Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

NAVE

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 284 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

NAVE , ecclesiastically considered, that See also:

part of a See also:church appropriated to the laity as distinguished from the See also:chancel,the See also:choir or the See also:presbytery, reserved for the See also:clergy. In a 14th-See also:century See also:letter (quoted in Gasquet's See also:Parish See also:Life in See also:Medieval See also:England, 1906, p. 45) from a See also:bishop of See also:Coventry and See also:Lichfield to one of his clergy, the See also:reason for this See also:appropriation is given. " Not only the decrees of the See also:holy fathers but the approved existing customs of the Church See also:order that the See also:place in which the clerks sing and serve See also:God according to their offices be divided by screens from that in which the laity devoutly pray. In this way the nave of the church ... is alone to be open to See also:lay See also:people, in order that, in the See also:time of divine service, clerics be not mixed up with lay people, and more especially with See also:women, nor have communication with them, for in this way devotion may be easily diminished." The word " nave " has been generally derived from See also:Lat. navis, See also:ship. Du Cange (Glossarium, s.v. " Navis ") quotes from the Chronicon Moriniacense, of the 12th century, as to the popular origin of the name, Exterius etiam tabernaculum, quod ecclesiae navis a populo vocatur . . See also:Salmasius in his commentary on See also:Solinus (1629) finds the origin in the resemblance of the vaulted roof to the See also:keel of a ship, and refers to See also:Sallust (Jugurtha, 18. 8) where is noticed a similar resemblance in the huts (mapalia) of the Numidians. The use of the word navis may, however, be due to the See also:early See also:adoption of the " ship " as a See also:symbol of the church (see See also:Skeat's See also:note on Piers Plowman, xl. 32). The See also:Greek vacs, See also:Attic vat's (vatssv, to dwell), the inner See also:shrine of a Greek See also:temple, the See also:cella, has also been suggested as the real origin of the word.

This derivative must presume a latinized corruption into navis, for the early application of the word for ship to this part of a church See also:

building is undoubted.' Architecturally considered the nave is the central and See also:principal part of a church, extending from the See also:main front to the transepts, or to the choir or chancel in the See also:absence of transepts. When the nave is flanked by aisles, See also:light is admitted to the church through See also:clerestory windows, some of the most See also:ancient examples being the See also:basilica at See also:Bethlehem and the church of St See also:Elias, at Thessalonica, both of the 5th century; numerous churches in See also:Rome; and in the 6th century the two See also:great basilicas at See also:Ravenna; in all these cases the sills of the clerestory windows were raised sufficiently to allow of a sloping roof over the See also:side aisles. When, however, a See also:gallery was carried above the side aisles, another See also:division was required, which is known as the See also:triforium, and this subdivision was retained in the nave even when it formed a passage only in the thickness of the See also:wall. In See also:Late See also:Gothic See also:work in England, the triforium was suppressed altogether to give more space for the clerestory windows, and See also:roofs of See also:low See also:pitch were provided over the side aisles. The longest nave in England is that of St Albans (30o ft.), in which there are thirteen nave See also:arches or bays on each side; in See also:Winchester (264 ft.) there are twelve bays; in See also:Norwich (25o ft.) fourteen; See also:Peterborough (226 ft.) eleven; and See also:Ely (203 ft.) twelve bays. Most of these dimensions are in excess of those of the See also:French cathedrals; See also:Bourges is 30o ft. See also:long, but as there are no transepts this See also:dimension includes nave and choir. See also:Cluny was 23o ft. with eleven bays; See also:Reims is 235 ft. with ten bays; See also:Paris 170 ft. with ten bays; See also:Amiens 16o with ten bays; and St Ouen, See also:Rouen, 200 ft. with ten bays. In See also:Germany the nave of See also:Cologne See also:cathedral is only 190 ft., including the two bays between the towers. The cathedral at See also:Seville in See also:Spain is 20o ft. long, with only five bays. In See also:Italy the cathedral at See also:Milan is 270 ft. long with nine bays; at See also:Florence, 250 ft. long with only four bays; and St See also:Peter's in Rome 300 ft. long with four bays. On the other See also:hand, the vaults in the nave of the See also:continental cathedrals are far higher than those in England, that of See also:Westminster See also:Abbey being only Io3 ft. high, whilst the choir of See also:Beauvais is 15o ft. The result is that the naves of the See also:English cathedrals not only are longer in actual dimensions, but appear much longer in consequence of their inferior height.

' Vessels resembling boats or See also:

ships are See also:familiar in medieval See also:art and later. Thus " See also:Incense-boats " (navettes) somewhat of this shape are found in 12th-century sculptures. By the 16th century they approximated still more closely to a See also:model of a ship. A large See also:vessel, also in the shape of a See also:boat or ship, and known as a nef, was used at the table of princes and great personages to contain the knives, spoons, &c. Some very elaborate examples of these survive, such as the 15th-century nef of St See also:Ursula in the treasure of the cathedral at Reims, and that of See also:Charles V. of See also:France in the Musee Cluny. A 16th-century nef, adapted for use as a See also:cup, is in the See also:Franks Collection at the See also:British Museum.

End of Article: NAVE

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
NAVARRO, PEDRO (c. 1460-1528) 		[next]
NAVEL (O. Eng. nafela, a word common to Teutonic la...

Site © 2006 - Net Industries