DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6911#0111
DOMESTIC, OR CIVIL ARCHITECTURE.
79
wood. The houses which he denominates " cuneatae," and which were the most
general, were covered, he says, " corticibus betulae, vel tegulis, vel fissilibus scan-
dulis e pino, vel abiete, vel quercu, vel fago confectis ;" " but with some of these
materials," he informs us, "a double row of clods of earth was occasionally inter-
mixed, between which were scattered barley, or oats, with the view of their
affording some produce for cattle in case of a siege. The windows of the houses
were frequently placed in the roofs; and were formed of pitched cloth, or, which
is somewhat extraordinary, of glass."* Such, we have reason to believe, was
the general class of dwellings among the Anglo-Saxons, for some time after their
settlement in this Island. Even the higher orders of persons had certainly very
poor accommodations. Indeed, if we could place any confidence in the accounts
that have been transmitted to us by Bede, Alcuin, and the other monkish
romance-writers, miscalled historians, we should conclude that the people were
wholly indifferent to, or disregarded, domestic conveniencies and comforts. The
lower classes were degraded, and kept in vassalage by their superiors: their
thinking faculties were trammelled by the monks, and these again were almost
solely absorbed in superstitious ceremonies. Credulity, fanaticism, and tyranny
characterised the public and private acts of the Anglo-Saxons for a long period of
time after their settlement in Britain. Bede gives a strange and improbable
account of a monastery, city, or cell,f which St. Cuthbert built for himself in
the Island of Fame, on the coast of Northumberland, and which is described
to have been composed of stones—(some as large as four men could move)—
turf, timber, and thatch. It was not till nearly the end of the seventh century,
that glass was used in the windows : and then it was introduced only into some
of the finest churches. Paulinus, who was Bishop of York, and lived at the
beginning of the seventh century, built a stone church at York, and closed its
windows with linen cloth and latticed wood-work. Benedict Biscop, a Christian
Saxon, Wilfrid, Bishop of York, and Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, all
living about the middle of the seventh century, respectively visited Home and
* "Disquisitions," by Dr. Savers, second edit. 8vo. 1808.
f Gough, in the Britannia, Vol. III. p. 744, edit. 1798, calls it a city; some writers denominate it a
monastery, and others say that the Bishop retired to a lonely desolate island, where he constructed a hermitage,
or cell, for himself to live in solitude, and hermitical seclusion. The many absurd and truly ridiculous stories that
are related concerning "the holy St. Cuthbert," and the times in which he lived, are calculated to excite a disbelief
of the whole; excepting as they may serve to demonstrate the credulity of the writers, and portray a melancholy
picture of the illiteracy and superstition of the people.
79
wood. The houses which he denominates " cuneatae," and which were the most
general, were covered, he says, " corticibus betulae, vel tegulis, vel fissilibus scan-
dulis e pino, vel abiete, vel quercu, vel fago confectis ;" " but with some of these
materials," he informs us, "a double row of clods of earth was occasionally inter-
mixed, between which were scattered barley, or oats, with the view of their
affording some produce for cattle in case of a siege. The windows of the houses
were frequently placed in the roofs; and were formed of pitched cloth, or, which
is somewhat extraordinary, of glass."* Such, we have reason to believe, was
the general class of dwellings among the Anglo-Saxons, for some time after their
settlement in this Island. Even the higher orders of persons had certainly very
poor accommodations. Indeed, if we could place any confidence in the accounts
that have been transmitted to us by Bede, Alcuin, and the other monkish
romance-writers, miscalled historians, we should conclude that the people were
wholly indifferent to, or disregarded, domestic conveniencies and comforts. The
lower classes were degraded, and kept in vassalage by their superiors: their
thinking faculties were trammelled by the monks, and these again were almost
solely absorbed in superstitious ceremonies. Credulity, fanaticism, and tyranny
characterised the public and private acts of the Anglo-Saxons for a long period of
time after their settlement in Britain. Bede gives a strange and improbable
account of a monastery, city, or cell,f which St. Cuthbert built for himself in
the Island of Fame, on the coast of Northumberland, and which is described
to have been composed of stones—(some as large as four men could move)—
turf, timber, and thatch. It was not till nearly the end of the seventh century,
that glass was used in the windows : and then it was introduced only into some
of the finest churches. Paulinus, who was Bishop of York, and lived at the
beginning of the seventh century, built a stone church at York, and closed its
windows with linen cloth and latticed wood-work. Benedict Biscop, a Christian
Saxon, Wilfrid, Bishop of York, and Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, all
living about the middle of the seventh century, respectively visited Home and
* "Disquisitions," by Dr. Savers, second edit. 8vo. 1808.
f Gough, in the Britannia, Vol. III. p. 744, edit. 1798, calls it a city; some writers denominate it a
monastery, and others say that the Bishop retired to a lonely desolate island, where he constructed a hermitage,
or cell, for himself to live in solitude, and hermitical seclusion. The many absurd and truly ridiculous stories that
are related concerning "the holy St. Cuthbert," and the times in which he lived, are calculated to excite a disbelief
of the whole; excepting as they may serve to demonstrate the credulity of the writers, and portray a melancholy
picture of the illiteracy and superstition of the people.