Sermaises (Loiret, France) - La Nativité
- 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)
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- Project A - 1140s - Phase 1 - nave
No details within tower base, but capitals that were in this nave were moved up into the W6 clerestory.
- Project A - 1140s - Phase 2 - tower II
Tower II
- Project B - 1210s - Phase 3 - east (d)
Wall bases E1-2 laid out in three campaigns, and more for the compound pier to N2 and hollow octagons to S2; dado in the east.
- Project B - 1210s - Phase 4 - middle (b)
Walls up to tower, piers N3-5 oct-round-oct and S3-4 round-oct
- Project B - 1220s - Phase 5 - east (a)
Bay 1-3 aisles
- Project B - 1220s - Phase 6 - middle (a)
Bay 3-4 aisles and N6-w doorway.
- Project B - 1230s - Phase 7 - east (t)
Triforium E1-2, no clerestory
- Project B - 1230s - Phase 8 - nave (a)
Aisles 4-5,
- Project B - 1240s - Phase 9 - mid (t,c)
Triforium and clerestory 2-4.
- Project B - 1240s - Phase 10 - west
Clerestory 4-6 and bay 5-6 built as a unit to west of tower, with the central door moved out.
- Project C - Later - Phase 11 -
Completion of western bay and its vaults and the remaining 1140s nave capitals moved to clerestory after west doors.