Saturday, June 30, 2012

Iron Stoves in the Middle Ages?

While doing research for my book on world explorer Jacques Cartier, I was quite surprised to learn that there were iron stoves aboard ship. When they built the fort along the Saint Charles River, they brought the stoves on land to put in Cartier's hut and other highly ranked officers' quarters.

I searched high and low and couldn't find a single illustration or picture of an iron stove in the 16th century. But my research did prove that there were indeed iron stoves in the 1500s. And it makes sense, that if Cartier had a ship with iron cannons as he did on the Grande Hermine, then why wouldn't he have iron stoves?

Perhaps they looked similar to the one pictured below, date unknown.


http://www.willishenry.com/auctions/04/shaker04/images/193%20stove.jpg
This is intriguing because this is a very different stove compared to the ornate wood stove King Francis I had in his castle (see below). King Francis I is the king who sent Cartier to explore the new world for a Northwest Passage to Cathay (China).

http://www.guyotbrothers.com/fun/wood-burning-stove.htm

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