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Iron fording and building ironwork in the territory of Latvia
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The inventory protocol of Cēsis Castle of 1590 provides a more detailed description of
several windows (Cēsis 2011, 438, 439). A crisscross grille was in the window opening of one
room. The Castle hall had seven windows with intact iron bars, only one extant bar in the
window opening of the eighth window, and four iron bars horizontally up to the middle of
the opening and one vertically in the ninth window, but three windows had no grille. Another
window had a partial grille with three bars crosswise and one lengthwise. A grille was also in
Bauska Castle as in 1650 iron bars on windows were recorded (Bauska 2010, 151). The inven-
tory of Rauna Castle of 1688 mentions “inside bars” of some windows while in other cases
these are “outside bars” implying the location of the bars on the window leaf (Rauna 2014, 356,
360). There is no indication as to the thickness of these bars. If the bars were laid in the wall to
prevent break-ins, then they should be at least 1 cm in diameter. There are few entries on other
window fittings as even in the 17th century only some windows had leaves that could be opened
as stated in some inventory protocols.
In 1590, Cēsis Castle had a roomwith a 16 pane window. In two rooms windows had new
panes with the coat of arms of King Stephen of Poland (Cēsis 2011, 437, 443). Also in Sigulda
Castle, in 1590, the vaulted guest room had newly-paned windows with the painting of the coat
of arms of the then Polish king (Sigulda 2002, 484). As the inventory protocols recorded nei-
ther the size of the windows nor of the frames, nor panes, it can be judged about only vaguely.
“Large panes” (Turaida 1999, 162) at Turaida Castle in 1590 indirectly indicate that previously
smaller panes were used. It is possible to infer that at the end of the 16th century the size of
window panes was at least 10–15 cm as otherwise it would have been difficult to paint a coat of
arms on them. However, at Rauna Castle, in 1688, there were still several windows glazed with
small panes. For example, there were two windows with two leaves each; one of them had 91
panes, while the other – 81 narrow panes. Another room had a mullioned window; each of the
five frames was glazed with 25 square panes, though only two of them had fittings and, conse-
quently, could be opened (Rauna 2014, 362, 364). Bauska Castle, in 1650, had shutters with iron
hinges (Bauska 2010, 146); probably, installed for airing the room and letting in light in summer.
The inventory of Kandava Castle, in 1699, recorded eight windows; four were “sliding windows”
(Kandava 2011, 313) which might imply having a wooden movable grille to let in some light. Do-
bele Castle, in 1711, had shutters with hinges and screws (Dobele 2005, 363). Some old windows
with lead cames were mentioned in Rauna Castle, in 1688, and Kandava Castle, in 1699 (Rauna
2014, 350; Kandava 2011, 315). It is likely that similar unstable framing in Kandava Castle was
for other windows as well, but it had been ruined by wind.
Another way of frame fixing is described in greater detail in the inventory protocol of
Saldus Castle of 1681. Two types of window leaves were used there. The oldest of them con-
sisted of multiple lead cames fixed with iron glazing bars (
Glaß-Fenster in Bley geleget mit Wind-
Eisen
) (Saldus 2016, 354). These were thin iron bars the ends of which were hammered into
the wooden jambs, so the small paned glazing was protected against wind pressure. The same