Why are medieval buildings made of squares and rectangles?

[@joshtaylor731]

I just realized something. KZbinrs like this- Who spend the bulk of their channel talking about some topic and trying to educate us about it, complimented with visuals to help us along- There's no difference at all between them and a college professor giving a PowerPoint lecture. Now the professor is generally more knowledgeable, that's understandable, but by-and-large these KZbinrs know their stuff. It's amazing that we are so willing to spend literally hours watching these videos, and it's exactly like sitting through a lecture. And WE ARE LEARNING. I really think this is education of the future.

[@christopherhoyt7195]

I heartily agree, but be advised, not much on youtube is peer reviewed for accuracy. Then again, I've had some professors who were clearly presenting their own personal ideas as facts and I could have called them out on it, but I wanted an A and didn't want another silly tit for tat contest so I yes sired my way through to my A. So in a formula: Learning = College Education - Personal Submission. But Usually Pure Learning adds experience to your life. If you haven't tested your ideas to see if they're correct or not, you haven't learned, you've just speculated. That's just my opinion though. There's unlimited room in the comments section to write your own and see if you can do better. Show me a college with unlimited class time to fully consider everyone's thoughts. Moral of the story = go to college if you must, but not an expensive one.

[@SullenSecret]

In fact, you can learn a career that is self sufficient (home business) completely from information that is freely available on the internet. The hard part would be trying to get employment from a company, though a home business wouldn't need that. My personal focus is on video game design.

The difference is a professor needs to have his stuff properly sourced, but on KZbin there is no quality control worth mentioning. Reliability suffers as a result. Excellent example: Anti-vax 'documentaries' that try to persuade you to harm or kill children.

[@TheWampam]

At least in Germany a university professor could tell hwat he wants and nobody could do something about it.

[@Cythil]

Professors and other Academics tend to have other thing on the side to then just hold lectures. Often they do other stuff then teaching to on the side. In fact the teaching for many is just the side gig. Personally I think that the future of education is a mixture of different sources. In the not so distant future guided by advanced software that keeps you engage and helps you find good sources. (Call then teaching AIs or Algorithms). The future will likely be decentralized learning available at no cost. The Utility of having a educated population is just far to great in the post-information era.

[@0ctopusComp1etely]

I don't know why I just noticed this after so many videos, but I wanted to point out how much I appreciate the "interaction" with the put-up pictures, Shad. Saying "Here's [x] thing" and turning to actually look at where it's going to be in the video really does a fantastic job in selling the friendliness and authenticity of the lecture. It's a little detail that goes a long way.

[@purpleldv966]

Just one thing, the dung has to be horse dung... Cows chew their plants too well, but horses don't, so you end up with a dung that is much more rich in small fibers. You can tell just by looking at it. Fibers are everything... the theory is that the straw keeps the dirt from developing large cracks, wile the dung (smaller fibers) keep the smaller cracks from forming. It would be better to use yellow clay rather then just dirt. And you might need to give the house a smoother glaze of sand and horse dung before whitewashing. And best to do it in the autumn, so the walls dry out slowly, this way it's more likely not to get cracks.

[@windhelmguard5295]

you don't build it in autumn so it dries out slowly, you build it in autumn so that it dries out at all. it's a common misconception that warm air dries out walls quickly, this is not the case since the walls are actually colder than the surrounding air, you get condensation on the walls, making them more moist. it's a common problem in modern times, when people who do not know this, start building houses in spring, expecting to move in later the same year, they're asking to get mold. during winter the cold dry air, that central europe gets around january, dries out walls which is why traditionally, building a house would take two to three years, depending on whether or not you wanted a cellar. if you're building a cellar you'd spend one year digging out and building the cellar, let it dry over winter, then build the rest of the house up to the roof, let it dry over winter again and then you finish with plaster, installing doors and windows and then all the internal stuff.

[@purpleldv966]

​@@windhelmguard5295 I understand what you are trying to say, but you don't take into consideration the increased evaporation that summer with it's warm air brings. Condensation on walls might be occurring on an inside part of an uninsulated wall during winter... But that's because the inside air is at about 23 celsius, which can hold a lot of moisture... It's that increased insides moisture in the warm air that condenses on the colder wall... But, the same warm air (surely hotter in the summer) has the capacity to absorb moisture more and faster from a wet wall then the cold air in autumn or winter... Cold air is generally dryer, yes, but that's because it can't hold too much water... And naturally won't take away much of the moisture in your wall.

[@windhelmguard5295]

@@purpleldv966 i see you didn't get what i' talking about at all, yes warm air can hold more moisture than cold air, but that is only the case if said warm air isn't already moist to begin with, which it usually is because most of the warm air we get in central europe comes from the atlantic ocean. second problem is that moist air is heavy (meaning it sinks) and dry air is light, so it rises, similarly warm air rises and cold air falls. what this does to a building is that, during summer, the moist air sinks and collects in the lower rooms of the house, where it cools off and then just sits there. that's why your cellar is more comfortable than your attic during summer. during winter on the other hand the cold dry air from outside will sink into the lower stories where the walls (receiving warmth from the soil below) are warmer than the air, the cold air goes in, heats up from the walls and the rises back out, the moisture doesn't stay inside. you can trust me on how stuff dries in cold weather, i can hang my laundry outside at -20°C and it'll dry over night, whereas during summer it needs sunlight to dry at all.

[@ArinJager1]

yes, horse is not a ruminant like the cow (or a deer... or a giraffe, you know, a very medieval european animal, lol)... horse lacks the "multipe stomachs" (actually a multi-chambered single stomach) of a cow, horse's digestive system is similar to the one humans have - a simple one... In my language, horse dung is (colloquially) called "doughnut" (the holeless "berliner" kind) >:D

[@purpleldv966]

​@@ArinJager1 Yes. But why am I sensing irony or that you imply that I do not know that, in your explanation?

[@sentionno.4553]

Here in germany we actually have companies that build these houses today. But since they insulate so freaking well and look really good they are actually very expensive

[@purpleldv966]

You mean houses made of durt and straw and branches and dung? How expensive? For how much do the companies sell them for?

[@andrewmurray9701]

@@purpleldv966 I'm just spit-balling here, but they may be using another material that doesn't use dung. Not only could it prevent the spread of illness, but also may potentially be better in some way.

[@purpleldv966]

@@andrewmurray9701 today maybe... but back in the day, it was horse shit all around! :D But i'm very curious for what price people are willing to buy a primitive house today...

[@aroddo2953]

Shit is not an officially approved building material in modern Germany. You'd have to find alternative insulation, I'm sad to say.😀

[@jenniferschmitzer299]

I reckon they would be. I only saw new houses in a new district being built in a humble little place in Fegersheim, FR. As always, I saw tagging relating to the checking of the archeologist report prior to construction. Adds so much expense... but necessary do you not think? I always liked visiting the möbile and immöbile windows for fun and inspiration 😊😊😊

[@plaguedoct0r]

I don't believe for a second that's your real dream home. I mean, come on. There isn't a single machicolation on it!

[@ekimaulthar2044]

and; what about Dragons?

[@HrRezpatex]

lol he can still say "i miss my MACHICOLATIONS!" every day in his dream home.. ;)

[@wedgeantilles1498]

MACHOLATIONSSSZZDBBGCJBU

[@arthas640]

my medieval dream home would have a moat with a drawbridge, to keep out surprise visitors.

[@joemedlen2924]

Machicolatiooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon

[@joschuaknuppe5849]

Maybe something else interesting to mention: because timber wasn't cheap you were actually able to tell how rich a person was by looking at their homes, the more visible timber they were able show build into the structure the deeper the pockets.

[@habibainunsyifaf6463]

*throwing some dung to a random hovel "PETER!!! what are you doing to my home!!??" "I'm insulating it!!!"

[@rotherhamshmotherham2112]

*inshulating

[@Labroidas]

In German, the walls inside a house are actually called "Wand" (plural "Wände"), which is a word coming from the verb "winden" (very closely related to the English verb "to wind"). So as you can see, in German the idea that the walls of a house are "wound" or as you would rather say in English "woven", as in a wattle and daub house, has survived in the language until modern times, showing just how common this type of constuction used to be. Just a small fact in case anybody is interested. Edit for spelling.

[@MHTutorials3D]

In Holland the homes are called "Vakwerk" and in Germany "Fachwerk" . Vak or Fach refers to the building method but can also mean square surface

[@ecneicsPhD4554]

It can also mean something profane.😏 Now-a-days, anyway.

[@shadowcween7890]

@@ecneicsPhD4554 what-

[@franziskamayer6457]

That was my first thought, too :)

[@Overlegen]

And in norwegian "bindingsverk." You can perhaps immagine how that the languages have a common origin, and actually was almost the same 1000 years ago; the woodWORK ("treVERK") is bound ("binding") together by other material

[@shadowcween7890]

@@Overlegen they are all Germanic languages I think

[@malamuger93]

Back in school we made a day trip to a "medieval village" in construction (probably an archaeological experiment of some sorts) where we helped to make the daub and plaster the braided walls with it. Needless to say it was very exhausting but in retrospect also kinda fun.

[@nooneyouknow4312]

So when im house hunting, and my wife points out a waddle and daub that she likes, than i can say, “That house is shit... Literally.” Got it.

[@franohmsford7548]

Wattle not Waddle.

[@chrismorse3862]

+Fran Ohmsford he said they put the hay-fed animal shit in there for the fibers.

[@Novusod]

Wattle and daub is usually called "Tudor style" by most architects.

[@nooneyouknow4312]

So when I'm house hunting, and my wife points out a house and asks, "Do you like this waddle and daub?", and I retort... "No no no honey.... Its WATTLE,. not waddle. The spelling police on Shad's channel told me so....", then I can expect to be sleeping on the couch for being a jerk. Got it.

[@lokisgodhi]

So you like having bruises?

[@PhilBagels]

So many cute couples in architecture: Wattle & Daub Motte & Bailey Mortise & Tenon Post & Lintel Brick & Mortar Merlon & Crenel

[@celinak5062]

PhilBagels Moe or ship ?

[@jzaar7483]

Straw & Shite

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

I 'ship 'em.

[@2MeterLP]

shad & machiculations

[@Quasihamster]

Rod & Beam, don't forget these!

[@Grumpy_old_Boot]

One point you didn't touch on, is the fact that wattle & daub houses were easy and cheap to repair. If a stone wall breaks, it sort of crumbles in a large area, and takes a lot of time to repair, and you can have a catastrophic collapse. When a log in a log cabin rots, you have to take the building apart a bit, and replace the whole log .. very difficult. You don't have to take the building entirely apart, but it is a lot of work. When a waddle & daub section broke, you just knocked it out and rebuild that section. And since the timber was partly exposed, you could add some rows of hooks, and hang straw cladding, to insulate further, during winter, which could make quite a difference .. then in the spring when the straw cladding started rotting, you threw it away, so it would not damage the timber.

[@Mihoshika]

He didn't say it in so many words, but he did refer to them as being 'cost effective'.

[@Grumpy_old_Boot]

@@Mihoshika True, he did ... though I would have liked to see him dig into it a bit more, ease of maintenance, and cost of maintenance, is an important part of a building after all.

[@itsawoodchuck4330]

Well said, good to know.

[@TheSnazzyAdventures]

Thanks Shad, as a first year Civil Engineering student wanting to go into Structural Engineering your medieval engineering/architecture videos give a lot more passion for what I study

[@sakuta2231]

Me and the boys are going to make wattle and daub houses in the woods who's with me

[@saiyuriinuzuka6400]

I'm in!

[@foxintg2021]

ok ,I'm late ?

[@mikhielbluemon4213]

AYE!!

[@brendanblanks4438]

I'm late to the party, but I literally just shared this to a friend, who wants to build a timber cabin, as an alternative idea.

[@eatwhatukiii2532]

I’ve got the woods, and a whole paddock full of horse manure.

[@masha8770]

I actually live in a renovated old wattle and daub farmhouse (countryside of north rhine westphalia), so I love this architectural style. When my parents bought the (abandoned) house they had to promise the previous owners to not change the exterior overly. My father adhered to it so much he bought loam to repair holes in the walls. The house was so rundown though, they only had to pay for the over 400 year old oak beams in the house (I still have them holding up the ceiling of my room - they're super bent!). In recent years our street has been added to a hiking trail in the area specifically for showing off old historical buildings in the wattle and daub style. :D

[@zyriacus8360]

Maleha: I live in the same region. Our house was built in 1920. The outward walls are stone to basement height, above that bricks plastered. But all the interior walls are halftimbered with a wattle and daub filling. I found that out when I was replacing the electrical wiring.

[@tonyd6884]

I’ve been building structures of all types for 39 years and I never tire of watching the techniques of early times. Great video!

[@cherrydragon3120]

You're really into building eh?

[@jesyheller199]

This would actually be pretty fun summer project to make with kids as a little club house or something.

[@OutOfNamesToChoose]

I'm in my twenties, but can you adopt me?

[@thompsonator4696]

Me two?

[@gansetsukon]

Thompsonator469 Found a rare pokemon!

[@FirstLast-fr4hb]

The fun part is of course going be the dung!

[@Oceananswer]

Where would you get the poop from tho?

[@squifflessquaffles6339]

When you said dirt houses, I immediately thought of Minecraft.

[@kirtil5177]

me too, instantly imagined a dirt box with a door

[@gibbous_silver]

Ever heard of mud bricks?

[@PawtrikOG]

In Sweden we still have quite a lot of these historical buildings. We call them korsvirkeshus directly translates to "cross timber houses".

[@schnabeltiertv]

I'll be honest,. I clicked on the video because I saw it my recommended section and thought the title was stupid. "Made of white rectangles? Yeah, right. That guy seems to be a real expert." Then it turned out to be a really good and informative video. Then I subscribed. The End.

[@samohickey]

I love medieval history; I'm large on the armour, weapons, who'd ruled, what wars are happening, fashion, food... so on. But you know what videos are hard to find on KZbin? Structural videos on the 11th-13th century. Castles? lots of content! Other places of living and culture? Hard... hard to find. You've gone into excellent detail on the purposes behind medieval architecture and for that I am very grateful! Subscribed!

[@Devin_Stromgren]

You did leave out one major advantage that log cabin style construction has over wattle and daub construction. While it does require substantially more timber and labor, the labor it requires is substantially less skilled. You need someone with architectural or carpentry knowledge to build the timber frame for a wattle and daube house, while most people could build a log structure themselves. This is why log cabins were so common on the American frontier, while wattle and daub never made it past the east coast colonies.

[@post-leftluddite]

or, we could just say rammed earth construction is easier than both

[@TheWampam]

If you look at it, log cabins where common where there was enough wood to justify building a house of massive wood.

[@Devin_Stromgren]

Well of course, but that has little to do with my point.

[@orthochronicity6428]

I was thinking about a preserved cabin I saw at Grande Teton National Park while watching this video. The construction was certainly much less sophisticated... Even assuming that something like daub was used to patch the extensive gaps (you could look through the cabin in some places), it had to have been a rather drafty build in a place where the winters aren't forgiving.

[@NotTheCIA1961]

Most cabins like that would have been sealed with mud between the gaps while the home was inhabited, but because it was literally just jamming some dirt in the holes without any preservation, once no longer maintained it erodes.

[@Aetrion]

I don't know why English has no proper name for this style of building. In German it's called "Fachwerk", which roughly equates to "Crafted from compartments".

[@marcovtjev]

Dutch analogue: vakwerk

[@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819]

Aetrion depending on the age of the building it is either called Tudor (ancient) or mock-Tudor (Victorian era or later).

[@MrGombajohnny]

In the USA we call that style hu house English Tudor

[@carbon1255]

@@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819 No it is not, tudor describes the time period only. Half-timbering has been done for much longer. Tudor is a variation on half timbering and is usually much more decorative.

[@carbon1255]

we do, the aesthetic is called half timbering, which literally means the same as "Fachwerk" and directly translate to one another. The material used varies, so this particular one is called wattle and daub.

[@MaximusBacon]

Don’t know how I stumbled upon this channel but as a history buff I totally dig it. Good show, Sir. *firm handshake*

[@GGFallenWarrior]

I've worked in construction most my life by trade, built houses from the ground up and everything in between and you've done a good job on explaining these types of buildings!! cool and accurate informational video, love it!

[@jlovebirch]

I've always known this as Tudor box-frame. Never heard of the other terms. The town of Chester has the most amazing concentration of these buildings (plus a Roman wall) and is well worth a visit.

[@stevelemur6113]

They are also known as "post and beam". The same framing is used in straw bale buildings. The English name for dirt houses is "cob construction", but Americans use the Spanish term adobe.

[@nogsan195]

It was hard to install Windows in the Medieval Period, they didn't have computers. kill me

[@Weed8Gone]

No, no, that was funny.

[@oneofmanyparadoxfans5447]

Genius. Have you ever considered comedic writing?

[@MaxRavenclaw]

Starts unscrewing pommel.

[@Grizzlox]

Santiago Nogueiras ... they had apples

[@RubberyCat]

I laughed. ^_^

[@gkpsmith]

Wattle and daub construction was also very common in Mississippian culture in the Americas. Love the videos, Shad!

[@Yvolve]

11:19 is, I think, the reason it is called the ground floor and first floor. The ground floor was just that: a floor of ground. It was used for work, to house cattle in some cases and other things you don't need a wooden floor for.

[@stefan1360]

My grandparents in Romania build their homes using the dirt bricks mixed with straws and dung you mentioned in the video except the only wood used for the home was for the roof.

[@LifestyleLabUK]

THANK YOU, SHAD! All recent videos on castles and medieval buildings - absolutely amazing. And your manner of presenting the material - with a nice proportion of humour and dynamics of speech - just wonderful!

[@camohawk6703]

someone should really consult with you if they ever make a medieval themed game

[@cherrydragon3120]

I would if i could~ but me and my friend are still practising with modeling and coding before doing anything like this

[@johnnywoods5549]

Have you ever thought about doing a series of life in medieval times? Everything from building a house to clothing, cooking even materials used and so on? I think that would be really interesting.

[@uniquely.mediocre1865]

I've heard many people call the white walls with brown beams called "Tudor" style

[@Alexandra_Hill]

That's exactly what it is called, how is it that no one knows this????

[@LynxSouth]

@@Alexandra_Hill Yeah, but it wasn't originally a Tudor style. It was being used long before anyone ever heard of Henry Tudor, and it was used in lots of European countries. The Victorians started building in this style again and called it Tudor Revival or Mock Tudor. But, if we're talking historically, the first several centuries it was used, no one called it Tudor at all.

[@Alexandra_Hill]

@@LynxSouth Ah right, didn't know that, thanks for the info.

[@LynxSouth]

@Илиан Алексиев Dragons don't pair well with thatched roofs: the thatching too often catches fire when the dragons sneeze or cough, and the dragons accidentally drag the thatching off the house when they take off. A lot of interspecies hard feelings got started this way. The dragons are better off living in the treeless hills of Scotland (there's also less air traffic up there).

[@Grumpy_old_Boot]

@Илиан Алексиев Yeah, many baby dragons get sucked into jet engines, so they are better off in areas with less traffic. Expulse your dragons to the scottish mountains today - Think of the baby dragons!

[@stevemcgroob4446]

The reason windows became so big was to give batman something to bust through because he can't use doors for some reason.

[@cherrydragon3120]

Then tell your "friend" to not do that bruce v_v

[@skyefeyden]

Love this! I never really gave it much thought, but when the title appeared in my list of suggested videos, I thought, "Yeah, why is that?" I'm glad Shad's here to answer those questions!

[@GCurl]

Can you make a video about Walls? I mean Walls like "Hadrian's Wall", "The Wall of China" etc. Walls that were built to keep people out of certain areas instead of being part of a castle.

[@shadiversity]

I think I can.

[@joesandy1999]

@Srithor lol

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Don't forget the Limes.

[@kyle857]

Srithor lol, the exploitation of illegal immigrants as slave labor is so funny!

[@GregTom2]

Oh boy, here we go getting political.

[@chrislaws4785]

I lived in Germany for 5 years, and even today they are still building homes in this style. Infact, I loved this style so much that if I ever build my own home I will not accept anything less then at the very least this look on the outside. In my opinion it's just one of the most beautiful designs ever and I hope it never goes away.

[@benjaminslayton4335]

I love the aesthetic of Medieval wattle and daub (half-timber) construction. I have wanted to build my own home in this style for years. It would be nice to mimic this style with a facade on a modern frame, but it would be much nicer to actually build an authentic structure.

[@Lurker101Gaming]

That was genuinely fascinating. I feel like I've learned something I won't forget five minutes later today.

[@olivercuenca4109]

In the UK, a lot of people refer to more modern attempts at this aesthetic as "mock-Tudor".

[@williamwigham7866]

EWe have a lot of ply-wood tents in the USA which try to look as if they are something special by adding an attempt to look classy by adding a few Fachwerk features. they usually fail to dress up the cheap overall appearance of Fake Fachwerk. The way to see a difference is by noticing the rigidly straight lines in the careless American reproductions. The European originals often use naturally irregular pieces of wood which take a little more work but add the beautiful curved lines we see at the beach. If ladies were shaped with straight lines there might never be a next generation.

[@rippspeck]

@@williamwigham7866 I love me some Fachwerk ladies. Sturdy and curved, oh my!

[@xBlackxWingx]

It's called Fachwerk in German. We have many houses like that, and people love them. Both my neighbours have Fachwerk-houses, too.

[@edi9892]

I love them. It pisses me off, that some were forced to cover it up due to isolation or fire hazard regulations.

[@cheeseandchocolate4968]

In french it's Colombage. There are a lot of those in rural villages.

[@theexchipmunk]

A interesting fact is that in medieval times you would not have seen the Fachwerk. To prevent the wood from decaying because of the weather the whole wall was covered in a layer of mortar. The wood only got exposed in later times because people like the look.

[@edi9892]

I never heard of it before, but it makes some sense. However, AFAIK covering the wood can cause sweating and rot from within, which is something people experienced after the German government forced them to dump isolation material on their historic houses. PS: I wonder how churches looked back then. I saw a few with paint residues indicating that they were completely covered in some kind of painting. Shad referenced that fact in his video on Kingdom. It really pisses me off, seeing some churches where the paintings are allowed to peal off over time, while the church swims in money.

[@Glimmlampe1982]

TheExplodingChipmunk Not true for every region. I think in northern Germany the Fachwerk is more rectangular and plain, but in other regions, Baden Württemberg for example the Fachwerk is often very elaborate and fancy because it was visible. I be heard a part of a radio interview with an expert on that topic who explained that they also examine the properties of the old houses for earthquake prove houses. The Fachwerk is often so interlocked that it won't give in, even if you remove large beams, it gets crocked bit it will stay functional

[@hughdanielson]

In the states, this is usually called the Tudor style. It has gone in and out of fashion for years. The last big Tudor revival was in the 1920s but it also had a slight resurgence in the late 60s and early 70s. The only big differences were that most people opted for expanded metal instead of wattle and stucco instead of dab. Also they went with shingle roofs instead of thatch. Most of these homes had craftsmen interiors with a lot of built ins and somewhat unmatched swing out (or in) windows.

[@jbradshaw4236]

Thanks for sharing your videos. The first picture of the tudor house is a house at the weald and downland museum in Singleton, West Sussex UK. It was saved from destruction when a reservoir was being built and taken down and re assembled at the museum. I was married in the building in 2010.

[@edi9892]

I'd like to point out that rain was still an issue. That's why many framework houses rest on a 30cm/1ft of stone, if not an entire floor. Moreover, the roofs are oversized acting as an umbrella. As a sidenote: it was invented when people moved north where dried earth homes didn't survive the regular rain. Since framework homes rely on the strength of timber and not dried earth, they could adapt quickly.

[@TechTimeWithEric]

A quite shockingly interesting video. I am quite glad KZbin recommended it to me.

[@hfar_in_the_sky]

This was one of those questions I didn't know I wanted the answer to until the question was asked. Thank you kindly sir!

[@c-bass9367]

Great video. However I'm an energy auditor and stone does not have good insulation properties. It has high thermal mass, when thick, thereby allowing it to retain temperature. This however works both ways as when stone is cold it can take allot of energy to heat up. I would say that the best insulation of all three of these types of homes is the home with mud and fiber as insulation. I would say this would be the essiest to bring up to temperature and maintain that temperature.

[@dante8999]

but the real question is what about dragons?

[@charlesholmgren679]

That's why they stopped using thatched roofs

[@dante8999]

@@charlesholmgren679 BUT... BUT.... WHAT ABOUT THE DRAGONS?

[@OGDeepStroke]

That’s just Sybil Shepherd

[@PlayaSinNombre]

The dragons set your home on fire. The dung in the daub makes the fire burn hotter. So the dragon gets a well done lunch.

[@Rabijeel]

Simple Solution: Do not marry one.

[@sebastianpatthel3426]

You are better than a history teacher

[@Vieledspy]

I think he technically is a history teacher, I mean he teaches me a lot of thing about historical subjects

[@sebastianpatthel3426]

The cool and very smart guy

[@sebastianpatthel3426]

Vry cool

[@FirstLast-fr4hb]

Well... he is a history teacher. All he does is talk about history. :)

[@TheConnorian]

Wish we brought back a modern version of this style en mass to reclaim some European culture. Too often houses are lifeless brick husks. I want more of this!

[@edi9892]

Funfact: it has been suggested to reintroduce this method after the earthquake in Haiti. Wooden structures are very resilient to earthquakes and you can see in these structures immediately, if they saved beams. Moreover, if you got cheap labour, the building costs are _dirt_-cheap...

[@elainechubb971]

The problem is that Haiti has suffered from extreme deforestation. Not a lot of usable timber is available.

[@MayYourGodGoWithYou]

If you visit Suffolk in England you will often find many of the wattle and daub homes are painted what is known as Suffolk Pink where the white wash was mixed with pigs blood or blackcurrant juice (have had both given as dyes) to make it pink. My grandmothers house, wattle and daub dating from the early 14thC, was painted yellow but the old coach buildings, which had been turned into another home, were painted white. And I must admit, if I could ever get planning permission (and the money) I would like to have a wattle and daub house built for me to live in - can no longer do it myself unfortunately - but instead of the usual thatched roof I would like a living roof instead. And I will vouch that that my grandmothers house wasn't ever really cold. She heated it with an electric 3bar heater in the living room and another one at the foot of the stairs which came on early in the morning. The coldest part, by far, was the much later addition of the kitchen and bathroom out the back, built from brick and absolutely freezing cold in winter. But the wattle and daub part was lovely and toasty. And cool in summer.

[@isabellacatolica5594]

In fact all baserris ( basque classical houses/cottages) are made from a layer of stone in the bottom and working upwards with this type of usage of timber and clay, it's so pretty yet so efficient.

[@World_Theory]

You forgot to tell us what “white wash” actually is. Why does it stop erosion? What is it made of?

[@longpinkytoes]

Whitewash, or...lime paint is a low-cost type of paint made from slaked lime and chalk, sometimes known as "whiting".

[@samikay9599]

It doesn't stop erosion but having that extra layer between the dirt and the weather probably didn't hurt.

[@longpinkytoes]

whitewash may not have any effect on physical erosion, but trees around the world are whitewashed up to around waist height to protect the wood from bacterial infections, and from insects laying eggs. as an extra perk, layers of whitewash eventually exfoliate making it less necessary to wash the walls.

[@bradmiller2329]

@@samikay9599 Actually, a good layer of whitewash (made properly) is a very good waterproofing. One of the reasons adobe buildings are whitewashed is to prevent rain erosion. (Grew up in rural South America, first hand experience!)

[@mpmansell]

@@samikay9599 When allowed to harden properly, and as the layers build up, it is very resistant to water and normal rain and wind erosion so will protect cob and daub pretty effectively. I have quite a bit of experience with it :)

[@MatthiasGut]

Fun fact, this method of building is thousands of years old and preceeds the middle ages longer as one may think. Have a look at Stilt-Builders during the stone age as an example. Nice Vid btw.

[@ricashbringer9866]

Matthias Gut American Indians of the Mississippian period also. There is a picture of one in the Wattle and Daub article on Wikipedia.

[@TheWampam]

I actually missed this in the video. You don't need timberframe for wattle and daub, simple posts rammed into the ground do just as good if you only want one floor.

[@MatthiasGut]

@Ricashbringer You're absolutely right. I've chosen the example of stilt-builders just because they've been present in the area where i live in and their techniques have been really advanced. @TheWampam To be fair he did mention it at 1:48, he just didnt go into detail.

[@alnoso]

yeah, wattle and daub is caveman-era stuff. well, not really, since they live in houses not caves but you get what I mean shad's talking more about how they filled out a timberframe, a thing we do even today, with this very cheap method to make a modern house out of basically dirt

[@MatthiasGut]

@alnoso To be fair, nobody was talking about a "caveman-era". I actually don't see what argument you're trying to make, sorry. I personally mentioned the stuilt builders during the Stone age which precedes even the earrly middle ages by about 7000 years or more where the same building methods were used. Maybe not as "shiny" as in the middle ages onwards but the same principle. People do live in what can be described as houses since thousands and thousands of years, it's not like we lived in caves and the next thing was the medieval timberframe house. Btw my initial comment was not meant as criticism of his video but solely as an addendum.

[@HarryBalzak]

I really love how you explain stuff. You make it very easy to digest. Thanks for all the great content.

[@Rabijeel]

The fecies in the Stuff also makes the Result harder but also more flexible - has something to do with the Carbonide in it iirc. Also, it "foams" the result, so it gets better in thermal insulation and also it regulates humidity inside.. And it is not "just Dirt or Mud" - it is Claybased and a Mixture as even Clay is Expensive plus Mixing in Stuff makes it better. The Whiting was not so much to prevent Whithering away, it was more to prevent Fungii to take root - but yeah, the alkaline Property also helps against it withering. Sorry for not knowing the specific english Terms, learned about it in Germany.

[@tommygun333]

In Poland we still build timber homes. They're very popular in the mountains. Also there are lots of new inns built this way.

[@ClarkKulper]

Shad this is why I love your content.

[@SpektralJo]

Primitive Technology has already build wattle and daub huts, but a half timbered wattle and daub hut would be the next level!

[@danieljohns7499]

One thing about cow dung is that they will stay places sometimes up to years, literally we’ve Berried stuff and marked it with cow dung ( after about a month it is clean to pick up) and we’ll come back to it years later and it will still be there

[@coe8159]

I really think this architecture of medieval times is so nice looking and I’d take a medieval house like that over any modern house.

[@PlayaSinNombre]

Step one: buy a cow.

[@aarndal90]

Another wonderful video! As a structural engineer, I'm impressed by how much you generally understand about structural engineering and building physics. And even if some of your statements here and there lacked a bit of substance, you definitely didn't say anything wrong... But I would like to note a few things in spite of everything. "Dirt" was not and still is not used to insulate timber frameworks. Here it needs the application of fine-grained soil, preferably clay or loam (mixture of sand, silt and clay). This distinction is important because dirt can be virtually anything (including sand, gravel, scurf and so on). Moreover, although the use of dung within the insulation of half-timber houses has been scientifically proven, its integration in later houses has appeared less frequently. This is probably due to the fact that experience showed that the addition of organic material within the building fabric led to greater disadvantages (formation of cavities, cracking, possible stench, etc.) than advantages, due to the natural decomposition of the material. By the way, the wooden struts of half-timber houses serve to brace against wind loads, redirect loads or distribute larger loads. In modern wood frame constructions high-density fiberboard or drywall is commonly used to transfer wind loads. And I don't want to burst your bubble, but the towers of your dream house definitely need to have windows removed in the lower level... ^^ This comment is in no way meant to be mean or accusatory, but to help clarify some things, just as you are helping us to better understand things around the Middle Ages. I really love and appreciate your work!

[@KaletheQuick]

I love videos going into how things were done back in THE DAY. It really helps me enhance the fantasy or historic realms I make to play games in :D

[@Loromir17]

I remember you've mentioned (in the "why homes were round", if I recall it right) that this video will come up and it got me curious enough to make my own googling on the topic in the same day. Regardless, a very infromative vid, particularly on the dung part x) If I could make a humble request, I'd really like to see a video on the whitewash, how it was made and it's uses. Thanks for your content, Shad =)

[@davidbriggs264]

Ravensburger: One simple technique to make whitewash was to use milk! Milk would never be used on the inside of a building, but was often used to "paint" the outside of the building. And there was not much smell associated with said walls since the water evaporated away, leaving the less smelly solids on the walls. I would suspect that chalk was either added to the milk, or used by itself sometimes.

[@2bingtim]

Wiki it like I did. It was a mixture of slaked lime & chalk that cured after applying & drying to give better weather resistance, to simplify.

[@franzbauer1367]

8:05 they "pollarded" the trees. learned that from lindybeige. the amount of knowledge i gained from you, lindy and Skal is simply astonishing. Time to give back. Shad: Did you know that in germany people say "Er ist Steinreich" literally: "he is stone-rich". this originates from the mix form you mentioned in the end. So someone who is wealthy enough to have the first floor build from stone in a medieval city was "stone-rich"

[@TheWampam]

Stone Rich meant that you could build you house completly out of stone. The first floor was kinda standard at least in the south.

[@franzbauer1367]

TheWampam later on, yes. Although i can't think of any houses here i my area from the medieval period that are completely made of stone, apart from town halls, churches and defensive structures of course. All the rich merchants houses that enrich our town centres are from the Renaissance era.

[@magnushelin007]

Franz Bauer Same expression about "stone rich" exists in Swedish.

[@scratchy996]

Usually it is way easier to build stone houses in mountainous regions, there is stone lying around everywhere, while in the low lands it's much harder to find.

[@petrameyer1121]

Nie drüber nachgedacht, danke!

[@jamesbenham2249]

I am an architectural technologist, and I found this very informative as to the thought process and problem solving athat brought about the invention of this type of construction. in the event of total societal collapse, we might actually see these being built again. thanks for the lesson!

[@varuug]

Here in Nepal we have houses of similar construction. Tree log pillars and rectangular lumber frames; the beams being larger. Walls are made from woven bamboo stick frames with cement on both sides and plastered with lime. Windows have iron bars with wood plank shutters. Doors are timber frames with wood planks. Roof is corrugated galvanized iron sheets nailed to the timber frame. A few of these old houses still stand in less populated areas. We have one in the mountains, built by my great-great-grandfather. I don't know how old it is but my grandfather was born in 1939 so it is amazing that the building still stands. The lowest floor has wooden plank walls that slide in grooves in the timber frames. The topmost plank has a slot in the frame so each plank can be removed one after the other so you can remove the walls if desired.

[@bluehoseok]

Loved this video! Great to have all the terminology for this now. Thank you, Shad!

[@SadistischerBrokkoli]

Its called "Bauhaus" in German. These houses are everywhere here in southern Germany. Many people actually cover up the pattern on their old houses because it is so common and generally seen as "boring" or just old.

[@wallung1876]

No, it's not called "Bauhaus" in Germany. In no way! It's called "Fachwerkhaus". Bauhaus is a term for a very modern style (blocky, steel, concrete, glass, flat roof). Just google that 2 terms and klick on pictures to get an impression.

[@Toksyuryel]

Wow the timing on this one, I was just recently looking up information about this construction method because one of the Minecraft mods I play with features it and all of a sudden you post a video all about it XD I learned a lot from this, thank you :)

[@MrMortull]

I had no idea that the "white-panelled" buildings (I always thought of them as being Tudor style) were wattle-and-daub. Always thought of that construction method as being exclusive to village hovels rather than these nice houses. Thanks for educating me, Shad.

[@andrewgarratt5191]

There is a collapsed cabin 200 years old on The outskirts of town,it fell down MANY years ago...the Chimney still stands mostly proud,I went and annualized it one day.... It’s made pretty much the exact same way...the more fires they built in the fireplace the stronger it got. Absolutely amazing!!

[@SarudeDanstorm]

1.3k likes to 1 dislike... this is the best ratio I've seen in years

[@catfishcave379]

Absolutely fascinating! I am learning so much on this channel!! You sir, are becoming a legend!!!

[@The1Helleri]

10:22 That would actually be a frame saw. It's being used as a rip saw in the image (apparently). But to know if the blade was of a rip saw type for certain, we would have to take measure of the angle the teeth are cut at (which is not possible unfortunately). thereabout of 90° cut to the teeth would make it a rip saw (ideal for cutting with grain). Thereabouts of 20° cut to the teeth would back it a crosscut saw (ideal for cutting against grain). Likely given the type of frame and way it's shown to be used, it is a rip saw type of blade. But it's first and foremost a frame saw. You might say that a frame saw of this type might as well be called a rip saw because frame saws of this type are invariably rip saw bladed. But that's not necessarily true. There are odd ball examples that throw things off and make it a far less accurate assertion than one would like. For instance I own a Disston back saw. But what is it exactly? Well the blade is 12" x 3½" and it's teeth are crosscut. So you would naturally assume it's a small carcase saw. Until I break the wingnut at the end, and drop the tension lever on the handle allowing me to remove the blade and flip it around to the spine where it has another set of teeth that were hidden by the back (which is in actuality not just a stopper and rigidity reinforcer but a clamp as well). I insert it at an angle a little further back and after tightening back down the saw effectively becomes 10" x 2½" with rip saw teeth...Guess it's a large dovetail saw now. The size of the blade and tooth set type is what normally distinguishes between different backsaws. But here that's a variable factor. So all I can really say is that it's a backsaw. But I wouldn't call it a ripsaw or cross cut. Universal wouldn't even be right because each side has a single ppi.

[@ragnkja]

Timber planks required good, correctly-shaped timber without too many knots from branches, so they were mostly saved for where they were really needed, like boats and ships.

[@paulmax3185]

I believe that boards for cladding homes were often made by splitting planks rather than sawing.Of course not all types of timber lare easily split into planks,but many types can be split. Floor boards did indeed need to be sawn or dressed in order to be uniform enough for flooring. Good video.

[@DJAsHeRMusic]

Super interesting I learned something today few of these houses in Winchester near me. Explains now why the walls bow out if it's only a wattle with dirt in it

[@marebbpc]

shad i think you should give your patreons a nickname like your chevaliers or your knights of the machiculations

[@elessal]

the Knights of Shad. machicolations is their battle cry.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

The Knightly Order of Shadiversity!

[@CarnalKid]

marebbpc Jesus Christ, I thought there was nothing lamer than Chadley's blazer, then I read this comment.

[@QuantemDeconstructor]

I like that second one

[@cherrydragon3120]

@Sith'ari Azithoth i like that idea~

[@Quasihamster]

It's just how early versions of Blender worked. And all squares is easier on the graphics card, too. Tech just wasn't that far back then after all.

[@GCurl]

This is also the reason brick building became so common during the Industrial revolution, the update allowed way more squares than before so people could make lots of little squares we now refer to as bricks. The Egyptians used a very early version which is why the pyramids have such a simple shape.

[@Quasihamster]

Interesting side note: They updated the mesh of Cologne Cathedral a few years ago, replaced one of the original windows with a new one that is just hundreds and hundreds of little clorful squares. They got it wrong though: They call the squares pixels. Technically, these are polygons. Except of course, it really is just a new texture with a bumpmap, that may well be.

[@cherrydragon3120]

I suck at blender ;-;

[@bobina05]

I wonder why this style wasn't used as much in the early US. Seems like the stereotypical log cabin was much more common. Although, I am aware that dugout homes were also widely used in the midwest due to lack of timber/cost of having it imported.

[@erikbudrow1255]

Awesome video! One bone to pick: stone is actually a very poor insulator and those homes, to my knowledge, were cooooold...But the big bad wolf can't blow it down. And wood is also a poor insulator, but it has great thermal mass, which keeps your home cozy anyway.

[@GrugSmesh]

Your dream house needs more meticulations.

[@enigma2541]

Learn something new everyday. Good stuff

[@esbendit]

10:18 Saw are not the only way to make planks, axes would have been used as well, or instead. For instance acording to the Baueaux tapestry: the fleet that invaded England in 1066 was made pretty much only using axes. Axes and wedges would also make the production of planks less labour intesive, in the absence of powered saws, as the split the wood.

[@TheWampam]

Indeed, but you won't get straight edges. Which doesn't really matter if you let them overlap like in shads example.

[@aclaudet9588]

*Bayeux

[@JJosephS1]

I toured one of these homes in Germany that was 1030 yrs old and in constant use. They are beautiful and they do last. In the USA I have often heard the term "Half timber" referring to this type of construction.

[@TheNightshadePrince]

Saws were also very expensive in medieval times, to the point that crafts men would try to use them as little as possible, choosing to spilt logs with wood wedges the majority of the time. The use of saws was quite limited in carpentry well into the renaissance.

[@maskydoo7871]

Great video! These homes are gorgeous and it's fascinating to know how and why they're made like this.

[@Eragon954]

Interesting, I never imagined they were made this way. Here in Brazil this method is called "pau a pique", and it's common to this day.

[@ellermaaannn]

Very nice video; on point and well explained. This topic is so interesting that I even made a presentation about it last Friday. You really need to look up the three major styles of the half-timbered houses in central Europe (lower saxon, frankish and the alemannic style). You're going to love it! You only showed pictures of the english style. There is so much to discover on how they build those houses in certain areas an how those styles developed. The german word for half-timbered house really pin points it: "Fachwerkhaus" translates to "Fach" which is the part of a shelf in which you put the books; "werk" which is work and "haus". So the Fachwerkhaus could be called a shelf-worked house which is in my opinion a more precise term than half-timbered.

[@Anvilshock]

"shelf-worked house" - Oh, great, trying to translate and explain a term of BACK THEN with word meanings of TODAY. You fail linguistics forever.

[@xineohpinakc264]

There are several of this style of house in my hometown in South Carolina. It was a trend for younger people building new homes to use this style in the early 90's as kind of the alternative to the traditional homes (brick). These homes are still beautiful and stand out very much from the rest of the community.

[@TharrisNogaud]

In German, we call this style, Fachwerk. In English you call this Post and Beam. Wattle and Daub refers an old style of building the walls between the beams with stiff verticle sticks woven horizontally with more flexible sticks usually willows or the like and that woven structure is called the wattle. The Daub, is not just "dirt", although it varies, better quality Daub consists primarily out of clays, mixed with dung and straw. It is then sealed with Lime. To keep the Fachwerk Timber and Wattle and Daub off the damp Earth, the lower level and cellars are built of stone.

[@BlackLegion12621]

"Why are medieval buildings made of rectangles?" Because the builders are never a round.

[@PetriW]

In Finland it was most common to build houses from wood. There were made those kind of houses in cities but the common people usually used wood couse Finland was basicly a big forest and wood was very easy to move on water( In Finland there is ovet 180 thousend lakes). There may been houses made of brick also, but wood was most common.

[@tommyodonovan3883]

Canada's got wood....

[@PetriW]

Tommy O Donovan So? I dont think Canada had any mediavel era, and their colonial history starts from the 16th or 17th century, pretty late.

[@carbon1255]

@@tommyodonovan3883 and lakes, and builds chiefly out of wood when off the grid. Log cabins galore.

[@codykylebennett3338]

3:37 dirt is definitely not very thermally insulative per unit thickness, it's better than most stone (as long as it's dry) but otherwise it doesn't get much worse than earth. Like stone it has a fairly high heat capacitance meaning once you're warmed the house it will retain its internal heat well and in a sunny environment it will smooth out the sharp changes in temperature but it will still require vastly more heating to remain comfortable when compared to wood or even brick. The benefit of earthen homes (besides the temperature consistency they provide) is it is typically a simple matter to increase the thickness of the walls to improve their insulation but of course beyond a certain point there will be little benefit to going thicker. Log cabins are also not as difficult to build as you make them sound, I've made a small log cabin myself actually and I plan on making my home in the same way. As a matter of fact having done this I would venture a guess that it is actually easier than the wattle and daub method (admittedly I've not built one so this is a guess). Shaping the timbers and gathering and forming the mud fill and even weaving the wattle sounds far more time consuming. If timber of any respectable size and quality is available in the area I would still say log construction is probably the best option in terms of the difficulty of building and the quality of the final product (this is of course my opinion). I suspect log cabin construction would have been more common in Europe had there been a greater availability of old growth straight grain softwoods (species like like lodgepole pine, western red ceder or douglas fir). 14:14 this is false, stone is literally the least insulative material one could build a home from, it truly does not get worse than stone (stone's R values range from .025 to .1 which is pretty abysmal (fiberglass is around 40 better than stone btw). Stone only becomes viable given thicknesses of a bare minimum of two feet, anything less is an absolute nightmare to heat.

[@OliverJazzz]

Yes! There's a reason you don't see houses like this in the North, and that's exactly it, not good enough insulation! (And we have a lot of timber here of course.) Even with modern techniques nobody uses stone, it would indeed be a nightmare to heat when it's -20 celsius outside. The medieval castles and churches made from stone are known to be very cold and damp. I really love the look, though, wonder if it would work as a summer cottage?

[@reynazzo7151]

To the best of my knowledge, stone was the best you could get in this time period, as fiberglass wasn't invented yet. Given that stone was only used on buildings that were built by people with money, usually meant to be defensible, anything made of stone was about a meter thick (as shad points out in other videos), which is much thicker than you've pointed out. So in terms of today, you're right, stone sucks as a building material because we have invented better materials. Without modern insulation and power tools however, stone is the best you're going to get.

[@LynxSouth]

I've read several memoirs and (auto)biographies of people who lived in sod houses. To a person, they said that the sod houses were warmer in winter and cooler in summer than whatever (usually wooden) home they eventually moved into. The problems with the sod homes were dampness/humidity (sometimes) and almost always, size: the sod houses were small for families. No one ever tried to work out good ways to make sod houses big enough for full families. OTOH, I remember reading of one woman on her own and two sisters who never married, and they stayed in sod houses for the rest of their lives, didn't want to move to a 'nicer' home. Once you get enough grass on the outside to prevent erosion, I don't see how anything could be better than dirt walls at keeping the outside air out and the inside air in. Maybe too much so.

[@Me_Caveman]

I would guess that various metals compete quite fiercely with low R properties. But stone is pretty terrible.

[@crookeddesk]

Try building a log cabin in medieval times though, the only tools you have access to are axe and saw, all materials need to be gathered and transported by hand (no using your truck lmao) and you can only work during daylight hours

[@RenzorTheRed]

In the US building industry, it's just called 'Tudor', and it's common with stucco houses still. My own personal house is like that, and I love it.

[@pauln2661]

@4:10 Log house has Wattle wall in the upper half. Lacks the daub (Clay with fine straw) and Lime (the white bug repellant outer) on it. Shows the Wattle woven wall method.