HILISKESKAEGSEST NIGULISTE KIRIKUST HINGEPALVETE JA ENESEEKSPONEERIMISE PEEGLIS
BUILDING HISTORY OF ST. NICHOLAS’ CHURCH: CHAPELS AND CHANTRIES AS SELF-PRESENTATION IN LATE MEDIEVAL TALLINN

Summary/Abstract: The present article is the first attempt to study the architectural development of one of the late medieval parish churches of Tallinn in the light of the religious practices and the growing self-consciousness of the citizens. The building history of St. Nicholas’ Church is still largely based on assumptions as the written sources do not cover the main building and reconstruction campaigns of the church. The most informative written source about St. Nicholas’ Church is the account book of the wardens of the church, which covers the period of ca 1465–1520, when major reconstruction works had already been completed. At the same time there are a number of references in different written sources to the chantries of St. Nicholas’ Church, offering help in the reconstruction of the spatial features of this late medieval church. The authors of the present article have combined the building archaeological research with the information provided by the written sources on the foundation of chantries. The results are placed in the context of developments that took place in church architecture in the Hanseatic towns of northern Germany. The emphasis is on the construction of chapels, the activity that significantly altered the appearance of the parish church. The used method has enabled the authors to draw a picture of the construction and location of the chapels and their patron saints at St. Nicholas’ Church during the late Middle Ages. It also helped to specify the timeline of the late medieval reconstruction campaign of the church. The oldest among the chapels is St. Barbara’s, originally located in a former cemetery, possibly with a function of a charnel house. It was first mentioned in 1342 in connection with the re-foundation of a chantry, which allows us to presume that the chapel itself was built even earlier. At the very beginning of the late medieval reconstruction campaign of a church, in the 1390s, the chapel was relocated to the newly built extension of the northern aisle. By then it must have lost its plausible function as a charnel house. However, this was not the first extension built to the church. Prior to the reconstruction campaign, presumably in the first half of the 14th century, a north porch was built. By the end of the 15th century the initial porch was enlarged and it can since then be associated with St. George’s Chapel. // In the 1370s St. Matthew’s Chapel was erected on the southern side of the tower. This is the first extension to St. Nicholas’ Church that can solely be associated with a chapel. In the context of northern German town churches the location of the chapel is highly unusual. As a rule, chapels were at first added to the nave and later to the tower. Although the initial chapel was small, and by today’s standards rather inconspicuous, it must be regarded as an innovative phenomenon in Tallinn during the second half of the 14th century.

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