The Technology of Medieval Water Management at the Charterhouse of Bourgfontaine

Abstract

Monasteries were major contributors to the preservation of ancient knowledge about, as well as innovation in, hydraulic technology during the western Middle Ages. The form of monasticism adopted by the Carthusians combined eremitic isolation with limited communal life, and thus required that water be provided to individual cells as well as to other locations in the monastery. The Carthusian house of Bourgfontaine (Aisne), founded in the fourteenth century in northern France, featured technologically sophisticated water management, the topography of its site requiring a siphon-powered system. An elaborate series of surviving water tunnels led to a large springhouse and aqueduct that in turn ran 500 meters to the charterhouse. Study of archival and pictorial sources, as well as comparison with other excavated and surviving Carthusian houses in Europe, permits us to understand the larger context of the contributions made by Bourgfontaine to hydraulic technology.

Set in Stone: Provenance and Architectural Energetics for the Royal Charterhouse of Bourgfontaine

“…The close ties to the Valois family make Bourgfontaine a valuable example of royal patronage of monasteries but it has few written histories, and has had only limited excavations making any studies valuable to understanding how it functioned. Scholarship of Bourgfontaine that does exist is split between studies of Bourgfontaine's historical documents and studies of Bourgfontaine from the Valois perspective (Bonde & Maines, 2012). Most of the general information on the monastery comes from two major sources: a survey of Bourgfontaine's history, site and holdings and original and copied historical documents.…”

“…In the late 19 th century, abbé Poquet completed a broad study of the monastery, including the site's history and description for the first time and lists and maps of the monastery's holdings throughout France (Poquet, 1879). More recently, Sheila Bonde and Clark Maines completed a set of studies that focus on what made the site so unique, namely its royal patronage and robust water system (Bonde & Maines, 2012). To compliment historical records and further investigate their questions on the site, the two have led five field studies and surveys from 2006 to 2016.…”