The Medieval Wheelbarrow

Abstract

The Cover Design THE MEDIEVAL WHEELBARROW ANDREA I.. MATTHIES A history of the medieval wheelbarrow is complicated by the absence of extant examples, the confusing terminology found in archival sources, and the mystery of its origins. Because of the lack of archaeological remains and the ambiguity of archival references, contemporary manuscript illuminations, stained glass, and murals depicting scenes of building construction prove invaluable for study­ ing the development of the medieval wheelbarrow. No archaeological evidence remains, because wheelbarrows were relatively simple machines—used until repairs were no longer possi­ ble and then perhaps tossed into the fireplace. The wheelbarrow would be replaced with a version that either followed the original design or was modified by an inventive individual. According to English archival and French pictorial sources, the wheelbarrow rolled onto medieval construction sites in the early 13th century.1 Its origins are unknown. It is not mentioned in Roman architectural literature nor included in Roman artistic renderings of building construction.2 However, the wheelbarrow was known in China from at least the 3d century,3 and the basic idea may have entered Europe through Byzantium or the Islamic world.’ Such a Dr. Matthies is a medieval art and architectural historian presently working as a freelance writer and photographer. She thanks Bert S. Hall for encouragement and assistance. The original research for this project was funded in part by a Chester Dale Fellowship from the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. A grant from the University of Michigan-Dearborn made possible the purchase of additional photographs. 'J.-M. Massa, “La Brouette,” Techniques el Civilisations 2 (1952): 94. The absence of such a labor-saving machine from ancient Rome is not surprising given the enormous labor surplus, especially within the city. ’Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 4, Physics and Physical Technology, pt. 2, Mechanical Engineering (Cambridge, 1965), p. 262. ’Charles Singer et al., A History of Technology, vol. 2, The Mediterranean Civilizations and the Middle Ages (Oxford, 1956), p. 642.© 1991 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/91/3202-0001$01.00 356 The Medieval Wheelbarrow 357 movement of ideas was certainly possible, given the amount of traffic between the Middle East and Europe during the Crusades. The first archival reference is dated 1222 and specifies the purchase ofeight wheelbarrows from Canterbury for the king’s works at Dover: “Item pro viii civeris rotantibus emptis apud Cantuarium.”3 The total cost was 4λ., or 6d. each. Another wheelbarrow was purchased at Win­ chester Castle in 1258 along with five handbarrows: “In una civera empta rotarea, vijd. In quinque civeris virgeis emptis iiijd.”6 In thirty-five years either the cost of wheelbarrows had increased by 2d. or the purchase from Canterbury included a quantity discount. By 1396 at Portchester the cost had risen to 10d. and remained constant until 1507—8 at Ramsey.7 Handbarrows or stretchers remained a relative bargain at only Id. each. Although a wheelbarrow was six times more expensive than a handbarrow, only one laborer was needed to push it. Colvin has calculated that in southern England during the 13th century a laborer earned 1.5-2d. per day between 1220 and 1227 and between 1237 and 1239, with a possible increase between 1263 and 1269 to 1.5—2.5d. per day.8 With such wages being paid to laborers, a wheelbarrow would pay for itself in labor savings within three or four days. Given this fact, the infrequent archival references to the purchase of wheelbarrows is difficult to explain in purely economic terms. Perhaps the fact that one person could now carry the load of two made the wheelbarrow as popular among medieval hod and stretcher carriers as computerized newspaper presses among modern printers.9 Complicating our assessment of the archival references is the confusing terminology associated with the wheelbarrow. While the English 14th-century term, “wheelberghes,”10 remains comprehensi­ ble, the Latin is somewhat less so: civera rotaria, civera rotantibus, or senofactoriis rotalibus." The French term is more confusing than the Latin, since la brouette can also refer to a small wagon.12 This etymological confusion...