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Berkeley Castle Tales presents the outcomes of the 15-year-long University of Bristol excavations and landscape research at the Berkeley Castle estate in South Gloucestershire. The project, which in 2016 won the prestigious Current Archaeology award for the Archaeology Project of the Year, aimed at writing, through material culture and extensive archival and geophysical research, the narrative behind the construction of Berkeley Castle, the corresponding town, and the area of the Severn valley that overlooks the borders with Wales. By combining the results of archaeological fieldwork with information contained in the castle's impressive collection of 20,000 historical documents, the project adds greatly to our knowledge and understanding of the early medieval period and the subsequent changes in landscape and society that occurred with the coming of the Normans, with the erection of a castle on the former minster site. Throughout the publication the advances that the Berkeley Castle project offered to archaeological practice, to excavation and geophysics methodology, and to the community and public archaeology are evident, since the editors intend the volume to be a milestone not only for the study of a castle landscape but also for archaeological method and practice.

Architecture --- Normans --- Archaeological Practice --- Castles --- Berkeley Castle --- Landscape archaeology --- Anglo-Saxon --- Medieval Britain --- Architecture / History / Medieval --- Architecture, Medieval.

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The only document we have by a 13th-century architect, the Album of Villard de Honnecourt has been the subject of writings by art and architectural historians since the 19th century and has been considered the work of an amateur since the 1970s. Jean Wirth sheds new light on the question, based on a philological study of the manuscript, and proves that Villard himself is the author of the technical drawings relating to construction. He goes on to provide convincing analyses of the art of drawing and its numerous applications, from drawing from nature to architectural plans. Drawings relating to engineering, geometry and stereotomy are treated individually, in order to convey as clearly as possible the technical processes they illustrate. An examination of the architect’s travels, the monuments he saw and his stylistic evolution allows for an accurate, corrected chronology of this work, previously considered outdated. This intelligent and detailed study will be a landmark in the rehabilitation of Villard de Honnecourt’s reputation. L'Album de Villard de Honnecourt est le seul document personnel que nous ait laissé un architecte du XIIIe siècle. Connu et exploité par les historiens de l'art et de l'architecture dès le XIXe siècle, il a été considéré comme l'œuvre d'un amateur depuis les années 1970. Jean Wirth reprend le problème à partir de l'étude philologique des écritures contenues dans le manuscrit et montre qu'il faut attribuer à Villard les pages dont les dessins techniques relatifs à la construction passaient pour l'œuvre d'un continuateur. Dans une série de chapitres alertes, il analyse ensuite l'art du dessin et son adaptation à la multiplicité des tâches, du dessin d'après nature au relevé architectural. Les dessins relatifs à l'ingénierie, à la géométrie et à la stéréotomie sont traités un à un, afin de clarifier autant que possible les procédés techniques qu'ils transmettent. L’examen des déplacements de l’architecte, des monuments qu'il a vus et de son évolution stylistique mène ensuite à une rectification de la chronologie de son œuvre qu'on croyait retardataire. Cette étude s’affirme avec intelligence et précision comme une réhabilitation de Villard de Honnecourt ; elle fera date.

Architecture, Medieval. --- Architects --- Villard, --- dessin --- history of technics --- reims cathedral --- art gothique --- gothic art --- middle ages --- histoire des techniques --- villard de honnecourt --- drawing --- hungary --- cathédrale de chartres --- architecture --- cathédrale de reims --- moyen age --- history of art --- histoire de l'art --- hongrie --- chartres cathedral