small room or two added. The fire was on the floor and the smoke
wandered around until it found its way out at the opening, or louvre, in
the roof. Then a chimney was built at the dais end of the hall, and the
mantelpiece became an important part of the decoration. The hall was
divided by "screens" into smaller rooms, leaving the remainder for
retainers, and causing the clergy to inveigh against the new custom of
the lord of the manor "eating in secret places." The staircase developed
from the early winding stair about a newel or post to the beautiful
broad stairs of the Tudor period. These were usually six or seven feet
broad, with about six wide easy steps and then a landing, and the
carving on the balusters was often very elaborate and sometimes very
beautiful--a ladder raised to the _n_th power.

Slowly the Gothic period died in England and slowly the Renaissance took
its place. There was never the gayety of decorative treatment that we
find in France, but the English workmen, while keeping their own
individuality, learned a tremendous amount from the Italians who came to
the country. Their influence is shown in the Henry VIIth Chapel in
Westminster Abbey, and in the old part of Hampton Court Palace, built by
Cardinal Wolsey.

The religious troubles between Henry VIII and the Pope and the change of
religion helped to drive the Italians from the country, so the
Renaissance did not get such a firm foothold in England as it did in
France. The mingling of Gothic and Renaissance forms what we call the
Tudor period. During the time of Elizabeth all trace of Gothic
disappeared, and the influence of the Germans and Flemings who came to
the country in great numbers, helped to shorten the influence of the
Renaissance. The over-elaboration of the late Tudor time corresponded
with the deterioration shown in France in the time of Henry IV. The Hall
of Gray's Inn, the Halls of Oxford, the Charterhouse and the Hall of the
Middle Temple are all fine examples of the Tudor period.

We find very few names of furniture makers of those days; in fact, there
are very few names known in connection with the buildings themselves.
The word architect was little used until after the Renaissance. The
owner and the "surveyor" were the people responsible, and the plans,
directions and details given to the workmen were astonishingly meager.

The great charm that we all feel in the Tudor and Jacobean periods is
largely due to the beautiful panel