CAPITULARE DE VILLIS
The Capitulare de villis,[81]
an ordinance formerly assumed
to have been drawn up in 794 or 795 by the young Louis
the Pious in order to correct certain abuses that had
arisen in the administration of the royal estates of Aquitania,
is now believed to have been issued by Charlemagne
shortly before 800 as a directive to the entire empire
(except Italy) in part to curtail mismanagement, in part to
set a program for the future. Among the seventy-odd
articles of which it is comprised, there are some that refer
to architecture. They read like a description of some of the
guest and service structures of the Plan of St. Gall, and
exhibit with vivid distinctness the basic similarity of the
architectural layout of a secular and a monastic Carolingian
manor. In fact, being laid down for the specific purpose of
defining what buildings are considered to be indispensable
components of a royal estate, they form literary counterparts
to the agricultural service structures of the Plan of
St. Gall. While providing us with a comprehensive picture
of the diversity of buildings associated with Carolingian
crown estates, they unfortunately do not tell us anything
about their design or construction.
I am extracting from these articles whatever appears to
have a bearing on architecture, without regard to the order
in which this material appears in the original.
Article 27 prescribes: "At all times our houses [casae
nostrae] shall be provided with fireplaces and fire[?]guards
[foca et wactas habeant] so that they do not suffer any
damage."[82]
Article 42 specifies the household equipment of the
royal supply room (camera). It stipulates that it be provided
at all times with its full complement of bedding,
tableware, cutlery, cooking equipment, and all other kind
of utensils, so that one will never be in need of sending for
them or borrowing them from outside. It contains nothing
further that would shed any light on the layout of the
royal mansion itself.[83]
Article 41 provides, "that the buildings in our estates
[intra curtes nostras], and the surrounding fences [sepes] be
well guarded and that the stables [stabulae], the kitchens
[coquinae], the bakehouse [pistrina], and the presses [torcularia]
be planned with care, so that our men [ministeriales
nostri] can perform their functions properly and with
cleanliness."[84]
[ILLUSTRATION]
289.A HOUSE OF THE LEX BAJUVARIORUM. 8TH CENTURY
PERSPECTIVE WITH ROOFING REMOVED, SHOWING STRUCTURAL SCHEME
AUTHOR'S INTERPRETATION
The relative severity of the penalties imposed by the Lex Bajuvariorum to compensate a householder for willful damage done to his dwelling
(see fig. 289.B) is clearly related to the size and structural importance of the particular timber involved. The preoccupation of the text with
penalties for "pulling down" house timbers presumes that in general the overall framework of the typical house was sufficiently light, and its
key timbers sufficiently accessible, to make this mode of revenge an attractive nuisance.
Timbered early medieval houses with a central row of posts supporting the ridge parlins have, since this chapter was written, appeared in
excavations in Manching and Kirchheim, near Munich (see Schubert, Germania, L (1972), 110ff, and Dannheimer, IBID., L1 (1973), 168ff.
For sporadic Bronze and Iron Age antecedents see Zippelius, 1953, 19, fig. 2; Reinerth, I, 1940, 16, fig. 4b; Pl. 6 opposite p. 26; 28, fig. 7;
139, figs. 60-62; 198, fig. 85.)
I am not aware of the existence of any Central European Bronze and Iron Age houses with three parallel rows of roof-supporting posts. The
connection of the house of the Lex Bajuvariorum with those of the Banded Pottery People suggested in fig. 289.X must therefore be treated
with caution.
In West and North Germanic territory, houses with a row of center posts for carrying ridge purlins are a great rarity. Notable exceptions are
the two Iron Age houses of Wijchen, shown below, figs. 300 and 301.
Article 23 prescribes: "Our superintendents shall see to
it that each of our estates be provided with its dairy
[vaccaritia], its piggery [porcaritia], its facilities for raising
sheep [berbicaritia], its facilities for raising goats [capraritias],
and its facilities for raising billy goats [hircaritias];
and of all this they shall have as much as they can handle;
and none of our estates shall be without these installations."[85]
Article 46 prescribes, "that the enclosures for animals
commonly referred to as brogli lucos nostros, quos vulgus
brogilos vocat be well guarded, and always kept in good
repair, and that one should not wait until it is necessary to
rebuild them anew; and the same applies to all of the buildings."[86]
Article 50 prescribes, that each superintendent determine
the number of chickens that should be kept in each stable
(stabulo) and the number of caretakers to be stationed with
them. (In Article 19 it had already been established "that
not less than 100 chickens and 30 geese shall be kept in the
barns of our main estates [ad scuras nostras in villis capitaneis]
and not less than 50 chickens and 12 chickens and
12 geese in our outlying settlements [ad mansioles].")[87]
Article 45 prescribes, "that each of our superintendents
see to it that he have skillful craftsmen [artifices] in his
district [in suo ministerio], that is: blacksmiths [fabros ferrarios],
goldsmiths [aurifices], silversmiths [argentarios], shoemakers
[sutores], lathe workers [tornatores], carpenters [carpentarios],
shieldmakers [scutarios], fishermen [piscatores],
falconers [
aucipites id est ancellatores], soapmakers [
saponarios],
brewers [
siceratores], that is, those who know how to
make beer [
cerevisam], apple cider [
pomatium], pear cider
[
piratium], and any other kind of drink; the bakers [
pistores],
who make pastry for our table, the netmakers
[
retiatores] who know the art of making nets for the hunt,
as well as for fishing and for the catching of birds; and all
such other craftsmen [
reliquos ministeriales] which it would
be too long to enumerate."
[88]
