walls. Image taken from the book "Meubles Flamands anciens" by Valentin Vermeersch.

The enormous oak table blade measures 8.4 m x 84 cm and has a thickness of 5.5 cm. I did a rough calculation on the weight of this table top and came up with a weight of around 270 kg! The table top is dated on one side with M4XXIIII or 1424. The table board is made of one piece of oak, which is enclosed by a frame. The tree for the table board must have been huge. The frame is fixed to the "main" part with dowels, that are only visible from underneath the table board. The frame is also not as long as the "main" part, and consists of two pieces fixed with a dovetail joint.

One of the short sides of the table top shows the date 1424.

 The dovetail joint of the table frame. The main inner part of the table top is one piece of oak.

Underneath the table board, around the edges typical handles can be found. The use of these is unclear to me. they are fixed to the table blade with wooden dowels.

 One of the handles found at the edge of the table top (long side).

 Another handle at the edge of the short side of the table top.

The four oak trestles are undated but originate as well from the 15th century. They are made of stout oak beams; they have to, bearing the weight of the table top in mind. There are small differences between the four trestles in size and in the angles of the legs. I have taken measurements of only one trestle. Rough measurements of one of these trestles were also provided by Mary Ostler / Colleen Vince in a pdf handout (Making a conjecturably accurate table trestle) that can be found in the 'Medieval sawdust' Yahoo newsgroup. While her trestle is smaller in length, the angle is the same.

 Overall view of the trestle.

Side view of the trestle. Dowels can be seen in the top rail and in the single standing legs. Dowels have a diameter of 1.7 cm. You can also see that both the back and front legs have a slight angle..

Front view of the trestle. You can see the dowels in the frame of the table top, 

and (two each side) at the legs at the position of the horizontal rail.

One of the centre braces was broken. This provided an excellent opportunity to see how the brace is fixed. Unfortunately I forgot to measure the depth of the groove. Brace thickness is 1 cm, groove starts at 1.4 cm from the edge.

 

The second trestle missing part of the brace. The back leg is straight (an angle of 90 degrees).

This photo shows the angles of the third trestle. The back leg has a negative angle of around 4 degrees, while the front legs have a positive angle of around 15 degrees (angle from top rail).

The fourth trestle, also with a straight back leg and front legs with a slight angle.

The table board is a bit twisted at the fourth trestle. 

This is remedied by adding a wedge between the top rail and the table top.

You can see at the side view that the size of the top rail is actually larger than the depth of the table board. This is true for this trestle, but not for all. If you look at the photos you can see that the top rail extends behind the table top for some trestles. Measurements in the drawing are in cm.

The current display of the table in the hall of the museum.

Images of Saint Thomas

Kloster Wienhausen (Germany) has a special relation with Saint Thomas, so it is not strange that there are many medieval images of the saint in the convent. Not only the tapestry, but also devotional images on paper, carved statues, etc. Also its neighbour convent Isenhagen did have several portraits of Saint Thomas. Below is a selection of them.

The first scene on the Thomas tapestry with 'doubting' Thomas touching the side wound of the resurrected Christ. 

Scanned image from photo in the book Kloster Wienhausen by Horst Appuhn.

 

The same scene on the inside of the lid of the Holy Sepulchre shrine. The shrine (see below) and the paintings date from the first half of the 15th century, the figure of Christ around 1290. B/W image from photo in the book Kloster Wienhausen by Horst Appuhn; colour image from Drei gefasste Holzsculpturen vom ende des 13. Jahrhunderts in Kloster Wienhausen by B. Hartwieg. Zeitschrift fur Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung, 1988.

 

  

Part of the fresco in the nuns choir of Kloster Wienhausen with Saint Thomas dated around 1335. 

Image from Deutsche inschriften online.

Again the doubting Saint Thomas, on a coloured woodblock print on paper dating from 1440-1450. Such devotional papers with religious images were kept in the prayer books. This paper was found under the choir stalls of the nuns choir in Kloster Wienhausen. Photo scanned from the booklet Der Fund vom Nonnenchor. Kloster Wienhausen band IV by Horst Appuhn.

St. Thomas sculpture in the nuns choir in Kloster Wienhausen with bible and chalice. The image is similar to the last scene on the Thomas tapestry, where the (resurrected) Saint visits the believers during Eastern. The wounds of his death can be seen on his breast and back. 60 cm high. B/W image from photo in the book Kloster Wienhausen by Horst Appuhn.

Saint Thomas in the Maria altar dating from 1515 in the nuns choir in Kloster Isenhagen. The 3.17 m high altar is likely made in (nearby) Braunschweig. Saint Thomas measures approximately 70 cm.

The Saint does not hold any of the known items associated with him, such as the square or the spear.

Saint Thomas at the top of on of the choir stalls in the nuns choir in Kloster Isenhagen. These plates with images of saints and scens from the bible are in fact doors of small mural cabons. They were made around 1610 by a carpenter from Hankensbüttel (the village of the convent) and the painter Hans Gödeke from Walsrode.

St. Thomasteppich visited by St. Thomasguild

The most memorable and impressive event during our visit to Wienhausen (Germany) was the visit to the Thomasteppich or Saint Thomas-tapestry in Kloster Wienhausen. We had made a special appointment with the convent as the tapestries are normally not on display at that time of year (They are in June, during the tapestry weeks). The Thomasteppich is very special for us, as Saint Thomas is the patron saint of our guild, and the tapestry is made in the same decennium as we re-enact: the late 14th century (1370-1380). We were warmly welcomed by the 'konventualinnen' and received answers to our many questions on details of the construction and the tapestry, while our children were kept busy with drawing materials.

The Thomasteppich is a large tapestry, it measures 2.05 by 4.46 meter. The tapestry originally had been even larger, as a small part of the right side and the top has been cut off. Some fragments of the top still remain the depot, which we did not see.

 This image of the Thomasteppich is taken from the blog 'Medieval arts and crafts' and the book Kloster Wienhausen by Horst Appuhn. 1986. ISBN 978-3980131605.
 

Construction of the Thomas tapestry

The tapestry is made in the so-called Klosterstich (cloisterstich, see Racaire's blog for a detailed pdf handout on this technique) embroidered in wool on rough linen. The klosterstich is a very economical embroidery technique: most of the woollen threads are at the front and only a small amount is at the back of the linen. The wool itself is a S-turned thread twined of two two z-turned threads. The embroidered wool completely covers the linen (unlike the Bayeux tapestry). The linen background consists of several bands which were stiched together, when the embroidery of these bands was finished. In the tapestry museum in Wienhausen this stitching can be seen on some other tapestry fragments, were parts of the embroidery have gone.

This type of woollen tapestry was entirely made within the cloister: the design, the drawing of the design on the linen with special ink and the embroidery were all done by the nuns. But also the making of the linen, the spinning and colouring of the wool (the right side of the tapestry shows a spinning nun and one working flax) was done by them. And finally, even the use of the finished tapestry was restricted to the convent. Once finished, re-enforcement bands were stitched to the back of the tapestry, such that it could  hang safely.

More than one nun worked on the embroidery, though it is not known who worked on the Thomasteppich. On some tapestries individual styles can be distinguished, proving that more nuns worked on a piece. Tapestries took several years to embroider, but also the preparatory work took a year.

The colours used in the Thomasteppich are a bit faded, but for a more than 600 year old tapestry they are still bright. The only colour that has suffered through the ages is the black, which is nearly gone due to the oxidation of the iron. This means that there is little detail on the faces, eyes, nor any accents in the folding of the clothes. Colours used for the Thomasteppich are yellow, red, pink, bluegreen, yellowgreen, dark blue, metal blue, brown, dark grown, beige, lila, natural, and black.

Images of klosterstich and the backside of the Bartholomeuslaken from the book by Tanja Kohwagner-Nikolai "per manus sororum.." Niedersachsische Bildstickereien im Klosterstich (1300-1583). Martin Meidenbauer Verlag, 2006. ISBN 978-3-89975-082-9.

Details of the tapestry

The Saint Thomas tapestry describes the life of the apostle Thomas (doubting Thomas) based on the apocryphal book of Thomas, which tale later became included in the Legenda aurea. The scenes are presented in three rows with two rows of text in old-German, which is very similar to old-Dutch, between them (the text is also likely the place where the linen bands are connected). 

The clothing style, except for Thomas and Christ, is like that in the mid/late 14th century. One can notice the hood, the male cotehardies with many buttons and the female cotehardy with streamers hanging from the arms. The important persons, such as the king wear mi-parti hoses. The knight on the horse is wearing a bascinet with a movable visor, a popular helmet at that time.

In the corners of the tapestry were four shields with coats of arms. Two of them are still complete, of the third only remains a part, and the fourth is missing  Coats of arms on these woollen tapestries were often connected with donors or the abbess, prioress or noble ladies in the convent. It is however not clear to whom the heraldic symbols on the Thomas teppich belong. The griffin (black on a yellow shield) has been suggested to belong to the Earl of Wolgast, but the colours are different and the shield is halved. The lion (blue on yellow shield) could represent Luneburg, but the hearts on the yellow background are missing. The black and yellow striped shield could represent the Family Pallandt.

All detail images from the Thomasteppich were scanned from the tapestry image in the book by Pia Wilhelm "Kloster Wienhausen band III - Die Bildteppiche. Starting from top right and continuing clockwise are: the Indian king and his brother wearing a mi-parti hose; two court members wearing buttoned cotehardies and low-hip knightly belts. The person on the right also wears a hood with a long liripipe. The feet of the hose have pointy toes, also becoming more popular during this time; Next, the female playing the musical instrument has streamers; Finally the knight with the bascinet with aventail and 'klappvisor'. 

Use of the tapestry 

The woollen tapestries were used as hangings on walls and as screens to divide rooms (e.g. the church /choir).  Tapestries also served as 'Memoria', items to help to remember - not only the life of the saint  depicted on the tapestry, but also that of the abbess who ordered the tapestry and its embroiderers, for which it served as a way to conquer death. The legend of Thomas on the tapestry does not strictly follow the official Legenda aurea. The last scene is from the legend as told by Hermann von Fritzlar (a 14th century German mystic), where Saint Thomas returns from the death at Eastern to spend the communion with the faithfull.  

The Thomasteppich is connected to the holy blood (Thomas touched the wound in the side of Christ and as such the blood of Christ) and as such to the cult of the "shrine of the holy sepulchre" in Wienhausen. The Thomas tapestry also links with the ritual of the oblatio, the entrance in the cloister, where the nuns became 'brides' to Christ: Saint Thomas converted some maidens to the Christian faith and they decided to live a celibate life, like the nuns of Wienhausen. The angry husbands forced the Saint  to worship at a heathen temple, which resulted in its destruction and the death of Thomas by the sword of the priest (3rd row, 4th scene on the tapestry). All in all this provides plenty opportunity to display and use the tapestry during appropriate Christian rites.  

Dragons are vegetarians

Is the dragon in the lower left corner of the tapestry a vegetarian? If you look at the the decorative dragons on the tapestry they seem to be eating plants! You can clearly distinguish a leave on the stem at which they are gnawing.

Information on the Saint Thomas tapestry was kindly provided by one of the conventualinnen of Kloster Wienhausen,  as well as from the books "Kloster Wienhausen band III - Die Bildteppiche" by Pia Wilhelm and "per manus sororum..." Niedersachische Bildstickereien im Klosterstich (1300-1583) by Tanja Kaohwagner-Nikolai.

Medieval lasagne

To make lasagne take fermented dough and make into as thin a shape as possible. Then divide it into squares of three fingerbreaths per side. Then take salted boiling water and cook those lasagne in it. And when they are fully cooked, add grated cheese. And, if you like, you can also add  good powdered spices and powder them onto them, when they are on the trencher. then put on a layer of lasagne and powder [spices] again; and on top another layer and powder, and continue until the trencher or bowl is full. Then eat them by taking them up with a pointed wooden stick.

(Translated from) Libre de coqina, De lasanis f. 412

14th century medieval lasagne according to the libre de coqina.

Medieval lasagne is quite different from that nowadays, although there are some common features. This recipe is relatively easy to make during a re-enactment weekend; the only prerequisite being a large table to roll out the dough. We have made this lasagne at our last weekend at the historic open air museum in Eindhoven and took photos of the whole process. The final result was a very tasty and satisfying meal for children and adults alike. We fully recommend it to others.

Dough:

3 cups regular flour (no durum flour)

1 cup tepid water

1.5 teaspoon salt

20 gram fresh bakers yeast

Spice mixture:

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (we used already ground)

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Other:

fresh grated Parmesan - we used very old goat cheese instead of the Parmesan

fresh ground black pepper

olive oil

Left: The fermenting dough under a towel in the sun and near the fireplace. 

Right: The dough after 1 hour of fermenting and more than doubling in size.

Dissolve the yeast in a little water and after a few minutes mix it into the flour. Add the rest of the water and the salt to form an elastic dough. Knead the dough for some 10 minutes as you would do for bread. The result should be smooth and reveal tiny holes when you cut it with a knife. Cover the dough with a towel and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour. We placed the bowl with the dough near the camp fire, but not to close.

 Left: Grating the old goat cheese with a knife. Right: Getting the dough out on a well floured table.

Grate the cheese and set aside. Grind and mix the spices in a mortar. Towards the end of the rising time bring a large bowl of well salted water to the boil and add a few drops of (olive) oil to prevent the sheets of lasagne sticking to each other. Preheat a baking or gratin dish by filling it with boiling water, but dry it before use. We used a skillet instead, which was placed on a high-legged trivet above the fire just before boiling the lasagne.

Rolling the dough thinly with a wooden rolling pin.

Left: Cutting the lasagne squares with a knife. Right: The lasagne squares, approximately 5 x 5 cm.

Carefully moving the lasagne squares on the flat of the knife to a wooden board, so they can be taken outside to be boiled.

Knead the dough back into a ball and roll it out to an even thickness of about 2 mm. the dough has a tendency to stick, so the workspace and the roller have to be richly floured. Cut the dough into 5 cm squares. Cook the lasagne in the rapidly boiling water and stir with a spoon or skimmer to prevent them from sticking. They are done when they rise to the surface of the water. This will take 2-3 minutes. They should not taste of flour and should be elastic, but not too soft. 

Top left: The lasagne boiling in salt water. These pieces are ready. Right: Moving the lasagne pieces to the skillet with help of a skimmer. Bottom left: The lasagne layered with cheese and spices in the warm skillet.

Remove the lasagne with a skimmer and place them in the preheated dish. Sprinkle it with grated cheese, a pinch of the spices and some ground black pepper. Add layers of lasagne, cheese and spices, until you run out of lasagne. Finally, end up with the rest of the cheese and spices. Eat them using a pointed wooden stick.
 

Left: The finished lasagne on the table, ready to eat. Right: Eating lasagne using pointed wooden sticks.

Also other medieval cookbooks have recipes for lasagne, that can differ in some part, e.g. the use of meat broth or almond milk to cook it, or the omission of yeast fermentation. One such a recipe is found in the Forme of Cureye, translated and modernised in Pleyn Delit - medieval cookery for modern cooks by C.B. Hieatt, B. Hosington and S. Butler, ISBN 08020-06787. The recipe above can also be found (nr. 6) in the modern medieval cookbook: The medieval kitchen - recipes from France and Italy by O. Redon, F. Sabbon and S. Serventi, ISBN 0226706850.

14th century armoires from the Luneburger convents

As already mentioned, the convents around the Luneburger moor (Germany) contain an amazing amount of medieval furniture. This post shows many examples of the armoires (Schranke in German) that are present in Kloster Isenhagen and Kloster Wienhausen. Both convents are well worth a visit if you are interested in medieval furniture, but also if you are interested in tapestries or embroidery, or daily medieval life.

The armoires (from Isenhagen) presented here are numbered by me. They mostly date from the mid to late 14th century. Details from the same armoire have the same number. Of course the armoires all have "official numbers", but only for one armoire I know this number.

Armoire number 1. A so-called kufenschrank. It is medium sized has one door, the lock is positioned behind the door, only the hole for the key and a small plate can be seen.

Three kufenschranken standing next to each other (numbered from left to right 2, 3, 4). They are of approximately the same height (man size ~1.80 m). 

Armoire 2 was interesting because the door was open and you could get near enough to see all the details. 

The hinges of the door are relatively small for the large door.

The bottom of armoire 2 has a simple decoration.

The kufen of armoire 2 have been adjusted to the back of the wall. They only extend at the front of the armoire, and have a simple decoration (top photo). The photo on the right shows the side of armoire 2.

The top of the armoire 2 is constructed with a finger joint.

Another image of the top of armoire 2. The decorative board is added/ nailed to the main construction of the armoire.

Armoire 2 opened. The three shelves are also quite thick and nailed with dowels to the construction.

The modern addition on the door to close armoire 2.

Armoires 3 (left) and 4 (right). You can count the dowels on the side of armoire 3 to find out that there are 4 shelves. For armoire 4 there is at least one, at the site of the 2 doors, likely there are two extra shelves..

 

The bottom of armoire 4. Even the kufen need an extra wedge to be stable.

 This large armoire 5 does not stand on kufen but directly on the boards the armoire is made of, i.e. a hutch-like construction. It has a double doors and three shelves.

The top door of armoire 5. There is a second key hole above the large lock plate.

The hallway on the first floor with a large number of armoires standing in niches. You can easily make size comparisons between the armoires.

This gabled armoire (6) is one of the top furniture attractions from Kloster Isenhagen. It is made of oak and its measures are: height 263 cm; width 98.5 cm and depth 50 cm (Official number Is Ba 56).

Decorations along the gable. Note also the construction dowels. The decorations have a floral design and look if they once were coloured. One of the top pins in the right photo is split, perhaps due to a wedge.

 Lock and the pull ring for the door of armoire 6

 The kufen and the simple bottom decoration of armoire 6.

This two-doored armoire (no 7.) is also standing on kufen. Looking at the placement of the dowels, it has three shelves. For size comparison, my son of 5 years old is standing next to the armoire (the length of his T-shirt of the next-door otter-centre is 40 cm). The armoire has an approximate height of 150 cm and a width around 70 cm.

The bottom board of armoire 7 has some simple sawn out decoration. 

Also the kufen only have a simple curves as decoration.

 The top of armoire 7 is crenelated, some have been broken.

Another two-doored armoire (8), of approximately the same height as the previous one.

 From the front no dowel marks are visible that indicate the number of shelves.

The left side of armoire 8, also here no clue for the number of shelves.

The kufen of armoire 8 (below) have a broad base, becoming stepwise smaller. It looks like the back board of the armoire is as long as the armoire plus the kufen. This is remarkab;le and could indicate that it originally was not a kufenschrank.

 

Armoire 9 is directlly standing on its side boards and has some simple decorations. The size would be approximately 120 cm high and 70 cm width.There is a curious insert in the door, as if it once had been open with a grid. That would mean it had been an aumbry and used in the kitchen or as food storage.

 The decorative board has just been nailed to the top of armoire 9.

The side of armoire 9 showing that it is standing on the side boards.

Armoire 10 is perhaps the most simple of all the armoires. No decoration, and the kufen are square blocks of wood. The size is approximately the same as the previous armoire. This armoire has two shelves.

The bottom of armoire 10 with the kufen.

 The following armoires are from Kloster Wienhausen. I have scanned some black and white photos from the book Schrank - Butze - Bett vom mittelalter bis ins 20. Jahrhundert am Beispiel der Luneburger Heide by Thorsten Albrecht (ISBN 3935590-02-4), as photography was (sadly) not allowed within Kloster Wienhausen.

One of the hallways in Kloster Wienhausen (in 1998) with chests and armoires on both sides of the corridor. 

On the right at the end several lecterns or writing desks can be seen.

Two lecterns / writing desks standing on kufen, the left of around 1500, the one on the right from the first half of the 16th century. The writing desks are painted blue, with a grey-white pattern on it. A small door opens to a cupboard for books.

the lectern on the left (Wien Ae 1) is 144.5 cm high, 81/89.5 cm wide and 50 cm deep and made of oak. The lectern on the right (Wien Ae 2) is 165.5 cm high, 85/90.5 cm wide and 50.5 cm deep and made of pine.

Wien Ba 1 (left). A single doored armoire standing on its side boards. The lower hinge has been repaired. This 14th century armoire is undecorated with a simple construction of oak. Height 152 cm, width 55.5 cm and depth 39 cm. 14th century.


Wien Ba 10 (right). A large armoire with two doors and fine wrought ironwork. In between the two doors is a small drawer. The armoire stands directly on the sideboards, like a boarded chest. Made of oak around 1500. Height 197.5 cm, width 99.5 cm and depth 53 cm.

Wien Ba 11 (left). A large armoire with four doors standing on kufen. It has chip carved decorations on the top and bottom boards. Made of oak, dating from the 14th century. Height 203 cm, width 177 and depth 63 cm.

Wien Ba 14 (right). This is a small gabled armoire, standing on its side boards. It is made of oak and decorated with round ornaments. 14th century.  Height 147.5 cm, width 44.5 cm and 28 cm deep.

Wien Ba 25 (left). A small armoire standing on kufen of the early 15th century. Made of oak. 109 cm high, 74 cm wide, 66 cm door width and 35 cm deep. 

Wien Ba 34 (right). An armoire built in the hutch-style. Oak, second half of the 14th century. The top board of the armoire is crenelated. 129 cm high, 74 cm wide and 35 cm deep.

Wien Ba 35. The 'Majestas Domini' armoire with two doors and a central stile. The armoire is painted with large stars, Majestas Domini and Deesis portraits on the doors. The armoire has three shelves which are nailed with dowels to the side boards and is crenelated at the top. It dates from around 1320-1330 and is made of maple. 157 cm high, 117 cm wide and 56 cm deep.

Wien Ba 28. An armoire with a double door standing in the Agnes hall in kloster Wienhausen. The doors are highly ornate with circular chip carved rosettes. It is dated around 1259 and made of quarter-sawn oak, showing a nice grain with ray flecks. Height 196 cm, width 120 cm and 48/51.5 cm deep.