Thangmar of Hildesheim, Vita Bernwardi Episcopi

Primary sources are the closest information we have to 'eye witness' accounts of a distant past. They provide evidence contemporary (or nearly so) to a building's construction, materials, and appearance as well as patrons and craftsmen. Every source contains some historical and/or personal bias that reflects the author's agenda and the cultural attitudes of the society and class in which he or she lived; the values and beliefs of the audience for which the work is intended are also important factors. As can be appreciated from reading these sources related to the historical period and architecture of Jumièges, documents vary enormously in how much they reveal about buildings and how well they may answer the questions we ask.

The sources cited here from the Early Middle Ages are biased in favour of Benedictine monasticism and have an interest in praising religious leaders (mostly male). Nonetheless, in the authors' zeal to recount the pious works of an abbot, bishop, or saint, he often reveals a personal enthusiasm for splendid architecture and its decoration. Scale, craftsmanship, and the number of features (columns, towers, windows, etc.) and arrangement of buildings seem to be of particular interest aside from extolling the patron. Measurements are also often given.

These excerpts from the documentary sources are well known and have often been cited in the context of patrons as active participants in the building process; however, they have not been considered from the standpoint of historic carpentry and the valuable information they relate for the existence of early medieval ceilings.

This biography (vita) from the early 11th century provides information on the presence of painted decoration of both wall and timber ceiling, although like so many Lives (Vitae) of renowned and saintly persons, Thangmar, Bernward's friend and tutor, writes mainly to eulogize his subject. By all accounts, however, Bernward, bishop of Hildesheim from 992 until 1022 was a remarkable individual as both patron and artist.

The dating of the present ceiling at Hildesheim, which was taken down for safe keeping during the Second World War, is controversial, but it likely belongs to the second quarter of the 13th century (and has not, to my knowledge, been dated by dendrochronology). There is also no way of knowing whether the extant Tree of Jesse that covers the entire nave is related in any way decoratively or iconographically to the ceiling painting commissioned by Bernward. Even so, the present ceiling is a precious survival and represents a continuity of tradition for imperial abbeys like Hildesheim and Reichenau.

Thangmar of Hildesheim, Vita Bernwardi episcopi, H.G. Pertz, ed. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores, Folio, IV (Hannover, 1841), p. 758; cited from: C. Davis-Weyer, Early Medieval Art 300–1150. Toronto, 1986.