The fundamental principle behind toichology is observation. We can look for consistency in order to determine which portions of a building were constructed at the same time, or we can look for anomalies in order to find breaks in construction and changes in design concept. Usually, common sense will allow us to determine which portions of a building came before or after others, and this in turn allows us to develop a relative chronology. Further study of details and carving styles allows us to narrow the dating of those portions, and in the end we should be able to arrive at a convincing chronology of construction for any given building. On this page we present initial observations and speculate about the likely implications for chronology.

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Project E - Choir Choir Alignment The choir is not aligned with the nave, being one degree different. The choir is aligned with the crypt, and is centered on it. Implications The new choir seems to follow the alignment of the crypt, and therefore the choir of the original church, while the nave seems to follow the line of the presumed original nave. Like the church of Saint-Sauveur at Melun, the original church at Etampes had a slight misalignment between the nave and the choir, and retained it with the renovation.

Project E - Choir Shafts Out of Alignment The shafts of the westernmost piers, those that have been appended to the east side of the drum piers of the nave, are not on the same line as the remainder of the choir shafts. (arrows in the photo) Implications If our suspicions are correct that the nave originally comprised three bays, then the freestanding piers at the east needed to have some support from the east side to sustain the loads exerted by the arcade and clerestory. We have restored two timber struts to serve as buttresses on the centerlines of the drum piers. Because these struts could not be removed until the forces were countered by the arches of the choir, they would have interfered with the positioning of the new shafts for the choir. As such, the new shafts were offset toward the interior, avoiding the struts but creating a misalignment of the high arches above.

Project E - Choir Future Plans One of the bases of the choir piers shows evidence of an original scheme for the spaces adjacent to the choir. Implications It seems unreasonable to believe that the choir piers were designed and installed with only the choir in mind, and that the exterior sides of the choir piers would be left completely blank. On one of the south piers of the choir, on the exterior side, the later accretions have been damaged, and the core of the pier on this side has been exposed. It appears that a singular shaft matching that on the interior side was intended, and probably installed, but all other evidence of these has been covered by later shafting.

Project E - Choir Peculiar Ashlar and Detailing On the east face of the northern of the two piers just noted above, there are several anomalies that all appear to be related to the existence of the temporary struts noted above. Implications First, the stonework of the base of the pier is coursed together up to a short horizontal molding. We suggest this was at the bottom of the timber strut. The shafting continues up along the south side of the strut, but in the center of the pier the ashlar is a jumble of irregular pieces of stone. We suggest this was infill placed after the strut was finally removed. At the top of this zone there are two corbels, which may have been placed just above the struts in order to provide seating for the choir arch. On the south side of the choir the tidying up was cleaner than on the north, indicating that the trial-and-error solutions that are found on the north were resolved and implemented more cleanly on the south.

Project E - Choir Blocked Openings There are some openings in the apse that have been blocked in. Implications On either side of the apse there is a large opening resembling a window, and a smaller oculus above. These have been filled in. It seems reasonable to conclude that originally, the chapels that were planned for either side of the apse were not as deep as they are now, and would not have interfered with these openings. When these chapels were redesigned, they covered these openings, and so they were filled in.

Project E - Choir A Trace of the Original Design? There is a vertical strip of cut ashlar in the middle of the rubble wall which forms the north face of the north side of the apse. Implications There is no logical explanation for this ashlar strip unless it was intended to be the start of the east wall of a side chapel. It was abandoned after the chapels were redesigned.

Project E - Choir Mismatched Windows On the east wall of the apse, the upper windows are of a different design than the lower ones. Implications If the conclusions above are correct, then it may be that the closing off of the side windows of the apse decreased the lighting in that area to such a degree that whatever was originally above the lower windows, perhaps an oculus, needed to be replaced with a larger set of windows.

Project E - Choir Different Coursing The coursing of the upper part of the east wall is not consistent with the coursing of the corner shafts adjacent. However, the walls on the west sides of these corner shafts are coursed with the shafts. Implications The lower part of the east wall is coursed with the shafts, and the north and south walls of the apse are coursed with these shafts to their full height. They all represent contemporary work. The only variance is in the upper part of the east wall. This suggests that this entire section of wall with the new openings was built at a later date than the rest of the apse, and built against the piers that were retained at the corners. There is no reason to conclude that these corner shafts, and their capitals, were raised at any point.

Project E - Choir Different Coursing It is also the case that on the exterior the zone of upper windows and the adjacent buttresses are also coursed differently. Implications The lack of consistent coursing on both the interior and the exterior is a clear indicator that the upper wall including the new windows was constructed at a different time between the surrounding masonry. As such, there is no reason to believe that the corner piers and corner buttresses are not contemporary with the rest of the choir.

Project E - Choir Odd Capitals and Imposts The capitals and imposts of the choir are a jumbled assortment that do not all seem to have been made for their current purpose. Implications The capitals and imposts on the cardinal shafts (north, south, east, west) of the choir appear more consistent than those on the diagonals. These diagonals are such a jumbled mess that they seem to be an afterthought. Our suspicion is that the choir was not intended to be vaulted with rib vaults from the start, and that when the decision to do so was made, it necessitated more substantial seating for the diagonal ribs. Capitals were quickly rounded up or fabricated to accommodate this, and the oddly oversized imposts were an attempt to provide the substantial seating they thought would be necessary for the new ribs.

Project E - Choir Unfinished Capitals All four of the capitals framing the north and south entrances from the main choir into the north and south choirs are unfinished. Implications This remains puzzling. One might suggest that these capitals were installed in a hurry, before they were finished, but all four capitals, half-finished? The finished side faces the choir in every instance. Even if there was no clear plan about what was going to happen to the north and south of the main choir, to leave the capitals unfinished on one side seems imprudent. Did the carvers believe they would be covered up on the back side?

Project E - Choir More Odd Capitals There are capitals at about mid-height of the western piers of the choir. Implications These capitals remain enigmatic. They may have been intended to support a rood beam, separating the canons' choir from the nave. If so, the scheme was abandoned fairly early. The profiles of the shafts above the capitals differ from those below, and the capitals at the top of these shafts are consistent with the latest work in the building, the south transept.

Project E - Choir Vaulting The rib vaulting of the choir is likely original, but not the intended original solution. Implications The presence of shafting on the corners of the piers suggests that vaulting was planned from the start. However, as noted above, these shafts were not designed to provide sufficient seating for a rib profile, and therefore it seems reasonable to conclude that groin vaults were intended. At the time of the construction of the choir, rib vaulting was a relatively new idea in this area, and the choir was comparatively wide to try out the new technique. It appears as though the first rib vaults in the church were constructed in the north choir, on a smaller scale, and then, feeling more confident, the masons then prepared the choir for them, and installed them instead of groin vaults.