• For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here.
    (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation)
This is a mobile optimized page that loads fast, if you want to load the real page, click this text.

Iron staples found in Notre Dame cathedral, Paris

Best lightweight Camino guides
Ideal pocket guides for during & after your Camino. Each weighs only 1.4 oz (40g)!
Fascinating, thank you @mspath!
The paper is full of small surprises, for me especially the insights into the diversity of the medieval iron industry in Paris.

What can be learned from several old staples is quite impressive!

Forgive the puzzlement from the inexpert peanut gallery. But what I can't wrap.my mind around is picturing how these might be found in situ. I've skimmed some technical papers (like this one) but still have almost no sense of how those staples would have been used. Chains and armatures are easy to see and picture. But staples? I'm still scratching my head.
 
I have seen large "U" shaped fasteners with beveled tips that were hammered to hold two pieces of wood together - in very old wood-built frame buildings. These are a sort of nail on steroids, albeit in the shape of a monstrous staple.

I have even seen them sed on overhead beams and building frames in very old buildings and cafes along the Camino.

Is this what is being described?
 
Altus 24 Liters daypack (DENON 24 H30)
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
I think those "staples" (cross braces) were used to interlink stone rather than timber. Timber joints are usually close-fit mortice & tenon with perhaps a dowel pin. Oak joints fixed with Ash dowel, or Elm if the joint was exposed to damp. Iron will oxidise and decay the joint over time. Something the medieval improvisors who built Notre Dame ought, but might not, have been aware of.

The "staples" that Tom refers to are usually repairs (or an indicator of a very poor carpenter) .
 
Tinc - Your explanation sounds true and correct to me. Thanks for the assist.
 
Camino Ready, Backpacks, Boots etc
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
There is an excellent mini series on the BBC (also possibly on YouTube) ‘rebuilding Notre-Dame’ which gives a detailed account of the extraordinary work being undertaken. Well produced and presented.

The role of the staples in essentially linking the top row of stone into a giant ring-beam to avoid it being destroyed by the lateral force of the roof is clearly explained. As is the revelation that the source of the iron itself can be traced to sites throughout France and further afield - indicating that there was an active iron-trading market in France in the C13
 
henrythedog said:
There is an excellent mini series on the BBC (also possibly on YouTube) ‘rebuilding Notre-Dame’ which gives a detailed account of the extraordinary work being undertaken. Well produced and presented.,
Click to expand...
Just been watching this programme! There is a marked rectangle in the square beside the Cathedral which is where pilgrims stood before heading south and I stood there many years ago. Memories.

walk soft

Samarkand.
 
Have just watched the ever lucid Lucy Worsley in the episode explaining those remarkable staples- used to resist the lateral pressure of the roof apparently.

Anyone with the inclination and access will find it on the BBC iplayer
 
More 2024 Camino Guides available
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Altus BALI Sleeping bag liner
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
I hope to be able to find and watch the BBC series. Those iron staples working in conjunction with the flying buttresses and who knows what else were/are simply amazing works of engineering. Thanks for the heads up on the shows!
 
Promote your Camino Project on the forum
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Camino Photo

Most read last week in this forum

Similar threads

Restored masterpieces from Notre Dame cathedral, Paris
Replies
0
Views
585
mspath
Raising the Roof on Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris
Replies
6
Views
1K
Paladina
  • Tags art/architecture
    • Hidden tombs in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris
    Replies
    4
    Views
    2K
    Perambulating Griffin
    P
    Menu
    Log in
    Register