Baulne-en-Brie (Aisne, France) - Saint-Barthélémy
- Disclaimer
The dating found here is based on the work of John James, and is meant on this site to serve as a starting point. James' dating is derived from a system that uses his interpretation of the development of capitals over time as the basis for chronology, among other factors. His goal is to refine the dating to within years rather than decades. I have not fully embraced James' methodology, and will be developing this page from its current state to one which is admittedly more conservative. The relative expenditure values found in the Timeline are also based on James' work, and I believe these to be reasonably reliable. They are intended only to give a sense of the amount of work involved in each decade.
I have added the idea of the "project" as a way of separating work in buildings. In my mind, a "project" is a discrete section of work in a building that resulted from the one-time acquisition of funding. "Projects" are generally separated by at least a decade where no work was being done. It is my view that it would have been unwise to start a "project" that could not be finished and protected from the elements, and as such a "project" usually involved a wing or multiple wings of a building, from floor to roof. Rural churches, which could only secure small amounts of funding at irregular intervals, often were the result of many small projects, while the great churches, which benefitted from relatively consistent funding, may have involved only a few large projects.
I have added the idea of the "project" as a way of separating work in buildings. In my mind, a "project" is a discrete section of work in a building that resulted from the one-time acquisition of funding. "Projects" are generally separated by at least a decade where no work was being done. It is my view that it would have been unwise to start a "project" that could not be finished and protected from the elements, and as such a "project" usually involved a wing or multiple wings of a building, from floor to roof. Rural churches, which could only secure small amounts of funding at irregular intervals, often were the result of many small projects, while the great churches, which benefitted from relatively consistent funding, may have involved only a few large projects.
- Timeline with Relative Expenditure (if available, in building units)
- Project A - 1080s - Phase 1 - nave (a)
Nave arcade with only geometric patterns on imposts with rectangular crossing piers with projection for nave; the nave corners are square while the crossing is splayed and piers wider suggesting they were part of the earlier apse.
- Project B - 1160s - Phase 2 - south
Southern chapel added with wall bases first and joint over torus and above that the uniformity in dimensions shows chapel set out at the one time with shafts for rib vaults with three small windows to east; ES1s capitals in chapel possibly the first with simple impost, and misalignments suggest they had been moved from some other place, date possibly 1130s, the others were later
- Project C - 1180s - Phase 3 - north
North chapel walls with similar complex issues
- Project C - 1190s - Phase 4 - apse
Apse 1-3 and raise the crossing with big caps, probably in two campaigns as the supports for the vaults in the east are part of the design while on the crossing piers they are squeezed into corners; when they demolished earlier apse, left unfinished masonry that was tidied up later.
- Project D - Later - Phase 5 -
Traceried widows inserted into both chapels; tidied openings from apse into chapels with drums and heavy splayed arches typical of the C17.