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ROOM HEATING IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE MODERN PERIOD (Ogrzewanie wnetrz mieszkalnych w sredniowieczu i czasach nowozytnych)

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Dabrowska M.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

2008

vol. 56

issue 3-4

305-324

In the early Middle Ages the inhabitants of Polish territories heated their homes with open furnaces or, rarely, with domed stoves. The 13th c. saw novelties imported from Western Europe - fireplaces and hypocausts. The earliest fireplaces are known from the thirteenth-century palace of Henry the Bearded in Legnica and from the seat of the bishops of Wroclaw at Ostrów Tumski. The hypocaust came to Poland with the Cistercian monks. It originated from the ancient Roman system used to heat baths. In the Middle Ages the underfloor heating system was based on two-chamber furnaces; in the lower chamber wood was burnt, while the upper one, filled with stones, absorbed the heat. The oldest Polish examples of hypocaust were found in the Cistercian monastery in Sulejów, while extended systems of furnaces and pipes are known from Teutonic Order castles. Tile stoves came into use later, in the 14th c. In the oldest stoves tiles were shaped like vessels; they were fixed with the bottom facing the interior of the stove. Such stoves did not have internal channels; the heat from the furnace went up into the chimney draft, heating the sides of the stove. Since the mid 15th c. flat tiles began to be used in stove construction; their faces formed the outside of the stove. Tiles were ornamented, so the stove became an element of interior decoration. Between the 14th and the 18th c. the shape, decoration and construction of stoves changed significantly. The shape and decoration were subject to the current fashion and style in architecture. Changes in the construction of stoves were aimed at maximizing heat efficiency. In the 17th c. the changes consisted mainly in thickening the sides of the stove, which increased the heat-accumulating mass but also the consumption of fuel. In the 18th c. it was believed that thinner stove sides guaranteed better heat efficiency. Eighteenth-century building manuals recommended constructing stoves with internal compartments which were supposed to slow down the flow of combustion products and to prolong the heating of the sides of the stove; they also stressed that it was necessary to save fuel. Fireplaces, which were widespread, did not change so much; only the decoration was adjusted to the current style. Fewest changes can be observed in the construction of hypocausts; it seems however, that since the 16th c. this method of heating was rarely applied, probably because it required a lot of fuel to be effective.

OLD AGE RIDICULED, OR PHYLLIS RIDING ARISTOTLE (Starosc osmieszona, czyli Filis na Arystotelesie)

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Dabrowska M.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

2010

vol. 58

issue 1

143-152

In the rich ornamentation of Gothic and Renaissance tiles it is difficult to find motifs which depict old age in a simple and direct way, illustrating features such as wisdom or experience, for which mature people should be valued. The same concerns arts. It is easier to find pictures which ridicule the weaknesses of old age. A good example is the mediaeval tale of Phyllis and Aristotle, a story of the old philosopher courting the young mistress of Alexander the Great. To achieve his aim, Aristotle had to allow Phyllis to ride him like a horse. This comic scene, which ridicules the aged philosopher, was often explored by artists and craftsmen; it was depicted in sculptures and pictures, as well as on tapestries and tiles. Tiles with this motif were found in the castles in Inowlódz (1st half of 16th c.) and Spytkowice (1st quarter of 16th c.), in Banska Stiavnica in Slovakia (15th c.), and in Bern in Switzerland (2nd half of 15th c.). With time the tale became an exemplum used by preachers to warn against the sin of debauchery, personified by the woman.

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2 Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

2 Dabrowska M.

1 2010

1 2008

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ROOM HEATING IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE MODERN PERIOD (Ogrzewanie wnetrz mieszkalnych w sredniowieczu i czasach nowozytnych)

OLD AGE RIDICULED, OR PHYLLIS RIDING ARISTOTLE (Starosc osmieszona, czyli Filis na Arystotelesie)