medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
[log in to unmask] wrote:
>The warmth derived from tapestries as insulation will of presumably
depend on the size of the church and the number of people in it at a
given time.
yes.
and the effect in a "cathedral" sized building would be zit, even if the
walls were covered with layers of the things and it was chock full of folks
exercizing vigorously.
carpeting and tapestring the walls (and entranceways) of a small crypt or
chapel *might* have a noticable effect, if there were enough warm bodies to
radiate and breath some heat into the space, and this was augmented by the use
of, say, charcoal braziers. curtians and tapestries would also have the
effect of keeping down draughts, which, while not actually changing the
absolute abiant temprature, would go a long way towards the *perception* of a
warmer space, as even the slightest breeze on bare skin can be quite chilling
in winter.
and, curtains are to be seen as an integral part of sacred spaces, from
Carolingian mss to the Mass of St. Giles.
interesting to note that an *huge* central heating plant was installed under
the North transept at Chartres at the beginning of the last
century. it makes a quite respectable amount of obnoxious noise when it kicks
in from time to time, and one *can* almost get warm if one stands directly
*on* the large heating duct grill when it is running and stomps one's feet and
waves one's arms vigorously enough. providing one is also well dressed and
buttoned up.
other than that, the effect is quite negliable at pavement level; though i'm
told that, after it's been on a while, it is somewhat warmer at the triforium
level and that the warm air at the clerestory level causes considerable
condensation of (dusty) water on the glass.
the ancien Gardien, M. Dubarge, told me his theory that the heating plant
operating over decades depositing such dirty water on their surfaces was thus
responsible for a great deal of the obscuration of the upper windows and that
just gently cleaning them with a little "eau claire" would have
a quite marvelous effect.
but, of course, none of the over-educated elites in the Monuments Alcoholiques
would think of paying the slightest attention to some
peasant working stiff in a blue uniform, no matter that he did have 35 years
in rather careful observation of the cathedral. (he also had a quite
extensive collection of moulages of masons marks taken from all
over the building which, as far as i know, have been "lost" since his
retirement in the mid-80's.)
funny, i can remember being in a lot of cold churches, but not once a
warm one, even on the hotest summer's day. they are, after all, just
above-ground caves...
best from here,
christopher
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