On Roman Remains Recently Discovered at Headington near Oxford

Plans to redisplay the Bayeux Tapestry raise anew the questions as to where and how it was originally intended to be displayed. Analysis of the linen fabric provides new insights into the tapestry’s design and manufacture, and enables its original length to be calculated. Re-examination of the (largely destroyed) 11th-century cathedral at Bayeux and of its liturgical layout demonstrates that the tapestry would have fitted neatly into the nave west of the choir screen. Its narrative falls into three discrete sections that reflect the way in which it would have been hung within the building, and the arrangement of the scenes takes account of the uneven bay-spacings of the nave arcades and the positions of the doorways. It can therefore be concluded that the tapestry was designed for a particular location within the nave of Bayeux cathedral. The cathedral’s liturgical traditions shed light on the way in which the tapestry would have been viewed in the Middle Ages, and the wider implications for the way in which it could and should be viewed today are briefly considered.     

Application of Particle Motion Technique to Structural Modal Identification of Heritage Buildings

Determining the behavior of a structure estimated by means of finite elements analysis requires not only an in-depth knowledge of its geometry and dynamic properties but also an experimental validation to corroborate the adequacy of the characteristics of the structure. Most of the current structural identification techniques are based on linear methods that call for many measurement points and/or a relative simple structure. Complex structures are somewhat still an unexplored field due to the difficulties with the finite element method and the experimental corroboration of its results. This study presents the use of particle motion computation applied to each structural vibration mode to improve the identification of its dynamic properties, and its application to the Gothic Cathedral of Palma de Majorca (Spain).     

Obituary Notice

Abstract

St Vitus’s Cathedral, founded in 1344, is a prime example of 14th-century cathedral Gothic, a product of the cooperation between the ingenious architect Peter Parler and his patron, Emperor Charles IV. The unusual layout consisted of a pair of choirs set side by side in the eastern section of the cathedral, an arrangement inspired by the earlier Romanesque double-choir basilica. One was dedicated to St Vitus and was used by the canons, the other to the Virgin Mary and operated by the mansionars. The royal and imperial necropolis was placed in the latter of the two choirs, with Charles IV’s tomb-chest protected by a sculptured canopy and surrounded by the cenotaphs of deceased family members and later kings and queens. The form of two choirs is probably the result of an extensive rearrangement of the earlier project completed in the 1350s, when initial plans to locate the royal burial ground in the canons’ choir were abandoned. The main choir contained a tabernacle of remarkable design, dating from c. 1365. There may originally have been plans for a third choir to be built around the tomb of St Adalbert located in the middle of the nave, the work on which was initiated in 1392.     

Diverse Strains: Music and Religion in Dickens's Edwin Drood

Music in Dickens's final and unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, shares in the lethargy affecting traditional English community. That life has become stagnant in Cloisterham, the ancient city in which the novel is set, is nowhere more evident than in the desultory choral worship offered in its cathedral. Yet the unevenness of Dickens's writing in Edwin Drood does not make for consistency, and discrepancies in plotting extend to the musical occupations of its protagonists. By considering Edwin Drood alongside the shifting fortunes of choral music in Victorian Britain, this article focuses on what such discrepancies reveal about Dickens's notion of the place of religion in social renewal. Habitual forms of life in Cloisterham, such as the choral service of its cathedral, are being overwhelmed by marginal presences, arriving from the imperial East, but they may also give voice to a future revival. Something of the changeability in Dickens's feeling for established religion can be glimpsed in this duality.     

‘The face of the one who is making for Jerusalem’: The Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral and Joy1

This paper examines the Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral (c. 1256–80) from the perspective of two interrelated concepts: the heavenly Jerusalem and joy. Building on previous scholarly discussions of the choir’s unusual creativity and profusion of organic and iconographic decoration, it traces connections between the choir and the rich corpus of writing on the joys of the heavenly Jerusalem. In juxtaposition with the hagiography of St Hugh, this opens a valuable seam of meaning and offers a possible explanation for the choir’s decorative intensity. It also reveals a number of ways, previously unnoted, in which Hugh of Avalon and his spirituality are recalled by the choir built to house his relics.     

A Multidisciplinary Strategy for the Inspection of Historical Metallic Tie-Rods: The Milan Cathedral Case Study

A reliable assessment of historical metallic tie-rods requires both the estimation of actual tensile load and the identification of dominant defects. Despite high defectiveness resulting from traditional metalworking techniques, so far the latter aspect has not been duly addressed in the literature. In this article, several methodologies are discussed aimed at integrating the usual inspection practice. All studies were performed on the tie-rods of Milan Cathedral. Metallurgical analyses allowed to recognize the main features of the material. Mechanical characterization in the perspective of Elasto-Plastic Fracture Mechanics (EPFM) indicated the conditions for crack propagation. Several Non-Destructive Techniques (NDTs) commonly used in Mechanical Engineering (i.e., guided waves, eddy currents, pulsed active thermography) were examined and adapted to this unconventional application. Based on the combination of all the mentioned methods, a multidisciplinary procedure was defined, which allows the evaluation of the crack significance with reference to the estimated working stress.     

Cathedral of Milan: Structural History of the Load-Bearing System

The structure of the Cathedral of Milan is studied. The features of the building and the original aspects of its load-bearing system are discussed. The progressive development of the structural system is described following its historical phases through four centuries. The final configuration is then analyzed with its main load paths. Detailed information, collected during the 20th century restoration work, was used to determine the geometry and loads. Preliminary analyses are based on equilibrium principles, within the framework of limit analysis for masonry constructions. The main structural restoration works taking place during the life of the Cathedral of Milan are outlined. The results provide a basis for the verification of more detailed numerical analyses and a reference for restoration interventions. Furthermore, the introductory analyses presented here develop the knowledge for future studies devoted to the Cathedral of Milan, encompassing structural, construction, and architectural issues.     

The Tudor Speakers 1485–1601: Choosing,Status, Work*

During the Tudor period the Speaker was nominated by the crown. The house of commons acquiesced with the crown's nomination, but not entirely passively. There is a body of evidence suggesting that the crown's nominee became the focus of disapprobation once his name became known. What hostility there was to the Speaker-designate from the mid 16th century was displayed to better effect outside the House than within.     

Iron-57 Mössbauer spectral studies of medieval stained glass

⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectral data for six excavated and two simulated medieval stained glass samples are reported. Iron-containing precipitates are observed in the two simulated medieval glasses and are responsible for the amber colour of these samples. The ferrous/ferric ratio of the other samples is dependent on the glass composition and glass making conditions. The green glasses are associated with the presence of both ferrous and ferric iron, the ratio being very similar in three of the glasses studied, while in the purple and emerald green glasses the iron which is constitutionally incorporated in the glass is solely in the ferric oxidation state. The UVvisible spectra of some of the glasses are used to assist in interpretation of the colourant action of iron, and the role of Mössbauer spectroscopy in linking separate glass fragments with a common source is also indicated.