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Light Earth Building
Franz Volhard
Light Earth Building
A Handbook for Building
with Wood and Earth
Birkhäuser
Basel
Dipl. Ing. Franz Volhard
Schauer + Volhard Architekten BDA, Darmstadt, Germany
www.schauer-volhard.de
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data

A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress.
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is
concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting,
reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in databases. For any kind of use, permission
of the copyright owner must be obtained.
Cover photo: Light earth external skin applied to battens on a new private house in Darmstadt, 2012
Translation from German into English: Julian Reisenberger
Layout: Michael Karner
Typesetting: Sven Schrape
Lithography: Manfred Kostal, pixelstorm
Printing: Holzhausen Druck GmbH, A-Wolkersdorf
Bibliographic information published by the German National Library

The German National Library lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
This publication is also available as an e-book (ISBN PDF 978-3-0356-0645-4; ISBN EPUB 978-3-0356-0648-5) and in
the original German edition (Bauen mit Leichtlehm, 8., neubearbeitete und ergänzte Auflage, ISBN 978-3-0356-0619-5)
and in a French edition (Construire en terre allégée, Éditions Actes Sud 2016, ISBN 978-2-330-05050-4).
© 2016 Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, Basel

P.O. Box 44, 4009 Basel, Switzerland
Part of Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Printed on acid-free paper produced from chlorine-free pulp. TCF ∞
Printed in Austria
ISBN 978-3-0356-0634-8
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 www.birkhauser.com
Content
Foreword 9
100 Introduction
110 Earth as a building material 11
120 Earth building methods 12
Solid earth construction – Frame construction
130 Building with earth – a historical overview 15
140 Building with earth today? 31
150 What possibilities can earth building techniques offer today? 33
160 Building with timber and earth 33
Straw-clay and fibre-clay mixtures – Light earth
200 Building materials for light earth

210 Soil and earth 41
Soil formation and deposition – Cohesion – Soil texture – Soil identification –
Testing cohesion – Testing slurryability – Sourcing earth for building
220 Fibres and aggregates for light earth 53
Straw – Woodchip – Mineral lightweight aggregates
300 Preparation of materials for light earth

310 Preparation of clay slip 57
Weathering – Soaking – Drying – Mixing by hand – Mixing with an agitator –
Mixing with a compulsory mixer – Consistency of the clay slip – Liquifying agent –
The addition of lime
320 Preparing fibres and aggregates 66
Straw – Wooden aggregates
330 Preparation of the light earth mix 69
Spray method – Dipping method – Mixing in a compulsory mixer –
Mixing proportions – Tempering
340 Organisation of the building site 78
350 Ready-mixed material 80
400 Wet construction

410 Shuttered walls 81
External walls – Internal walls – Formwork – Formwork systems –
Walls with lost formwork – Compacting the light earth mix
420 Manual application 98
Wattle – Stakes – Earth reels – Laths – Manual application onto lathwork
430 Floors and ceilings 107
Preparation of the timber construction – Earth reel floors – Compacted earth
floors on sliding formwork – Floor infill on permanent formwork – Floor infill on
supporting stakes – Suspended lath ceilings
440 Roof insulation 119
Light earth reels – Compaction behind sliding formwork – Infill behind permanent
formwork – Infill on lathwork – Inner lining on lathwork
Content 5
450 Light earth in building restoration 124
Panel infill with straw-clay – Panel infill with light earth – Insulating wall
lining of external walls – Internal insulation applied to lathwork
460 Spray application approaches 131
500 Dry construction

510 Light earth bricks and blocks 133
Brick-format products
520 Light earth panels 135
Panel-format products
530 Self-produced bricks and panels 136
Manual manufacture
540 Walls 142
Light earth masonry – Panel infill in half-timbered structures – Thermally-insulating
internal wall linings – Stacked walls – Partition wall panel elements
550 Floors and roof inclines 151
Self-supporting floor slabs – Earth slabs and bricks for floor weighting
560 Dry construction 154
Walls – Ceilings and roof spaces
600 Aspects of building construction and finishing

610 Protection of the construction 159
Rising damp and splash water – Weather protection – Airtightness –
Wood preservation and surface treatment
620 Plasters and paints 163
Preparations
630 Two-coat lime renders (inside and outside) 168
640 Earth plasters 169
Earth plasters with sand – Fibre-clay or straw-clay plasters – Two traditional
recipes – Paints and wallpapers on earth plasters – Ready-mix mortars –
Requirements of earth plaster mortars
650 Windows and doors 182
660 Floors 183
670 Internal wall coverings 184
Timber wall panelling – Tiling
680 Technical installations and fixings 186
Water installations – Wall chases and anchoring methods
700 Planning and costs

710 Construction period 187
720 Cost and labour 188
Labour – Tips for rationalising the working process – Professional contractors –
Self-building
730 Building codes and regulations 192
Early earth building norms – Current norms – Planning permission and
construction permits – Thermal performance – Building material properties
740 Design, specification and construction supervision 197
750 Self-building 197
760 Typical mistakes 198
6 Light Earth Building

800 Physical properties
810 Thermal protection 199
Thermal insulation – Thermal retention – Heat absorption and dissipation –
Surface temperature – Thermal damping
820 Moisture/drying 209
Water vapour diffusion resistance factor – Equilibrium moisture content
(sorption moisture) – Hygroscopic moisture adsorption and discharge –
Moisture transport – Preventing condensation – Construction moisture and
drying – Side effects during drying
830 Fire behaviour 221
Building material class – Fire resistance class – Classified timber building
elements with earth infill
840 Sound insulation 227
Airborne sound insulation – Sound insulation of timber joist floors
850 Airtightness 232
860 Absorption of toxins 232
Projects
1 Conversion and extension of a half-timbered house (D) 234
2 New private house with workshop (D) 236
3 Earth building settlement: Domaine de la Terre, L’Isle d’Abeau (F) 240
4 New youth community building (D) 242
5 Barn conversion (D) 244
6 House extension (D) 246
7 Cowshed and barn conversions (F) 249
8 Summerhouse (S) 250
9 Atelier (D) 252
10 Earth house in Maria Rain (A) 256
11 Historical renovation and extension of a listed building (D) 258
12 Historical renovation of a listed building (D) 261
13 Single-family home in Raisio (FIN) 264
14 Littlecroft, demonstration building for a research project (UK) 266
15 Sandberghof community-oriented housing (D) 268
16 Single-family home in Sweden (S) 272
17 Church in Järna (S) 273
18 Guesthouse in New Mexico (USA) 274
19 Prajna Yoga Studio in New Mexico (USA) 276
20 Single-family home in Wisconsin (USA) 278
21 Single-family Home in Carla Bayle (F) 280
22 Twenty houses made of straw light earth (F) 282
23 Conversion of a rural house in Normandy (F) 283
24 House rebuilding in Haiti 284
25 Schap 2011 – Primary school in South Africa (ZA) 286
26 Single-family home in Victoria (AU) 288
27 Private house in Darmstadt (D) 290
28 Single-family home in Kaipara Flats (NZ) 294
Content 7
Appendix
Sources and reference literature 296
Publications of projects 301
Index 304
Picture credits 308
About the author 309
Glossary 310
Foreword
First published in 1983 under the name “Leichtlehmbau – alter Baustoff – neue Technik”
(Light Earth Building: New Techniques for an Old Building Material), this book arose in
conjunction with a renewed interest in earth as an environmentally-friendly building
material in the early 1980s and quickly became the first major reference book of its kind.
The intention was to undertake an in-depth study of all the available literature and
norms and to systematically examine ways in which walls, floors and roofs could be built
using earth and straw. Aside from the lack of building codes, there was little knowledge
of the building physics of earth as a building material. The key physical characteristics
of earth, e.g. thermal performance, moisture resistance, sound insulation and its
reaction to fire, had not been fully quantified. Initial comparative fire performance tests
were undertaken to establish that the material has good fire-resistant properties, even
with a high straw content. However, expensive thermal insulation testing methods were
not possible, and a more pragmatic approach was taken by compiling information that
already existed on the material’s thermal conductivity properties. Later sources
corroborated these values and they were adopted, following a proposal by the author,
in the “Lehmbau Regeln” (the German earth building codes) and in DIN 4108-4 (the
German standard governing thermal protection and energy economy in buildings).
While the homogenous, single-leaf light earth wall detailed in the original book has
become the signature form of light earth construction, it is just one of a range of
different possible applications. In the early 1990s we developed multi-leaf constructions
with additional layers of insulation to improve energy economy and comfort levels as
well as to meet the requirements of stricter regulations. These were included in the fifth
edition of this book. In combination with natural, renewable or recycled thermal
insulation materials such as cellulose fibres, it was possible to build sustainable and
more energy-efficient constructions using timber and earth. With the introduction of
additional layers of insulation, the light earth layer could be made thinner but heavier
and more thermally retentive, enabling it to dry out more quickly on site.
In 2013, the seventh edition of this book was published under a new title – “Bauen
mit Leichtlehm, Handbuch für das Bauen mit Lehm und Holz” (Building with Light Earth,
A Handbook for Building with Earth and Wood) – and with a new organisational structure
that better reflects the division in earth building materials and building elements used
in the “Lehmbau Regeln”. The book was expanded to include both traditional historical
techniques as well as new methods of manually applying straw-clay and heavy light
earth mixtures. These were based on the results of a research project in Limburg and
numerous practical tests and investigations.
Light earth is used solely in a non-loadbearing capacity as an infill material. In (tim-
ber) skeleton frame constructions it presents an alternative to the usual lightweight
insulation materials, improving the physical characteristics of the building envelope and
the room climate within. This edition of the book contains numerous practical examples
of simplified wall constructions using earth and light earth that offer improved material
characteristics, for example a very simple design-based means of moisture protection
Foreword 9
that obviates the need for a vapour barrier and adhesive sealing tapes of questionable
durability and longevity. Timber construction has always had the advantage of having
a comparatively slender structure, freeing up more space for the floor plan. Today’s
high-strength building materials are hard and in many cases stronger than they actually
need to be. They are correspondingly hard to recycle, usually requiring shredding or
crushing. Timber and earth constructions, by contrast, are easily adapted and converted
to new uses, and the majority of its constituent building materials can be re-used or
recycled. Houses made of timber and earth need not be expensive, and there are plenty
of opportunities for clients and homeowners to personally contribute through
self-building.
The breadth of new projects – family homes, churches, children’s nurseries, schools,
buildings for livestock, summerhouses, ateliers for artists and museums – shows both
how versatile as well as how commonplace the use of earth as a building material has
become. In industrialised nations, building with earth is no longer exotic but a modern,
affordable and exceptionally sustainable way of building that also offers new aesthetic
possibilities. Alongside the projects that illustrate how prefabricated earth building
materials can be used in today’s construction processes, numerous self-built projects
reveal how people have discovered the unique possibilities of this building material with
their own hands.
This, the eighth edition of this book, expands on techniques of building with light
earth without formwork and details new developments in the earth building norms.
The project section has been expanded to include projects from English-speaking
countries. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that architects and builders around
the world – inspired by earlier editions of this book – have been enthusiastically building
with straw and earth and in the process have developed techniques and machinery
of their own to prepare the material for construction.
I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank all those who provided
material for earlier German editions of this book: in particular Peter Breidenbach, Lydie
Didier, Andreas Dilthey, Alexandre Douline, Lou Host-Jablonski, Hugo Houben, Franck
Lahure, Alain Marcom, Aymone Nicolas, Sophie Popot, Teuvo Ranki, Johannes Riesterer,
Ulrich Röhlen, Elias and Eva Rubin, Olivier Scherrer, Manfred Speidel, Juan Trabanino,
Mikael Westermarck and Christof Ziegert. For this edition, I would especially like to
thank the following people not only for contributing images and information but also for
their suggestions and constructive criticism: Vasko Drogiski, James Henderson, Robert
Laporte and Paula Baker-Laporte, Sandy Lidell Halliday, Chris Morgan, Florian Primbs,
Michael Schauer and last but not least Ute Schauer.
Franz Volhard
September 2015

100 Introduction
“Be not afraid of being called un-fashionable. Changes in the traditional way of building
are only permitted if they are an improvement. Otherwise stay with what is traditional, for
truth, even if it be hundreds of years old, has a stronger inner bond with us than the lie
that walks by our side.”
Adolf Loos, 1913
110 Earth as a building material
In central and northern Europe there is a long tradition of building with earth. European
cultural and climatic conditions, together with the necessity of using locally available
materials, gave rise to numerous different methods of using earth for building purposes:
−− solid building constructions using earth for walls, floor and vaulted roofs
−− hybrid building constructions employing earth in combination with wood and plant
material for walls, ceilings and roof coverings
−− stone masonry with earth mortar
A particular characteristic of earth is that its composition varies from place to place.
Earth is a mixture of clay, silt, sand and gravel or stones in different quantities and
proportions. Not all earths are equally suitable for building purposes – the kinds of
locally occurring deposits therefore determined the building methods used.
Earth hardens exclusively through drying in air and does not chemically cure like
gypsum or cement. Unlike other materials, if water is added, it will soften and can be
refashioned into a new form. That means that it can be reused again and again, but also
that it is sensitive to exposure to water. An important aspect of building with earth is
therefore ensuring that the structure is protected against the potentially destructive
effects of rain or water. A variety of techniques have developed in response to this:
−− periodic repair and replacement of eroded external layers of the building envelope
with new earth material, as seen for example in Africa
−− protection of the earth material through water-resistant coatings such as renders,
plasters or paints
−− stabilisation of the earth material through additives
−− prevention of moisture ingress by means of a weatherproof construction
If left unprotected, earth buildings will return to what they once were. The earth
from which they were made can be returned after use – whether demolished, collapsed
or leftover building material – to the life cycle of nature without the need for extra
processing and need not be disposed of as waste material. Excavations have revealed
that a great flood reduced the ancient “antediluvian” Sumerian city of Ur to a three-
metre-thick layer of earth.
Introduction 11
120 Earth building methods
121 Solid earth construction

When earth is properly processed and of a suitable thickness, its compressive strength
is sufficient to build multi-storey buildings of earth. In Yemen and North Africa there are
examples of buildings that are eight to ten storeys high. In northern Europe, earth
buildings were rarely taller than three to four storeys.
To be useful as a loadbearing material, earth must have a raw density of greater than
1,700 kg/m³. The most important solid earth construction techniques are earth brick
and earth block masonry, rammed earth and cob construction.
Earth masonry is one of the oldest building methods. The cities of early advanced
civilisations, such as those in Mesopotamia, were built with air-dried earth blocks or
adobe bricks. The earth was either “patted” in a malleable consistency into a mould,
applied by hand as a soft paste or rammed or pressed into formwork in a naturally-
moist state. To stabilise the resulting mixture, chopped straw was added. Masonry walls
were constructed with mortars made of lime or earth. Aside from these traditional
methods, all of which can still be seen in many parts of the world, earth materials are
also produced at an industrial scale, for example in adobe “farms” in New Mexico, USA.
Compressed blocks can also be made in larger quantities on site using hand-operated or
mechanised presses. In America, Brazil, Mexico and Algeria, compressed bricks and
blocks are also factory-produced in automated production lines in a manner comparable
to the industrial production of other building materials.
Rammed earth is a more advanced earth building technique that likewise has a long
history. As the walls are created directly on site, rammed earth is less time-consuming
than the manufacture, drying and laying of bricks or blocks. Rammed earth is most
common in regions where stony earth mixtures occur in appropriate compositions.
Fig. 1 Street in the Lyonnais with rendered rammed earth buildings

121-03
Fig. 2 Earth block masonry Fig. 3 Rammed earth
Traditional earth
Traditioneller brick mould
Formrahmen
für Lehmsteine
Fig. 4
Traditioneller
Traditional rammed Traditional moulds for rammed
Stampfbau
earth construction earth and earth blocks
The naturally-moist, processed earth material, is rammed between two sets of

shuttering boards or travelling formwork panels to create continuous, monolithic wall
constructions. Traditional rammed earth techniques are still, indeed again, in use today
in Latin America, Morocco, Afghanistan and China. In Europe, the USA and Australia,
these have been developed into advanced techniques using large-format shuttering
systems, mechanised processing and pneumatic rammers to reduce the degree of
manual labour involved.
122 Frame construction

Earth is also used in frame construction as a non-loadbearing infill material for wall
sections. A pre-erected roof construction ensures that vulnerable earth construction
works are shielded from the weather. For this reason, this method is particularly wide
spread in northern climatic zones with mild, wet summers. In central and northern
Europe, as well as in Japan, timber-frame and traditional half-timbered constructions
Introduction 13
are common. The transmission of loads from the roof and floors via posts or columns in
the walls also improves structural stability in earthquake-prone regions (see project 24).
This technique derives from the early tent, pile and skeleton frame structures with
wattle walls daubed with earth [Soeder 1964].
Over the course of time, many different techniques have developed. In Europe,
diverse means of applying earth to wattles, stakes or a lath of battens evolved, along
with earth brick masonry. These techniques were once so commonplace and generally
known that little is written about them in the literature.
The fill material was mostly straw-clay, a mixture of earth and straw to lend the
material stability. During the renovation of the oldest, 700-year-old, half-timbered
building in Germany, the author had the opportunity to investigate the characteristics
and qualities of these historical techniques, gaining valuable practical insight for the
construction of new infill panels [Volhard 2010a].
Fig. 5 Wattle and daub panels,

Marburg

130 Building with earth – a historical overview
“ne caementorum quidem apud illos aut tegularum usus, materia ad omnia utuntur
informi et citra speciem aut delectationem. quaedam loca diligentius inlinunt terra ita
pura ac splendente, ut picturam ac lineamenta colorum imitetur.”
Tacitus, Germania
“They make no use of stone or brick, but employ wood for all purposes. Their buildings
are mere rude masses, without ornament or attractiveness, although occasionally they
are stained in part with a kind of clay which is so clear and bright that it resembles
painting, or a coloured design.”
Tacitus’ account tells us that the early Germans used wood and earth to build their
dwellings. Stone and brick buildings were probably unknown at that time, not just in
Germany but throughout all of northern Europe, and probably became gradually more
widespread with the expansion of the Roman Empire. This can be seen in German
terms such as Mauer (wall), Ziegel (brick), Mörtel (mortar) and Kalk (lime), which derive
from the Late Latin words murus, tegula, mortarium and calx.
In central Europe, skeleton frame constructions with wattle walling daubed with clay
already existed in the Neolithic period. Archaeologists discovered settlements in Lower
Austria that date back to the 5th or 6th century BC, and can be seen as reconstructions
in the Museum of Prehistory in Asparn/Zaya. The history of earth building in Germany,
Fig. 6 Rendered half-timbered

building, Tübingen
Introduction 15
and in other neighbouring countries of the same general latitude, is essentially that of
half-timbered construction.
Solid earth constructions are rare, and generally restricted to isolated regions and
certain historical phases, e.g. from the end of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th
century, and in the times of need after the two World Wars. Half-timbered construction,
on the other hand, remained the predominant building method for almost all kinds of
buildings until the 19th century, and diverse regional house types and forms of
construction developed over the centuries.
Over time, a variety of different circumstances and new developments caused half-
timbered construction to be displaced by stone and brick constructions. These include:
−− The felling of forests caused a general shortage of wood from the 17th century
onwards. Half-timbered construction consumed significant quantities of wood, and
the intuitively-derived cross-sections of members were generally thicker than they
need have been.
−− Fires that occurred in more densely populated settlements frequently caused the
destruction of entire sections of towns and cities. Brick and stone were less
susceptible to fire.
−− Brick and stone were better able to fulfil a need for greater durability and safety than
perishable materials such as wood and earth.
Because brick production also required wood to fire the ovens and stone buildings were
expensive and often cold and wet, there was a brief period towards the end of the 18th
Fig. 7 15th century half-timbered

building, Hasselt, Belgium, renova
ted in 1996

century when the conditions for monolithic earth construction methods were good. In
1764, for example, the Prussian State decreed the use of earth lumps as an alternative to
wood, which was then in short supply. In France, C. de Cadenet built a village in 1741 for
farm labourers using a rammed earth technique (Charleval, Durance).
In 1772, G. Goiffon published “Art du maçon piseur”, the first manual detailing the
technique originating from the Romans and brought via the colonies to France. Shortly
after, in 1790, the French architect F. Cointeraux published his famous “School of Rural
Architecture” which included detailed instructions on Pisé construction. This book was
translated into most European languages, the German edition being published in 1793
[Cointeraux 1793].
In 1797, D. Gilly also published his “Handbuch zur Land-Bau-Kunst” [Gilly 1818] in
which he outlined this technique of building with earth. The uptake of the Pisé method in
Germany, which was described as a means of building dwellings that were “extremely
economical, healthy, durable, warm and absolutely fireproof” [Wimpf 1841] was, however,
largely limited to localised pockets where particular individuals were especially active.
In Weilburg, the factory owner Wilhelm Jakob Wimpf was responsible for the building of
several rammed earth buildings, some of them several storeys high, most of which are
still intact although not outwardly apparent as rammed earth buildings (fig. 8) [Erhard
1982]. In Austria too, rammed earth was not used widely and only a few isolated
examples of historical buildings still remain [Kugler 2009].
Fig. 8 Rammed earth house,

1828/29, Bahnhofstrasse 11,
Weilburg
Introduction 17
In France, by contrast, a new culture of building with earth began to emerge in the 19th
century in many parts of the country. Entire towns and villages, chateaus, residential
buildings, schools, town halls, workshops, barns and farmsteads were built using rammed
earth or earth bricks, many of which are still in good condition, for example in the
rammed earth region of the Rhône-Alpes in the hinterland of Lyon and St. Etienne (fig. 1).
The soil in this region is ideal for rammed earth: it is stony and gravelly but also cohesive,
and can often be used without further processing for ramming between formwork.
One of the reasons why rammed earth failed to become more widely adopted in
Germany and elsewhere is that it did not build on a regionally pre-existing building
tradition and many were therefore not receptive to the unfamiliar building method. In
regions with less suitable soil, for example very silty soil, the preparation of a suitable
mixture is laborious, in regions with very lean earth even impossible or dangerous. In
more northerly climes, the weather conditions were less conducive to using rammed
earth as a construction method. Earth brick masonry was more quickly constructed,
especially under a roof, and more widespread as a result.
Almost all the still existent earth buildings in Austria’s so-called “Ingenieurdörfer”
(engineered villages) in northern Burgenland and the Weinviertel were built during this
period out of earth brick, though many are at risk of being demolished. These houses
with their traditional limewashed façades define the typical appearance of the local
villages, and especially the Kellergassen, the cellar lanes (fig. 9). The loess soil typical
of the region was mixed with chopped straw and originally formed into clumps that were
then stacked on top of one another to form so-called “Wuzlmauern” (lump or ‘clat’
walls). Later, this mix was pressed into moulds and then dried to make earth bricks in
Austrian format (29 × 14 × 6.5 cm) or blocks (approx. 30 × 15 × 15 cm) for “Quaderstock-
mauerwerk” (ashlar walls) [Kugler 2009, Maldoner/Schmid 2008, Bruckner 1996].
Fig. 9 Weinviertel, Lower Austria

The ultimate cause of the decline of earth building techniques, and likewise of half-
timbered construction, from the mid 19th century onwards lies in the onset of industrial
isation. New building tasks demanded new solutions: multi-storey buildings and wide
spans were not achievable with earth building techniques, and its methods are not
well-suited for façade decorations, cornices, projections and recesses. As new building
techniques became available, earth building seemed backward, primitive and impover-
ished by comparison. New large-scale housing programmes could only be achieved with
new industrialised building methods, and while the rest of the building sector became
increasing industrialised, earth building remained a craft. With the tapping of coal
resources, brickworks, cement factories and iron foundries arose producing new “durable”
materials and even entire prefabricated sections of buildings. Earth building techniques
were used at most for sealing, for screed floors and as ballast in suspended floors.
“Earth building was ultimately brought to a standstill through a relentless one-sided
campaign by building materials producers, most notably the fledgling brick industry.
Banks would not finance earth constructions at the same conditions as other masonry
buildings, and insurance companies started to be more discriminating. It has to be said,
however, that many of the earth buildings of the time were a sorry sight with detached
plaster resulting from improper building techniques.” [Hölscher et al. 1947]
And indeed, the problem of achieving a good lime plaster bond on solid earth building
constructions does seem to be a recurring topic in the literature of the day. The
architect Hermann Muthesius likewise saw this as a key disadvantage of earth building
(see below). But other methods, such as the traditional thin layer of hair-reinforced lime
plasters applied to straw-clay infill panels, did not present such problems.
Fig. 10 Pisé building, France
Introduction 19
With the end of the First World War, however, earth building experienced a revival in
Germany. Materials that were dependent on coal for production were scarce, transport
possibilities were limited and tradesmen few and far between. In the space of just a few
years, more than 20,000 new earth buildings were built, mostly as self-built settlements
in rural areas [Fauth 1946, 1948].
The “German Committee for the Advancement of Earth Building Methods” was
founded and teaching and advice centres were established along with congresses and
courses for training earth builders. Initial teething problems due to a lack of experience
were soon overcome and the first scientific research was conducted into aspects such
as fire safety, compressive strength and materials testing procedures at materials
testing laboratories. A generally accepted state of the art of earth building soon emerged.
However, despite state subsidisation, an official building code never followed. The phase
of earth building was brief, lasting only a few years directly after the war until the
building materials industry recovered and transport possibilities had “normalised”.
Thereafter, earth building techniques were used only in individual cases. Towards
the end of the Second World War, earth building represented a way of circumventing
“the prohibition of all non-war-oriented building activities” [Hölscher et al. 1947]. Several
exemplary settlements made of earth were built in Pomerania.
In anticipation of the housing shortage towards the end of the war in 1944, a group
of German earth building experts, among them Richard Niemeyer and Wilhelm Fauth,
developed a draft ordinance as a formal basis for the reintroduction of earth building
techniques – one did not want to be unprepared for the second time. This Earth Building
Ordinance, the [Lehmbauordnung 1944], was published on 4 October 1944 in the
Reichsgesetzblatt, the National Gazette.
After the end of the war, earth building techniques were once again propagated as
a method of building houses and workplaces with the few means available. Once again,
a “German Council for Earth Building” was founded and numerous teaching and
information centres established for training earth building labourers on building sites.
This time, however, experts called for earth building to be included as part of the
rationalisation and mechanisation of building after the war:
“We must overcome the idea that earth building is a provisional building method. It must
be given the same consideration as other construction methods with regard to mechanisa-
tion and industrialisation. The key to the success of earth building, as with the rest of the
building sector, is systematic rationalisation.” [Pollack/Richter 1952]
The scientific development of earth building was documented in the magazine
“Naturbauweisen” (Natural Building Methods, fig. 14) and in numerous other publications.
Earth building was put forward not just as a provisional method for times of emergency,
but also as an economic and resource-efficient necessity.
“The top priority for the leaders of an economy, especially one that has to overcome the
devastations of wartime, has to be the prudent use of resources … The building of a house
out of the soil of the earth on which it stands is an example of such prudence.”
[Pollack/Richter 1952]
Earth building activities in Germany were, however, most widespread in the then
Soviet Occupation Zone following the Soviet Military Administration’s Order No. 209 for

Fig. 11 Social housing cooperative: residential building
for six families made of rammed earth, Dresden 1919/20
Fig. 12 Advertisement from 1921:

Press for the rational manufacture of
earth bricks and blocks
Fig. 13 Richard Niemeyer, Der Lehmbau und seine Fig. 14 Naturbauweisen, Information sheet issued
praktische Anwendung [Niemeyer 1946] (Earth building by the Council for Earth Building at the GDR Chamber
and its practical application) of Technology, 1948–50
Introduction 21
Housing Provision, which decreed the building of 200,000 small farm homesteads, 40 %
of which were to be built with natural and locally available materials. The building of
17,300 dwellings made of earth building materials that followed over a period of two
years was calculated as having achieved cumulative cost savings amounting to 200
million bricks, 40,000 tonnes of lime, 110,000 tonnes of coal and 750,000 tonnes of
transport capacity [Pollack/Richter 1952]. Earth building in East Germany continued until
the end of the 1950s, but in West Germany was once again short-lived and restricted
predominantly to the years immediately following the war. Although the Lehmbauord-
nung from 1944 was finally introduced as an official technical building norm in 1951
[DIN 18951 1951], and other preliminary norms followed until 1956, building with earth did
not play a role in the Wirtschaftswunder years of growing prosperity in the 1950s.
Why no effort was made to apply new technological possibilities to earth building
remains a mystery, particularly given the fact that during the same period in the
USA – in an age not characterised by austerity –, earth was being rediscovered as
a building material that could be economically produced with the help of new industrial-
ised processing and fabrication methods [Vick 1949]. In Germany, there were few such
efforts, most notably the “Tonadur” bricks and panels produced by a Bavarian brickwork
producer for the infill of walls, floors and roof inclines [Tonadur 1949].
In all the old books on earth building, however, little space is devoted to traditional
methods and building materials, for example straw-clay and light earth, despite the fact
that skeleton frame construction had remained one of the most common construction
methods in Northern Europe over centuries. One possible reason for this may have been
the shortage of wood in the times of crisis in which earth building was most widely used:
during and after the wars [Speidel 1983].
Various high profile architects have also turned to earth as a means of building,
especially during the times of crisis. In Austria, shortly after the First World War, Adolf
Loos employed earth building materials for the Heubergsiedlung in Vienna. In some of
the first construction lectures to take place after 1945, Egon Eiermann instructed his
students in Karlsruhe in earth building methods (fig. 19), and Otto Bartning erected a
settlement built using earth materials for the Protestant church’s Diakonisches Werk in
Neckarsteinach near Heidelberg in 1946 (figs. 17 and 18). However, all these initiatives
still had the character of a provisional method during times of crisis [Speidel 1983].
The architect Hermann Muthesius recommended earth building for small rural buildings,
but voiced reservations about the extended construction times required for rammed
earth walls and problems with plaster adhesion.
In France, Le Corbusier was, unfortunately, not able to realise his Murondins project
in 1941. French architects and engineers were most active in earth building in the former
colonies of Algeria, Morocco and Senegal, developing a new form of modern architec-
ture using a cement-stabilised rammed earth technique that they called “béton de terre”
(M. Luyckx 1944, J. Dreyfus 1954). In Morocco, the engineer A. Masson oversaw the
construction of 2,700 houses from 1962 to 1967, which were built of stabilised earth
blocks [Nicolas 2011].

Fig. 15 DIN 18951 1951: Earth Buildings, Regulations for Construction (withdrawn without replacement in 1971)
Introduction 23
Fig. 16 House in Bad Dreikirchen, South Tyrol. A building in the local vernacular: stone walls laid in earth
mortar (architect: Lois Welzenbacher 1923)
“… but, I hear you say, this cumbersome process of ramming earth is not rational, not
modern. Lightweight, prefabricated houses are the future of building. That as may be.
But, if the research and development of prefabricated houses needs five years in America,
it will certainly be 15 years or more before we are that far here in Germany. In our use of
earth, we are working in the present, where we have no coal and no means of transport.
Once there is enough coal, we will start to fire bricks again …”
Otto Bartning, 1948
In 1971, at a time in which faith in progress was at its zenith, the German earth building
norms were withdrawn without replacement.
Rediscovery
A few years later, however, interest in earth building was rekindled in the context of
the worsening energy crisis in 1973 as part of a growing awareness of the need for less
energy dependent, more environmentally friendly and non-toxic building materials.
But, although building with earth had excellent credentials in all these respects, it was
all but impossible to build with earth. Craftsmen with the appropriate skills were no
longer available and there were (at that time) no commercially-available earth building
materials. Following a few first pioneering attempts in the early 1980s, the use of light

Fig. 17 Rammed earth construction,
Neckarsteinach 1946
Fig. 18 Self-build settle-

ment in Neckarsteinach,
1946 (directed by Otto
Bartning)
Fig. 19 Settlement for post-war resettled citizens in Hettingen, 1946–47, earth block masonry internal walls
(architect: Egon Eiermann)
Introduction 25
earth in timber frame constructions and the repair of half-timbered buildings gradu-
ally became more widespread. These developments were spurred on in part by the
publication of the first edition of this book in 1983, which went on to become a standard
reference book in the field.
A further focal area was the rediscovery of earth as a building material for the preser-
vation of historical monuments, especially half-timbered buildings. It had become clear
that the new building materials and sealants used during the 1960s were often the cause
of damages to old structures, and that there was a need for more sustainable and
authentic techniques.
In these early years, due to a lack of suitably qualified craftsmen, there was no
alternative but to undertake much of the building work oneself using building materials
made directly on site. But by the 1990s, professional interest in earth construction was
rising. Building contractors began to offer earth building services, and some firms even
began to specialise exclusively in earth building. The increase in demand led to corre-
sponding developments in the production of prefabricated earth building products
for diverse uses, including earth bricks, mortars, plasters, light earth and straw-clay for
on-site use as well as building boards in a variety of formats.
One company was particularly responsible for the rapid growth of this market sector:
Lehmbau Breidenbach, now more widely known as Claytec. The growing circle of people
involved in earth building led to the establishment in 1992 of a non-profit-oriented earth
building association, the “Dachverband Lehm” (DVL), as a forum for the exchange of
information and ideas between manufacturers, the trade, architects, academics and
clients. Since its founding, the association has devoted significant effort to elaborating
a consensus of the state of the art of earth building in the form of a building code. In 1998,
the publicly-funded development process, in which the author played a significant role,
Fig. 20 New light earth building, 1986

Fig. 21 The first new building
to be built using light earth in 1983
(see project 2)
Fig. 22 Renovation and conver

sion of a house in Alsfeld (Markt 2)
from 1350 with new panel infill
made of straw light earth (con
struction: Talis company, 1989)
Introduction 27
Fig. 23 Product range, Claytec 1992 (Claytec®)
Fig. 24 Development of prefabri-

cated products (Claytec®)
Fig. 25 Earth panel production

1996 (Claytec®)

culminated in the publishing of the “Lehmbau Regeln” by the DVL. The code has since
been incorporated into the technical building regulations of nearly all the Federal States
of Germany [Lehmbau Regeln 1998 and 2009]. Since 2010, a work group has elaborated
detailed norms for the most important industrially-produced earth building products, an
essential step for the production, labelling, testing and application of modern industrial
building materials.
The DVL also addressed the establishment of skills and knowledge in earth build-
ing – previously communicated in local initiatives, seminars and course, and a few
isolated universities and higher education institutions – through the development of a
formalised theoretical and practical training course, running over a period of several
weeks. The “Fachkraft Lehmbau” course trains craftsmen and women in the specialisa-
tion of earth building and is overseen by a regional chamber of trades. Successful
completion enables participants to enrol in the Register of Craftsmen, giving them the
same status as other building trades (Register A, Bricklayers and Masons, Specialisa-
tion: Earth Building) [Dachverband Lehm].
In France, the CRAterre group (International center for Earthen Architecture) has
developed since the 1980s and is now recognised around the world as a leading centre
for earth building. The group formed at the École d’Architecture de Grenoble, partly as a
response to the impressive tradition of Pisé architecture in the region. In 1979, the book
“Construire en Terre” [CRAterre 1979] was published as a first systematic attempt to
document earth building around the world. In 1989, a comprehensive handbook followed
entitled “Traité de construction en terre” [CRAterre 1989]. In 1984, CRAterre began
offering a two-year course (CEAA Terre) together with the École d’Architecture de
Grenoble that has since become the DSA Terre post-master diploma. Comprising a
combination of theoretical tutoring and practical application, it remains the only course
of its kind to date. The group also oversaw the construction of construction projects,
especially abroad. The largest and most successful of these is an earth building project
that began in 1981 on the island of Mayotte, comprising 20,000 dwellings made of
hand-pressed, locally-made compressed blocks (fig. 26).
In 1981, Jean Dethier and CRAterre organised a major exhibition entitled “Architectures
de terre” at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, which went on to travel to other
museums, including the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt. The catalogue was
translated into several languages [Dethier 1981]. The exhibition also gave rise in part to
a spectacular follow-on project: “Le Domaine de la Terre” in Villefontaine near Lyon.
A total of 65 social housing units designed by different architects were built as a means
of demonstrating the economic potential of rammed earth, compressed earth blocks
and light earth in contemporary conditions (see project 3 and fig. 28).
Parallel to these developments, initiatives have sprung up all over France using earth
for the renovation and repair of historical earth buildings. Earth building has become
more professional and earth building products are available on the market. A network
of contractors gradually emerged, culminating in the foundation of AsTerre, the French
network of professional earth building contractors, in 2006. Here too, a primary task
will be the development of building codes for earth construction.
Introduction 29
Fig. 26 Houses on the island
of Mayotte 1982 (CRAterre)
Fig. 27 Terstaram® press,

Mayotte 1982
Fig. 28 The Domaine de la terre settlement at Isle d’Abeau

In other European countries, as well as in the USA, Australia and New Zealand, active
earth building groups have been developing since the 1980s. Various national associa-
tions have been founded and university institutes around the world are undertaking
research, development and teaching in earth building. Norms and standards are being
developed in several countries – or being adopted and adapted from building codes
from other countries (see chapter 732).
140 Building with earth today?
The energy crisis in 1973 made it painfully clear how dependent modern industrial
nations are on a steady flow of oil for their continued prosperity and living standards.
The limits of growth and of environmental exploitation were noted:
“The crisis […] will become worse and end in disaster, until or unless we develop a new
lifestyle which is compatible with the real needs of human nature, with the health of living
nature around us, and with the resource endowment of the world.
“Now, this is indeed a tall order, not because a new life-style to meet these critical
requirements and facts is impossible to conceive, but because the present consumer
society is like a drug addict who, no matter how miserable he may feel, finds it extremely
difficult to get off the hook. The problem children of the world – from this point of view
and in spite of many other considerations that could be adduced – are the rich societies
and not the poor.
“… The system of production by the masses mobilises the priceless resources which are
possessed by all human beings, their clever brains and skilful hands, and supports them
with first-class tools. The technology of mass production is inherently violent, ecologically
damaging, self-defeating in terms of non-renewable resources, and stultifying for the
human person. The technology of production by the masses, making use of the best of
modern knowledge and experience, is conducive to decentralisation, compatible with the
laws of ecology, gentle in its use of scarce resources, and designed to serve the human
person instead of making him the servant of machines. I have named it intermediate
technology to signify that it is vastly superior to the primitive technology of bygone ages
but at the same time much simpler, cheaper, and freer than the super-technology of the
rich. One can also call it self-help technology, or democratic or people’s technology – a
technology to which everybody can gain admittance and which is not reserved to those
already rich and powerful.”
E.F. Schumacher: Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, 1973
“The catastrophe is not brought on by nature, but by people alone. And one way or the
other, the catastrophe can only be held off if people either return to the laws of entropy,
or find ways of circumventing the limits of the sun without causing harm.”
G. Moewes: Weder Hütten noch Paläste [Moewes 1995]
Introduction 31
In this respect, building with earth, wood and plant fibres is one of the few techniques
that needs no more than the sun’s energy. Earth dries in air and can be re-plasticised
and reshaped through the addition of water, and wood and plant fibres have a net zero
carbon footprint. The building technology is simple and available to everyone, and uses
raw materials that can be found almost everywhere in relevant quantities without
requiring energy-intensive pre-processing. In addition, despite already being well
practised, it can be developed further.
Today, many building materials are already termed sustainable if it is technically
possible to recycle them, irrespective of the fact that shredding and melting down are
energy-intensive processes that are also dependent on the continued availability of
fossil fuels. Earth and wood, by contrast, can be reused again and again with minimal
energy requirement and when no longer needed can be returned to nature without
harming people or nature.
In addition to the aforementioned aspects, there are plenty of other reasons for
employing earth as a building material. When faced with the high cost of building, people
sometimes elect to undertake some of the building works themselves. Earth building
offers many ways in which people can bring their own ideas and skills to bear, either in
the making of earth building materials on site, or in using ready-made earth building
materials. More and more people are interested in the building material itself, as are
manufacturers and contractors. The latter in particular, due to their qualifications and
better equipment, are able to apply the technique at a larger, more professional scale
than is possible for the self-builder, and are in a position to develop techniques further.
Earth is, of course, not suitable for every kind of building task. It’s low compressive
strength means that loadbearing earth constructions are typically limited to one or
two storeys (taking safety margins into account). A further disadvantage is that the
necessary drying times for wet earth building materials restricts the possible construc-
tion period to the drier months of the year.
But for many building tasks – such as low-rise housing (also in urban areas), single
and multi-family homes, the renovation of existing buildings (especially half-timbered
buildings), rural buildings (both dwellings and agricultural buildings), and public
buildings such as schools and children’s nurseries – earth does represent a viable
alternative or supplement to other building materials, particularly in association
with a loadbearing timber frame. Building with earth is now a proven building technol-
ogy. One must, of course, observe the material-specific technical particularities, but
with adequate knowledge, experience as well as care in the planning and undertaking
of building works, there is no reason not to exploit the advantages of this obvious and
readily available material.

150 What possibilities can earth building techniques offer today?
The traditional adage about earth construction – “warm in winter, cool in summer” – must
be seen in the context of the technological standards of the time. Modern day require-
ments expect more constant environmental conditions. At the same time, fossil fuels
need to be used much more sparingly. This has resulted in regulations that prescribe
minimum levels of insulation that are not achievable with a normal wall – whether a thick
solid earth wall or a conventional brick wall. Additional insulation is required.
Loadbearing earth constructions made of rammed earth, earth block masonry or cob
obviate the need for expensive timber frame constructions but the thick walls plus
insulation consume valuable floor space. Only once the walls have been finished can the
roof be built and when it rains, work has to stop and the walls need to be covered. That
notwithstanding, the adoption of the building code in Germany [Lehmbau Regeln 1999]
has at least made it possible to obtain planning permission for loadbearing earth walls
up to a height of two storeys.
For non-loadbearing constructions, such as timber frame construction, earth building
materials can be used in many different ways. In essence, modern timber and earth
constructions are a technological advancement of the historical tradition of panel infill
in half-timbered constructions. In addition to earth bricks and blocks, and straw-clay
and other fibre-based mixtures – typically in combination with additional layers of
insulation –, light earth building materials offer several physical, technical and practical
advantages.
160 Building with timber and earth
161 Straw-clay and fibre-clay mixtures

The term “straw-clay” or “fibre-clay” denotes earth mixtures with a dry bulk density of
between 1,200 and 1,700 kg/m³. The earth is mixed with straw or other fibres into a soft
malleable form [Lehmbau Regeln 2009]. Typical application areas include wall and
ceiling panel infill and thick layers of plaster.
Earth mixtures can also be prepared using all manner of fibres, the majority of which
are finer than straw resulting in a consistency that – unlike straw-clay – is suitable for
making products such as earth bricks, mortars for thin layers of plasters or spray-applied
mortars. These mixtures are known under the generic term “fibre-clay”.
The earth mixture is reinforced with shredded or chopped straw stems, which helps
to reduce plaster cracking and erosion, and improves its insulating properties. The most
common method of application is described in detail later and is a precursor to working
with light earth (see chapter 420).
In the traditional wattle and daub method, the panels formed by the vertical and
horizontal members of the half-timbered structure are filled with a wattle made of
hardwood stakes woven with supple willow branches onto which a straw-clay or
chopped straw-clay mix is applied, or daubed. In some areas (Normandy, for example),
a lath of spaced battens serves as a backing onto which the straw-clay is hooked,
Introduction 33
Fig. 29 Fibre-clay plaster mortar with chopped straw, Fig. 30 Straw-clay, made with bale straw
prepared as a naturally-moist mix
Fig. 31 Section through moulded earth brick made Fig. 32 Straw-clay, dry ready-mix formulation
of fibre-clay
straddling it in a saddle-like manner, before being smoothed over. In the case of

stakes, horizontal timber stakes are wedged into notches in the vertical studs. Once
the timber frame, including the floors, has been fitted with stakes, the stakes are either
wrapped in place with a straw-clay mix, or taken out panel for panel, and then rein-
serted in alternating layers of straw-clay and stake. The surface is then smoothed over
or plastered with a layer of finer straw-clay. Vertical stakes wedged between horizontal

161-04
a)
a) wattle
Flechtwerk b)
b) continuous wattleFlechtwerk
durchgehendes
c)
c) horizontal
waagrechtestakes
Stakung d)
d) vertical stakes
senkrechte Stakung
e) tightly-spaced
e) enges Fachwerk, Stakung
timber posts with stakes f)f) widely-spaced
weites Fachwerk, Lattung
timber posts with laths
Fig. 33 Panel infill with straw-clay
timber beams but without the additional willow wattle is also common in some regions
(South Germany, for example). Here enough straw is mixed into the earth mixture to
enable the mass to be worked into the spaces between the stakes.
Earth reels are a further method in which the stakes are first wrapped with a ‘reel’
of straw-clay and then wedged into the prepared notches in the timber-frame panel
while still moist. The reels are pressed up against each other and then coated with a
layer of fine straw-clay to create a smooth surface (see chapter 432).
Introduction 35
Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
Rivas,[XII-2] calling to succeed him Simon Orozco, whom he could
more easily control.
Buitrago treated a communication from

BUITRAGO,
OROZCO, PEREZ.
Morazan, sent him from San Miguel, with
contumely; and afterward, when the ex-president,
as jefe of Costa Rica, accredited near him two commissioners, he
declined to receive them.[XII-3] His course won him commendation
from the rulers of Guatemala.[XII-4] His term of office came to an
end on the 1st of April, 1843, and he was temporarily succeeded by
Juan de Dios Orozco. The official press asserted that the election for
director had been made with perfect freedom. But no candidate
having received the requisite number of votes, the assembly chose
Manuel Perez to fill the position.[XII-5] The state was at peace,[XII-6]
but was not to enjoy that benefit long. In a previous chapter I have
spoken of the desolating war waged within her borders by the
tyrants of Salvador and Honduras. She was, moreover, harassed by
the intemperate demands for British claimants made by Chatfield,
the ally of the aristocrats of Guatemala, who went so far as to
dictate to Nicaragua how to recognize and pay these claims.[XII-7]
The assembly then authorized the executive to arrange the matter in
the best way possible, and Castellon, the ministro general, proposed
to Chatfield to submit the disputed claims to arbitration, naming
Bishop Viteri as the Nicaraguan arbitrator. Finally, a legation was
despatched to London, Castellon being the minister and Máximo
Jerez the secretary.[XII-8] The British authorities resolved, however,
to use coercion in order to force a settlement of the claims, the
corvette Daphne blockading the port of Realejo in August 1846; and
the government, being without funds to meet such demands at
once, had to pledge the revenue from the tobacco monopoly during
the next four years.
Leon, after its terrible conflict with the forces of Salvador and
Honduras, aided by Nicaraguan allies, was in a shattered condition,
and most of the families dwelling therein were in mourning, and
reduced to indigence. Muñoz, who so efficiently coöperated to that
result, had secured the coveted reward, the command in chief of the
western department. The seat of government was at San Fernando,
and Blas Antonio Saenz assumed the executive duties on the 20th of
January, 1845.[XII-9] Under the sword of Muñoz the elections for
director supremo were effected, and José Leon Sandoval obtained a
plurality vote.[XII-10] He was declared duly elected on the 4th of
April. The assembly passed several important measures.[XII-11]
Peace had not been restored. Disturbances

REVOLUTION UPON
REVOLUTION.
were breaking out in several parts. There were
revolutionary movements in Managua, and the
government sent thither Ponciano Corral to make an investigation,
and quell the sedition. His report brought about the imprisonment of
several citizens.[XII-12] Manifestations in favor of Cabañas at Rivas
were put down with an iron hand. On the 24th of June there was a
revolt at Leon, which Muñoz quelled, and the government had its
authors confined in San Juan del Norte.[XII-13] The executive had
proclaimed neutrality in the contest between the government of
Salvador and Malespin, who was sustained by Honduras; and though
he concluded with Salvador at San Fernando a treaty of peace,
friendship, and alliance, he also entered into a similar one with
Honduras.[XII-14] The latter treaty was intended to be a reality, and
it is undeniable that Nicaragua was a faithful ally and coöperator of
Honduras down to the treaty of Sensenti. The treaty with Salvador
was not made in good faith on the part of Nicaragua.
The town of Chinandega was, in the latter part of July, captured

by 200 revolutionists under José M. Valle, alias El Chelon,[XII-15] who
had come with sixty or eighty men on a schooner from La Union,
and landed at Cosigüina.[XII-16] On the 26th Muñoz was attacked in
Leon, but defeated his assailants.[XII-17] The government abandoned
San Fernando and went to Managua.[XII-18] Muñoz, victorious again
at Chichigalpa, marched on Chinandega, which he occupied without
opposition; but having to return to Leon, the insurgents retook it. He
came back with a large force on the 16th of August, and reoccupied
the place.[XII-19] Sandoval had, on the 9th, forbidden the men who
accompanied Morazan to Costa Rica from entering Nicaraguan soil. A
ministerial crisis occurred at this time, Rocha and César resigning
their portfolios, which were given to Máximo Jerez and Buitrago.[XII-
20] Their tenure was necessarily short, and they were superseded in
the latter part of the year by Fruto Chamorro and José Guerrero, the
latter being almost immediately succeeded by Lino César. This new
arrangement gave the director an homogeneous cabinet. The
government was now a decidedly conservative one.
The revolution came to an end in the latter part of September

1845, an amnesty being issued excepting only the chief leaders, and
persons guilty of common crimes.[XII-21]
This short truce enabled Sandoval to pay an

SANDOVAL AND
MORALES.
official visit to the several districts. In Chinandega
the inhabitants having abandoned their homes, he
issued orders to bring them back.[XII-22] The government was
levying heavy taxes. The citizens of Leon, Chinandega, El Viejo, and
other places, who were the victims of the self-styled "ejército
protector de la paz," were compelled to support the régime which
had its being out of the destruction of the first-named town. It is,
therefore, not a matter of surprise that the people of many towns
went off to the woods. The insurrection broke out again, Valle
appearing in Segovia, and reëntering Chinandega on the 26th of
November. The amnesty decree was thereupon revoked.[XII-23] The
state of Honduras took part in the war, sending an army under
Guardiola to the aid of Sandoval. The insurgents were defeated first
by Muñoz, and soon after by Guardiola, who occupied Chinandega.
[XII-24]At the end of the campaign Muñoz signified a desire to leave
the state, and asked for a passport; but the government replied with
words of fulsome praise that his services could not be spared.[XII-25]
This was precisely what Muñoz had fished for.[XII-26]
Efforts were made by Buitrago and others to prevail on Sandoval

to call the chambers of 1846 to sit in Leon, but he objected to the
proposition. The assembly met first in San Fernando June 7, 1846,
and on the 14th of August sanctioned every past act of the
government.[XII-27] At a later date it removed to Managua, and
adjourned leaving much unfinished business, for which it was
summoned to an extra session,[XII-28] and after doing what was
required of it, retired on the 18th of December.
The end of Sandoval's term was approaching, and elections for

supremo director took place. The assembly met again on the 12th of
March, 1847, and Senator Miguel R. Morales assumed the executive.
Minister Salinas in his annual report made a number of suggestions
to the chambers; namely, an amendment of the constitution in the
direction styled by the conservatives, "moderado y de órden;" good
relations with the pope, and cordial friendship with the priests;
public instruction based upon the requirements of the council of
Trent. The office of supremo director passed, on the 6th of April, into
the hands of José Guerrero, who had been chosen for the
constitutional term.[XII-29] Acceding to the repeated petitions of the
people of the western department, Guerrero decreed[XII-30] to make
Leon the residence of the government, and the transfer was effected
July 20th, the people of that city greeting the director and his
officials with joy. The assembly, however, preferred to sit at
Managua, and did so on the 3d of September.[XII-31]
The country stood in need of a new constitution, but this could

not be framed at the present time, because the whole attention of
the government and people was absorbed by the questions with
Great Britain, which were a menace to Nicaraguan territory, and
even to the independence of all Central America. These difficulties
were connected with the possession of the territory known as the
Mosquito Coast, or Mosquitia. The Spanish authorities to the last
moment of their rule over Central America acted in a manner
indicative of Spain's claim of full sovereignty over that territory,
disallowing the pretended right of the Zambo chief who under British
protection had been dubbed King of Mosquitia.[XII-32]
A British agent claimed some years afterward

THE MOSQUITO
COAST.
that the relations of the Spanish and Mosquitian
authorities had been in 1807, and even before,
such as are held between independent powers.[XII-33] The so-called
king of Mosquitia claimed sovereignty over an extent of country 340
miles long from north to south, and about 235 miles in breadth. He
also claimed the district of Talamanca in Costa Rica, and that of
Chiriquí in Panamá.[XII-34] The British authorities maintained a sort
of protectorate over these Indians, occasionally sending presents to
their chiefs.[XII-35]
Mosquitia.
George Frederick and his half-brother Robert,

KING GEORGE
FREDERICK.
like their father George, who was killed in 1800,
were of mixed negro and Indian blood. They were
first taken to Belize to receive some education,[XII-36] and next to
Jamaica, where they were the objects of some attention on the part
of Lord Albemarle, the governor-general. George Frederick's
education was an indifferent one. In 1815 he was back in Belize to
be crowned there at his own request, Chaplain Armstrong
performing the ceremony, and his chiefs taking the oath of
allegiance in regular form.[XII-37] He was then proclaimed king of the
Mosquito shore and nation, and a British war vessel conveyed him
and his chiefs to Gracias á Dios.[XII-38] It seems that kingly life
afforded him little or no satisfaction. Aware of his lack of
qualifications, and fully sensible that he could not retrieve himself
from vicious habits, especially from the bottle, which soon controlled
him, his heart failed him, and his life became embittered.[XII-39] The
British government at first manifested a friendly interest, sending
him presents, and Chaplain Armstrong his advice; but the latter was
disregarded by the king and his chief minister, who often remarked
that a present of rum would be more welcome. The instruction on
government was beyond his understanding, and looked on as
falsehood. Such was the effect of his West India education in
civilization. It has been asserted that he was murdered in 1824.[XII-
40] Robert, his brother, succeeded, and was deposed, his successor
being James, descended from an older branch of the family,[XII-41]
who took the name of George Frederick. Mosquito annals do not
record what became of him. The next king was Robert Charles
Frederick, who believing himself a real monarch, for and in
consideration of abundant contributions of rum, to which he was
much addicted, began to make large grants of land, some of which
carried with them the rights of absolute sovereignty. Most of these
grants were afterward cancelled, and the king was taken by the
British authorities to Belize, and kept under control. He died there,
leaving, in a so-called last will, dated in February 1840, to
Superintendent Macdonald the regency of his dominions during the
minority of his heir, the princess Inez Ann Frederick.[XII-42]
Macdonald, whether as such regent or as an officer of the British
crown, appointed his private secretary, Patrick Walker, to reside at
Blewfields, and have charge of the affairs of Mosquitia; since which
time the shore began to assume much importance, at least in a
political sense. Walker established a council of state, and soon
opened a dispute about boundaries with the Central American
states, giving rise to grave questions which occupied the attention of
other governments, and of which I will treat later.
COLONIZATION
FAILURES.
Several attempts were made since the early
days of the present century to colonize the
Mosquito shore, for which large tracts of land were granted. Among
the most important was one made to the Scotchman Sir Gregor
MacGregor,[XII-43] who soon after started a wild project, which later
was known as the Poyais bubble, and ended, about 1823,
disastrously for the dupes who had been drawn into it.[XII-44] In
1839 the British Central America Land Company of London made
another experiment on the same place where MacGregor had tried
his, and it ended in failure.[XII-45] A German colony named
Carlsruhe, near Blewfields, which was started about 1844, had to be
abandoned in 1849 after losing about two thirds of the emigrants.
The climate of the coast is moist, hotter than in the interior, and
not as healthy. The greater part of the soil is fertile, and it may be
said that the country possesses many natural elements of wealth.
[XII-46]
Blewfields, the capital of Mosquitia, is on the river and lagoon
of the same name. In the latter part of 1847 Blewfields and its
dependencies had 599 inhabitants, of which 111 were white and 488
black,[XII-47] in two villages, the larger, Blewfields, having 78 houses,
and the lesser, Carlsruhe, 16. Few of the houses were built of
boards. One of this kind was then occupied by Walker, the British
agent and consul-general, with whom the sovereign resided.[XII-48]
On the 12th of August, 1841, Macdonald, superintendent of

Belize, came to San Juan del Norte on the frigate Tweed, bringing
with him the so-called king of the Mosquitos or Moscos. At the same
time an armed sloop, under the Mosquito flag and commanded by
Peter Shepherd, entered the port. The comandante and revenue
officer, Lieutenant-colonel Quijano, went to see the commanding
officers at Shepherd's house, but was not received, on the plea that
both the king and superintendent were unwell. An official letter from
him was left unanswered. At last, the superintendent's secretary,
together with the captain of the frigate and the king's secretary,
called on Quijano and told him that on the following day his letter
would be answered, requiring his recognition of the Mosquito king as
the ally of her Britannic Majesty. Quijano refused, and his visitors
retired. He reiterated his refusal in a letter to the superintendent,
and in the name of his government solemnly protested against his
pretension, as well as against the insults inflicted on his country.[XII-
49]He was finally notified that if he interfered with any British or
Mosquito subject, both he and his government would be held
responsible.[XII-50]
The demands and insults of the British officers

BRITISH
INTERFERENCE.
continued until the 15th, when they seized
Quijano and carried him on board the frigate,
intending to take him to Belize.[XII-51] The Nicaraguan government,
in a note to British Vice-consul Foster, denounced the acts of the
British officials at San Juan as high-handed, accusing Macdonald of
usurping the name of her Britannic Majesty in supposing her to be
an ally of the so-called Mosquito king.[XII-52] The whole American
continent became indignant at the British proceedings in San Juan.
There was one exception, however, which must be classified as vile.
Ferrera, jefe of Honduras, under the influence of the servile element
of Guatemala, allied with Chatfield, recognized the Mosquito nation.
[XII-53]
Chatfield informed Nicaragua that the whole Central American

territory lying between Cape Gracias á Dios and the mouth of the
San Juan River belonged to the Mosquito king, without prejudice to
other rights the king might have south of the San Juan.[XII-54] In
January 1848 two British war vessels occupied the port of San Juan
without resistance, replacing the Nicaraguan officials by Englishmen
as servants of the Mosquito king, after doing which they sailed
away; but no sooner had the intelligence reached the interior than a
force was despatched to San Juan, which reoccupied the place and
sent to the capital as prisoners the intruders.[XII-55] Whereupon the
British returned in force in March 1848, and defeated the Nicaraguan
detachment. Hostilities being further prosecuted, the Nicaraguans
had to succumb before the superior power of their foe, and
consented to an armistice, providing that they would not disturb San
Juan, or attempt to reoccupy the port, pending the negotiations
which must follow on these events.[XII-56]
Nicaragua, by her ablest diplomates, defended

TREATIES.
her rights to the disputed territory both in Europe
and America, without obtaining a satisfactory result, until the fears
of Central Americans for the independence of their country were
brought to an end by the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, otherwise called the
Ship Canal convention, concluded at Washington between the United
States and Great Britain on the 19th of April, 1850, by the first
article of which neither power could occupy, fortify, colonize, nor
exercise dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast,
or any other portion of Central American territory, nor make use of a
protectorate in any form.[XII-57] Thus was this vexed question
terminated, England resigning all her claims to the Mosquito Coast,
and by a subsequent treaty concluded at Managua on the 28th of
January, 1860, known as the Zeledon-Wyke treaty, ceded to
Nicaragua the protectorate absolutely.[XII-58] Since then Nicaragua
has subjected the Mosquito Coast to a prefecto.[XII-59] Nevertheless,
it is understood that the Indian reserve is still ruled by a chief
chosen by the natives, assisted by a council, which assembles at
Blewfields; but subject to the supreme authority of the Nicaraguan
government.
Nicaragua, as soon as she assumed the position of an

independent nation, hastened to open friendly relations with other
powers.[XII-60] Spain made with the republic July 25, 1850, a treaty
of friendship, commerce, and navigation, the first and second
articles of which fully recognize Nicaragua's independence.[XII-61]
Early efforts were made to arrange ecclesiastical affairs with the
papal see, a concordat being finally concluded at Rome November 2,
1861.[XII-62]
With the other Central American states Nicaragua made treaties,

which underwent from time to time alterations, as circumstances
seemed to demand for her own or the general defence. Several of
these will be made apparent in the course of my narrative.
Nicaragua has endeavored to maintain cordial relations with her
neighbors.[XII-63] The republic entered into friendly diplomatic
relations with the powers of Europe and America, most of them
having treaties of amity, commerce, and extradition of criminals. Its
relations with the United States have generally been intimate, made
so by considerations of neighborhood, business interests, and
similarity of institutions, as well as by a mutual desire to forward the
construction of a ship canal across Nicaraguan territory. They have
been disturbed at times, however, while Nicaragua was a transit
route between the eastern states of the American union, and during
the execution of schemes of American filibusters, such as those of
Kinney and Walker.
While the Mosquito question was pending

ARBITRARY ACTS.
between Nicaragua and Great Britain,
circumstances were hastening a practical solution of it. An American
company, acting under a Nicaraguan charter, opened a transit route
for passengers through the state, beginning at San Juan del Norte,
which place rapidly filled up with emigrants from the United States,
who becoming numerically predominant, met in a primary capacity
and organized an independent government.[XII-64] After an
indiscreet attempt on the part of a British commander to levy duties
on an American steamer, which was disavowed by his government,
the British protectorate over San Juan at last virtually ceased. The
town and port remained under the direct control of the inhabitants,
most of whom were Americans, as a free city.[XII-65] The prosperity
of the place was retarded by a dispute with the persons into whose
hands the transit had fallen, which produced bitter feeling, and
resulted in alleged insults to Solon Borland, United States minister to
Nicaragua, whose belligerent instincts carried him away to interfere
in matters which were foreign to his office. The sloop of war Cyane,
Commander Hollins, was despatched by the American government to
look into the case. Hollins assumed a hostile attitude,[XII-66] made
arrogant demands, and the latter not being complied with, he
bombarded the town on the 13th of July, 1854, and landing a party
of marines, burned it to the ground.[XII-67] This act has been
generally condemned. The American government hardly
contemplated it; but not having punished Commander Hollins, it
must bear the odium. Notwithstanding these difficulties, peaceable
relations were not disturbed.[XII-68] Nicaragua also has treaties with
Belgium, Italy, France, England, Peru, and other nations.[XII-69]
A squabble occurred in 1876 at Leon, in which the German

consul and a Nicaraguan citizen were concerned, giving rise to a
conflict between the German and Nicaraguan governments, the
former making of it a casus belli, and demanding, backed by a naval
force, a considerable sum of money.[XII-70]
The political situation in the interior of Nicaragua, during the

winter, of 1848-9, was anything but satisfactory to the lovers of
peace. Parties were again venting their animosities. The leader
Bernabé Somoza captured Rivas, and afterward became notorious
for deeds of cruelty and robbery. Director Norberto Ramirez[XII-71]
despatched there a strong force under J. T. Muñoz. Somoza was
defeated and captured at San Jorge on the 14th of June.[XII-72]
Ramirez was succeeded by José Laureano Pineda in 1851,[XII-73]
against whom a revolt broke out August 4, 1851, having J. Trinidad
Muñoz for its leader. Pineda and his ministers Francisco Castellon
and F. Diaz Zapata were arrested. The plan failed, however. Leon,
Muñoz' headquarters, was taken by government forces assisted by
troops from Honduras, and Muñoz surrendered.[XII-74] On the
expiration of Pineda's term in 1853, Chamorro became chief of the
state, having been elected by the suffrages of the moderados. The
new director was a well-meaning man, and hoped by pursuing a
moderate course to allay party bickerings. But his political
opponents, together with a portion of the military element, did not
permit him to develop his policy in peace.
The legislative assembly rejected, April 30, 1853, a provisional
constitution which had been framed and published by the national
constituent assembly on the 13th of October, 1852,[XII-75] and at the
same time declared the state to be independent and sovereign. This
was followed on the 28th of February, 1854, by another decree of
the state constituent assembly assuming for the state the title of
República de Nicaragua, and giving its executive the name of
president.[XII-76] The coat of arms and flag of the new republic were
decreed April 21, 1854.[XII-77]
A constituent assembly, called on the 11th of

CONSTITUENT
ASSEMBLY.
December, 1853, to meet on the 8th of January,
1854, for the purpose of framing a constitution for
the republic, was installed on the 22d of that month.[XII-78] It
continued its session without interruption, and on the 7th of April
assumed, for urgent cases, the powers of an ordinary legislature,
enacting that, in the event of a temporary vacancy in the office of
president, his duties should devolve on the member of the
constituent assembly called by him to assume them. Chamorro was
then chosen provisional president, to hold the office till the 1st of
March, 1855. The new charter of the republic was sanctioned on the
30th of April,[XII-79] which was in force only in Granada and other
towns acknowledging Chamorro's government.
Nicaragua.
The opposition of the liberals culminated in an

LONG AND BLOODY
WAR.
attempt at revolution in Leon, promoted by
Castellon, Jerez, and Mariano Salazar. The
government then residing at Managua defeated their plan for the
time, and banished the leaders and a few of their influential
followers.[XII-80] The exiles sought refuge in Salvador and Honduras,
and with the favor of Cabañas, who was then on bad terms with
Chamorro,[XII-81] obtained resources for a second attempt against
the government of the latter. With a few men and a quantity of arms
and ammunition, they went from Tigre Island to Realejo. The
invaders were enthusiastically received, Leon, Chinandega, and
immediate towns proclaiming Castellon provisional director, which
office he assumed June 11, 1854.[XII-82] This was the beginning of a
long and bloody war, which Salvador and Guatemala vainly tried to
avert.[XII-83] Chamorro approached Leon, but finding it had declared
for Castellon, retired to Granada and fortified the place, sustaining
afterward an irregular siege of several months from thrice the
number of his force, under Jerez, till the early part of 1855.
Castellon, meantime, gained possession of the republic, Granada
excepted; but the long siege of this town wrought a change in the
feelings of the unstable people, and in a short time Chamorro or his
party recovered Managua, Masaya, and Rivas, after a series of
bloody encounters. The siege of Granada was consequently raised.
[XII-84]Even Chamorro's death, which occurred at this time,[XII-85]
did not favor the democrats. He was succeeded by José María
Estrada. Corral was the general-in-chief of the legitimist forces, and
was organizing at Masaya an army to capture Leon. The government
had called the constituent assembly, which met on the 8th of April
with only fourteen members, and on the 10th resolved that Estrada
should retain the executive until a president should be chosen under
the constitution. This greatly displeased Corral, who had expected to
be called to that position. He had his headquarters in Managua, and
threatened to be revenged of the men who had slighted him.[XII-86]
Meanwhile Muñoz had gone to Honduras and returned with a

small division of troops, the chief command of both the democratic
and Honduran forces being vested in him. By his advice Castellon
appointed Rosalío Cortés and P. Aleman commissioners to ascertain
the views of the legitimist chiefs with reference to peace
negotiations. Estrada consented to receive Cortés, but not Aleman,
and the former had interviews with him and his supporters,
prevailing on them to enter into negotiations either in their official or
private capacity. Muñoz had authorized Cortés to tell Corral he
wished to have a direct understanding with him.[XII-87] Cortés first
saw Corral, and by his advice next had interviews with Estrada,
Vega, and others, all of whom showed a willingness to treat for
peace, and asked him to return to Leon, which he did, touching at
Managua, where Corral assured him of his disposition to come to an
understanding with Muñoz.
The situation of the democrats was improved

DEMOCRATS AND
LEGITIMISTS.
since the return of Muñoz. That of the legitimists
was not so good, but the rulers felt confident. By
its moderate course the legitimist government was gaining favor in
democratic towns. Estrada's confidence was increased with the
arrival of two foreign ministers accredited to his government.[XII-88]
By this time Corral had an efficient division at Managua. His
subordinate, Colonel Tomás Martinez, who in late years became
president of the republic, not only cleared Nueva Segovia of
Hondurans, but also occupied the town of San Márcos in Honduras.
Lieutenant-colonel Andrés Murillo obtained a victory over the
democrats at Tecuaname on the 17th of May. A few days after—May
31st—Estrada's government decreed an amnesty to all soldiers, from
private to sergeant inclusive, presenting themselves within twenty
days.[XII-89] On the 13th of June came two men who afterward were
fatal to the legitimists, Santos Guardiola, and the clergyman Manuel
Alcaine. The latter was a commissioner from Salvador to both
belligerents, and his efforts on behalf of peace had been favorably
entertained by Castellon. Estrada listened to him, but did not accept
his proposals.[XII-90] Alcaine went back to Leon, and reported that
the legitimists were bent upon exterminating the democrats, and his
statements were fully believed. All hope of bringing the war to an
end by peaceful negotiations was now abandoned.[XII-91]
CHAPTER XIII.
REPUBLIC OF GUATEMALA.
1840-1865.
President Rivera Paz—Carrera's Course—Pretended Sedition—Dissolution of the

Assembly—A Consejo Constituyente Created—Carrera Becomes President—Attempt
against his Life—Revolt of Monterrosa—Carrera's Despotism—The Republic
Established—Relations with Other Powers—Revolution of the Mountain—Constituent
Assembly Convened—Carrera's Forced Resignation and Exile—Liberals Triumphant—
Their Squabbles and Disintegration—The Moderado Party—Revolution of Los Altos—
Intrigues of the Serviles—Presidencies of Martinez and Escobar—Causes of their
Resignations—Paredes—Recall of Carrera—Deeds of Vengeance—Carrera again
President—Partial Restoration of Peace.
Carrera had become so inflated by flattery that

REIGN OF
DESPOTISM.
he actually believed himself able to govern upon
instinct Guatemala, and even all Central America.
[XIII-1]He tried to shake off aristocratic control, and showed
pugnaciousness toward the assembly and the administrator of the
diocese. Obedience not being in every instance given to his whims,
he threatened, in August 1840, to resign the command of the
troops, which he held with the rank of lieutenant-general.[XIII-2] The
aristocrats were much alarmed, and the assembly, in flattering
terms, declined accepting the resignation. He now appeared in the
rôles of financier, political economist, and enemy of the nobles,
presuming to dictate a policy for the protection of manufactures,
agriculture, and other interests. His displeasure with the nobles was
because he believed them hostile to the masses.[XIII-3] They
managed to mollify him, and he then contented himself with issuing
a long address, on the 9th of October, reiterating his anxiety for the
general welfare, and remonstrating against the intrigues of his
personal enemies.[XIII-4]
A reign of despotism was now established, which continued

upwards of thirty years. Liberal laws were abrogated one after
another, and retrogressive ones substituted, including a complete
restoration to the clergy of the fueros they had been deprived of by
the liberal córtes of Spain in 1820. Carrera's enmity to the assembly
became more apparent from day to day. He showed it by word, and
by the press.[XIII-5] He could not write a line, but others wrote for
him, and printed articles appeared over his name.[XIII-6] José
Francisco Barrundia had returned from his exile, and had been
chosen a deputy, but he resigned on the 11th of March, 1842, giving
powerful reasons for his course.[XIII-7] Indeed, Barrundia would have
been out of place in a body mostly made up of ultramontane priests,
self-styled nobles, and reactionists.
The treasury was so exhausted that the assembly had no means

to pay its clerks. But the ecclesiastical coffers had an abundance of
money from the tithes tax, and Carrera's troops had to be paid, or
he would resent the neglect. This was made evident in September
1844. Rivera Paz, the president, with the utmost difficulties,
managed to procure money for the pay of the soldiers from day to
day; but for some reason unexplained, it did not reach them. Carrera
found a way to secure his ends. He had a conference with some of
his officers, and the result was that the battalion of regular troops
revolted on the 20th, and sacked a number of shops, and the stalls
in the market-place, getting an abundant supply and ruining several
traders.[XIII-8] Carrera then gathered his soldiers in the barracks,
and in order to keep up appearances, the next day without much
ado or any form of trial, had six men shot.[XIII-9]
Rivera Paz, finding his position unbearable, resigned it. The

assembly accepted his resignation, to take effect after his successor
should be appointed, and qualify. Carrera was chosen, but declined
the office. Venancio Lopez and Bernardino Lemus, appointed in the
order named, followed his example. Rivera Paz had to remain as
nominal head of the government, Carrera being the actual ruler,
whose demands clashed with the fiery-tempered Viteri, minister of
state. They had a serious quarrel, which culminated in the arrest by
Carrera, on the 7th of December, 1841, of Rivera Paz, together with
Viteri and his subordinates.[XIII-10] But after explanations he retired
his force, and calm was restored. On the refusal of Carrera to accept
the presidency resigned by Rivera Paz, December 14, 1841, the
councillor Venancio Lopez was called upon to assume the office.[XIII-
11] The lieutenant-general asked for a passport to leave Guatemala,
his object being only to obtain more honors and money. His plan
seems to have succeeded.[XIII-12] Lopez gave up the presidency, and
Rivera Paz for the third time, on the 14th of May, 1842, was
appointed to fill it.
The assembly adjourned on the 4th of

SANGUINARY
POLITICS.
November, 1843, to meet again on the 1st of April,
1844. But Carrera had resolved to suppress it, and
pretending an intended seditious movement at Pinula, he had the
supposed rebels fired upon, and the criminal farce ended with a
simulated capitulation at Guadalupe on the 11th of March, 1844, by
which the assembly was set aside, and a council of government was
to take its place.[XIII-13] The assembly was convoked, ratified its
own dishonor, gave the government full power to regulate
administrative affairs, and decreed its own dissolution.[XIII-14] The
decree convoking members for the new council[XIII-15] was issued
on the 26th of April, and it was formally installed on the 8th of
December, having among its members a number of liberals. Rivera
Paz resigned the presidency,[XIII-16] and Carrera was chosen his
successor, assuming on the 11th of December an office that he had
virtually controlled since the 13th of April, 1839. At the election of
justices of the supreme court, the nobles were defeated.[XIII-17] The
consejo, or congreso, as it had begun to call itself, became an object
of bitter enmity on the part of the aristocrats and serviles; and
Carrera's overthrow was also contemplated by them, pretending
coöperation with the liberals for its accomplishment. The plan fell
through before maturity, owing to distrust between the leaders of
the two parties. Carrera was informed of his danger by the
confession of a dying man, but never penetrated to the sources of
the plot.[XIII-18] During Carrera's absence from the capital on
furlough in February 1845, Joaquin Duran occupying the executive
chair, a revolt took place, headed by Monterrosa and an officer
named Mendez, but not being seconded by the people, they entered
into a capitulation with Duran to leave the city, on his solemnly
pledging them that they would not be molested. They accordingly
went out on the 5th as promised, and on the next day Sotero
Carrera, A. Solares, and Vicente Cruz entered at the head of their
respective forces. Carrera arrived afterward, and was received in
triumph.[XIII-19]
At the expiration of his furlough Carrera

CONSTITUTION
AND CONGRESS.
reassumed the reins of government. Joaquin
Duran resigned the portfolio of treasury and war,
being succeeded by Brigadier Gerónimo Paiz. The state was now
virtually under the control of a triumvirate composed of Rafael and
Sotero Carrera, and Paiz.[XIII-20] The subsequent resignation of
Minister Nájera and appointment of José Antonio Azmitia inspired a
little confidence.[XIII-21] The constituent congress passed liberal
laws, and issued a new constitution on the 16th of September, 1845,
that did not suit the aristocrats, and they made it an object of
ridicule and contempt.[XIII-22] The congress closed its session on the
21st of the same month. Carrera had obtained another leave of
absence, and Brigadier Vicente Cruz, the vice-president chosen by
congress, assumed the executive office.[XIII-23] The aristocrats kept
a strict watch on Cruz, and breathed more freely when Carrera with
his ministers Paiz and Azmitia were again at the head of the
government. The succeeding congress on the 1st of February, 1846,
rejected the constitution framed the previous year, and authorized
the government to call another constituent congress. This was the
result, not only of aristocratic intrigue, but of violent threats on the
part of Carrera and his minions against all attempting to sanction the
act of the 'desorganizadores' to undermine his power.[XIII-24]
Carrera and Paiz, aided by Sotero Carrera, corregidor of La

Antigua, now ruled supreme. Citizens had no protection unless they
approved of every act. During the funeral services of Archbishop
Casaus a plot was made to assassinate Carrera, which failed, and
the conspirators were seized and tried. Those who had powerful
friends were sent into exile; the rest had to perish in the damp
dungeons of the fort.[XIII-25]
Guatemala, in view of the political change resulting from the

dissolution of the federal compact, decreed by her assembly, on the
14th of November, 1843, a new coat of arms for the state.[XIII-26]
On the 6th of April, 1857, the government was empowered to make
in the coat of arms such changes as it might deem judicious, but
preserving the inscription, Guatimalæ Respublica sub Dei Optimi
Maximi protectione. The change was decreed on the 31st of May,
1858.[XIII-27] A law of March 14, 1851, confirmed in that of May 31,
1858, establishes the national flag.[XIII-28]
The national independence of Guatemala was erelong

recognized by foreign powers, with which she opened diplomatic
relations and made treaties.[XIII-29] The formal recognition by Spain
took place in the treaty of May 29, 1863, subsequently ratified by
both governments. Guatemala has endeavored to maintain friendly
relations with all. With the United States they have been quite
cordial. During Carrera's rule his government gave recognition to the
imperial régime of Maximilian in Mexico.[XIII-30] During the South
American struggle between Chile on one side, and Peru and Bolivia
on the other, Guatemala maintained herself neutral. She accepted in
1881 the invitation of the United States government to be
represented at a proposed American congress to be held in
Washington, but which did not take place. In that same year, owing
to the maltreatment of a French citizen, a difficulty arose with
France, but it was amicably settled, the French flag being saluted,
and a pecuniary compensation allowed by Guatemala.[XIII-31]
REVOLUTION AND
ROBBERY.
On the 8th of April the official journal gave to
the public a decree appointing Pedro Molina,
Alejandro Marure, and J. M. Urruela a committee to frame a
constitution for the new republic,[XIII-32] a project of which they
presented in due time; but, though conservative, the government
would not adopt it.[XIII-33] The self-styled nobles were delighted with
their republic, and made it appear in the official paper that the
people in the departments were equally so. But a scarcity of
breadstuffs, attributed by many to the contrivances of monopolists,
created disturbances in some districts, alarming the government.
Certain taxes were temporarily removed, and other measures were
adopted to alleviate the distress.[XIII-34]
In May there was a revolutionary movement in Sacatepequez.

[XIII-35]Robbery and murder became of frequent occurrence in
several departments. The government saw a serious revolution at
hand, and made efforts to meet it. It tried, however, to show that
the public peace was not disturbed.[XIII-36] All measures to check
the revolution were unavailing, and the policy of the rulers of
Salvador made the condition of affairs more alarming to Carrera and
his supporters. Their political opponents now thought the overthrow
of the tyrant was not far distant. His counsellors advised him to call
a constituent congress, and provisionally place the executive office in
the hands of Vice-president Cruz, to which he acceded. The decree
for summoning the congress was issued, and Cruz assumed the
presidency on the 25th of January.[XIII-37] Nájera and Azmitia
retired, which indicated a change of policy. This greatly exercised the
reactionists, and the ayuntamiento of Guatemala, on the 4th of
February, urgently begged Carrera to resume his office, whereupon
Cruz threw it up, and the former took the chair at once. He
organized a new cabinet,[XIII-38] the personnel of which was a
challenge to the whole liberal party, which thereby was roused to
action. The first act of the government was to revoke the decree
calling the constituent assembly. All hope of reform was now given
up.
The revolution went on, and notwithstanding occasional reverses

made much headway, Serapio Cruz, a brother of the vice-president,
and an estimable man and experienced soldier, taking sides with the
mountaineers. The government was sinking under the weight of its
depravity; and yet in those moments of despair, it struck a blow at
its opponents. Molina was arrested on the 10th of May. A similar
order was issued against Barrundia, but he escaped the clutches of
the sbirri, first giving the government his mind in the Album, which
publication was of course suppressed.[XIII-39] Together with Molina
were conveyed to the fort José Marino Vidaurre and the printer
Luciano Luna. An order of the court of first instance, issued at the
petition of Molina's wife, was treated with contempt by Palomo
Valdez, acting comandante of the department, who merely said that
Molina had been imprisoned upon a verbal order of the president.
The prisoners, were released after some time of suffering in the
dungeons of the fort. The Gaceta repeatedly contained abusive
remarks against the republicans of France, The French consul
demanded a retraction, and not being heeded, struck his flag and
discontinued relations with the government.[XIII-40]
The position of the government was daily

POLITICAL UNREST.
becoming more untenable, when it concluded to
call a constituent assembly, to begin its labors on the 15th of
August.[XIII-41] A scandalous occurrence took place a few days
before the installation of the assembly, when the comandante,
Palomo Valdez, violently arrested the deputy M. Pineda de Mont,
who was released at the demand of that body, but the perpetrator of
the act went unpunished.
Carrera made known his intention to resign[XIII-42] on the

installation of the assembly, and the insurgent chief Francisco
Carrillo tendered his submission to that body. The liberals could not
expect to elect any candidate of their own, and the reactionists,
though having a working majority in the assembly, from motives of
policy abstained from presenting one of their party; but they finally
fixed upon a political nonentity, who was known to be in accord with
Nufio and the revolutionists of Chiquimula, named Juan Antonio
Martinez,[XIII-43] believing that though a liberal he would not be
antagonistic to their interests. The assembly was installed on the
15th of August with Pedro Molina presiding, when Carrera sent in
three documents, one of which was his resignation,[XIII-44] which
was accepted, no attempt being made to detain him, as it was the
general desire that he should leave the country.[XIII-45] Martinez was
appointed his successor.[XIII-46] The new president kept Carrera's
officers in their commands.[XIII-47] His appointment did not satisfy
the chiefs of the revolution,[XIII-48] and through commissioners they
made known their demands, dated August 27th, in 18 articles.[XIII-
49]The government rejected them, but in a decree requiring their
submission offered certain terms, which in their turn were not
accepted, and the war went on.
Los Altos.
Colonel Nufio had made an arrangement with

POLITICAL
PARTIES.
commissioners Dueñas and Angulo of Salvador for
the organization of Los Altos as a separate state.
This roused the aristocrats, and their spokesman, Andreu, made
such broad statements in the chamber that the president accused
him of falsehood, and closed the discussion. The affair widened the
breach among the liberals. Luis Molina now organized a third party,
that took the name of moderado, most of whose members were
from the liberal party and the latter was left an almost insignificant
minority. The aristocratic party, albeit divided in appearance, was
really united.[XIII-50] They were disquieted, however, by the attitude
of Salvador in upholding the independence of Los Altos, which had
been organized as a state;[XIII-51] but did not despair of breaking up
the friendship between the liberals and the government of Salvador.
[XIII-52]
The aristocrats set themselves to work to have a motion
made by a liberal in the assembly for the confirmation of Carrera's
decree of March 21, 1847, to create the republic of Guatemala. Such
an act on the part of the liberals would alienate from them the
support of the Salvadorans, and reduce them to a nullity. And yet
Barrundia made the motion,[XIII-53] and it was received with a shout
of applause, and passed on the 14th of September, with only two
negative votes.[XIII-54] This ratification was hailed with ringing of
bells and salvos of artillery.
The revolutionists of Los Altos being defeated

DEATH OF VICENTE
CRUZ. at San Andrés,[XIII-55] were obliged to submit, but
the situation of the government was made
precarious by the defeat of Nufio by the brothers Cruz, who
approached the capital.[XIII-56] Unable to negotiate peace, Martinez
resigned the executive office, and José Bernardo Escobar succeeded
him on the 28th of November.[XIII-57] The new president found all
his plans antagonized by the aristocrats and moderados, and the
clergy especially mistrusted him and his ministers.[XIII-58] He might
easily have dissolved the assembly, but the act would have been
repugnant to his principles. He concluded to retire, but his
resignation was not accepted.[XIII-59] Vicente Cruz demanded the
surrender of the capital, offering security for life and property, a few
persons only excepted.[XIII-60] The negotiations for peace having
failed, Escobar a second time sent in his resignation, and it was
accepted, with marked disrespect on the part of the serviles and
moderados.[XIII-61] Manuel Tejada was chosen president on the 30th
of December, and declined the honor. Mariano Paredes was then
appointed, on the 1st of January, 1849, and took the oath which had
been prepared by Paredes, but he soon perjured himself, following
explicitly the advice of Luis Batres, and thus becoming a tool of the
aristocrats to bring back Carrera to power.[XIII-62] Arrangements
were made with the mountaineers, under which Brigadier Vicente
Cruz, having recognized the government, entered Guatemala on the
9th of February.[XIII-63] It was noticed, however, that Serapio Cruz
and other chiefs remained outside. The men of Agustin Perez
afterward committed several murders, and Vicente Cruz went
against and defeated them on the 20th of March, but while engaged
in the pursuit was struck by a bullet in the chest and fell dead.[XIII-
64]
Carrera was known to be on the frontier, and Batres undertook

to obtain the assent of the chiefs of the mountain for his return. Not
all of them assented, however, Serapio Cruz issuing a very significant
manifesto. General Agustin Guzman, the loyal liberal leader, well
understood Batres' aims, and having a force at Huehuetenango
made a move on Quezaltenango, defeating a large party of Indians,
on the way, at San Bartolome. This move further complicated affairs,
and Batres resolved to get rid of him by subterfuge.[XIII-65] There
were constant skirmishes on the frontier, Carrera having under him a
considerable number of Indians.[XIII-66] He finally reached
Quezaltenango, and the assembly empowered the government to
institute measures for an active campaign.[XIII-67] On the 13th of
April, just ten years after the occupation of Guatemala by Carrera,
his second entry had been announced. Paredes swore to defend the
city against Carrera,[XIII-68] which oath he never intended to keep.
Major Victor Zavala, corregidor and comandante of Suchitepequez,
made common cause with Carrera.[XIII-69] Paredes, by the advice of
Luis Batres and against the wishes of the liberal and moderado
leaders, opened negotiations with Carrera, which resulted in the
submission of the latter and his forces at Quezaltenango, whereupon
it was decreed that all hostilities against him were to cease; the
order forbidding his return was revoked, his rank of lieutenant-
general was restored, and finally he was given the command-in-chief
of the army. The compact between the oligarchy and barbarism was
consummated.[XIII-70] He assumed the command on the 8th of
August, and on that date and the 18th he issued proclamations
conveying his purpose of restoring peace and order, and assuring the
people that he was free from hatred.[XIII-71] But the work of
vengeance soon began. Efforts were made to convene the assembly
with the object in view of arresting the liberal deputies who voted
for Carrera's proscription in 1848,[XIII-72] but many of them had fled,
and only those remaining were confined in the fort by Carrera's
order without remonstrance on the part of the president. It is also
said that some persons were shot. Such of the prisoners as did not
crave Carrera's pardon were forced to leave the country.[XIII-73]
The difference in the principles underlying the

THE WAR OF 1850.
policy of the rulers of Guatemala and Salvador,
and the bitter animosity existing between them, brought about a war
in 1850, in which Salvador, Honduras, and the democrats of
Nicaragua were allied against Guatemala.[XIII-74] President
Vasconcelos invaded Guatemala,[XIII-75] at the head of an allied
force of Salvadorans, Hondurans, and Nicaraguans, but seems to
have met with a signal defeat at the hands of an inferior force under
Carrera, near Arada, in Chiquimula, on the 2d of February, which
compelled a precipitate retreat into Salvadoran territory.[XIII-76]
Carrera then marched across the line and established his

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200 Building materials for light earth

300 Preparation of materials for light earth

400 Wet construction

500 Dry construction

600 Aspects of building construction and finishing

700 Planning and costs

6 Light Earth Building

10 Light Earth Building

110 Earth as a building material

121 Solid earth construction

Fig. 1 Street in the Lyonnais with rendered rammed earth buildings

12 Light Earth Building

The naturally-moist, processed earth material, is rammed between two sets of

122 Frame construction

Fig. 5 Wattle and daub panels,

14 Light Earth Building

Fig. 6 Rendered half-timbered

Fig. 7 15th century half-timbered

16 Light Earth Building

Fig. 8 Rammed earth house,

Fig. 9 Weinviertel, Lower Austria

18 Light Earth Building

Fig. 10 Pisé building, France

20 Light Earth Building

Fig. 12 Advertisement from 1921:

22 Light Earth Building

24 Light Earth Building

Fig. 18 Self-build settle-

Fig. 20 New light earth building, 1986

26 Light Earth Building

Fig. 22 Renovation and conver­

Fig. 24 Development of prefabri-

Fig. 25 Earth panel production

28 Light Earth Building

Fig. 27 Terstaram® press,

Fig. 28 The Domaine de la terre settlement at Isle d’Abeau

30 Light Earth Building

140 Building with earth today?

32 Light Earth Building

160 Building with timber and earth

161 Straw-clay and fibre-clay mixtures

straddling it in a saddle-like manner, before being smoothed over. In the case of

34 Light Earth Building

Fig. 33 Panel infill with straw-clay

Fig. 22 Renovation and conver