Medieval Architecture

Medieval architecture expressed the artistic ideals of a community rather than the genius of the individual architect.
The ecclesiastical architecture was predominant. However, the medieval secular architecture was not neglected, and
there are many examples of such works which can also be considered representative for the Middle Ages.
Early Medieval Architecture
The earliest forms of Medieval Architecture have two components: the architecture of Rome in the West, and the
Eastern or Byzantine one. Sometimes, there is a tendency to make a sharp division between them, and to see the
Early Christian and the Byzantine works as being completely separate. The early western Christian, also called the
Christian-Roman, is regarded as the typical style of the early Christian Church. The Byzantine is considered a very
different style, forming a link between classic Roman architecture and the vaulted style of the Romanesque period.
in reality, early Byzantine is really Christian architecture, its roots go back as far as those of the architecture of
Christian Rome, in short the two styles were roughly contemporary and were interacting, being manifestations of the
same artistic movement. Byzantine architecture was characterized by continuity, the architects using and developing
its typical structural elements for over ten centuries. Another characteristic was the polychromy which remained a
distinctive feature of the style throughout its existence, and the sculptured decoration, mainly flat, crisply cut relief, in
sharp contrast to the medieval art of the West, which promoted the monumental sculpture, revived from the
Carolingian period onwards.
Altough Byzantine style architectural works can be seen from Armenia to France and from Russia to Africa, the
centre was always the Empires capital city, Constantinople. As a result, no matter which geographical area we are
looking at, the new Imperial style kept its main characteristics and general homogeneity.

Medieval History (History)

The Middle Ages are commonly divided in three epochs: The Early Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages and the Late Middle
Ages. In this article you will learn the general political and religious beliefs during the Medieval Times as well as the causes
that led to the beginning and end of the period.

The Beginning
From the 3rd century onwards, large tribal groups consisting mainly of Huns, Magyars, Bulgars, Avars, and Slavs slowly
incorporated into Roman territory. At first the Romans gave them land in exchange of peace. However, during the 4th
century, many of these tribes became more hostile toward the Romans and began to pillage important Roman settlements.
Some landholders accepted their new lords while others remained independent fighting for the Empire.

The Roman laws and customs were adopted by most of the tribes. An important example is the Franks who invaded Gaul
and aspired to the Roman ways of life. They adopted their customs and gradually polished the language we know today as
French. In the early 4th century most Roman legions in Gaul and Spain left to defend Rome - however, the constant Hunnic
raids seriously devastated the Roman Empire. The Huns reached as far as Paris and Orleans led by Attila the Hun, though
they were finally defeated by general Aetius.

Despite a succession of weak emperors, numerous plagues, natural disasters, rebellions, economical instability and a
general lack of union in the empire, Rome was hardly about to collapse. What truly destroyed the Western Roman Empire
and changed the course of history was the barbarians.

Despite some Roman military success, the Goths, whom the Romans had allowed into their land, crossed the Danube on
September 4, 476 successfully deposing the last Western Roman emperor: Romulus Augustus. This event has been
traditionally seen as heralding the end of the ancient world and the beginning of the Middle Ages.

Early Middle Ages

The breakdown of Roman society led to many problems. It became unsafe to travel or trade goods over any long distance
and therefore, most newly-conquered settlements faced many economical problems.

Within a generation, illiteracy rose incredibly in the West as most Roman schools and libraries ceased to function. The
Christian Church was the only real centralized institution that survived the fall of the Empire mostly intact. Bishops, who still
studied and knew how to write properly, became more important in this newly-created society. This led to a very powerful
church that was not as devoted to religion as it was to politics.

The Ostrogoths settled in Italy and Southern Gaul, the Visigoths in Spain and Portugal, The Saxons in England and the
Burgundians and Franks in Gaul and western Germany. These became kingdoms with the Catholic Church as their official
religion. Until the 8th century, the new system was incapable to support the infrastructure required for public baths,
education facilities and entertainment - mainly because of bad tax coverage and excessive corruption. Beginning in the 8th
century, the medieval economy slowly improved. For the first time in four hundred years there was hope of improvement.
Kingdoms were beginning to take form causing law and order to improve notoriously.

With the ever-growing threats mainly from the Viking raids and the numerous warlike tribes that had recently settled in the
West, Feudalism gradually developed. The concept was simple: Knights protected landlords in exchange of fief (land). At
first during the Early Middle Ages, the system was very flawed as knights could easily change allegiance or not fight at all.
However this system allowed peasants to work freely. The first real armies emerged in Europe since the Romans during this
period.

To the East, Islam became a very powerful religion which eventually invaded Spain and seriously threatened the Franks and
most of Europe. However, a great leader and military genius stopped their progression. He is also credited for creating the
first standing army of the West since the Roman Empire and for being able to defeat stronger opponents with more
numbers and better weaponry - he wasCharles Martel. At Tours, he won his greatest victory and successfully put Europe
out of risk of a total Muslim invasion. Many credit him as "the savior of Christianity" and even though he was almost
excommunicated years before, the church itself publicly recognized him as its savior.

Martel's son, Pippin the Younger or Pippin the Short, was the first Carolingian king in 751. He expanded Frankish borders
but still was not a very important figure. His son, Martel's grandson, Charlemagne was a much more prominent person.
Charlemagne was crowned emperor in Rome on Christmas day, 800. His rule united most of modern France, Northern Italy
and Western Germany.

However, that unity didn't last long. For 200 years after Charlemagne's death, the West and East were in conflict - both
seeking more power. One of the main events that historians consider to have set the High Middle Ages was the Great
Schism of 1054 in which the Catholic Church was separated from the Orthodox Church.

High Middle Ages

By convention, the High Middle Ages took place during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. It was a period of innovations
with gunpowder being successfully incorporated into Asian (and shortly afterward European) warfare. In just three
centuries, more discoveries were made than in the previous millennium.

The Carolingian Empire was divided partly due to conflicts between East and West and more importantly because of political
and military divisions caused by the two elder heirs of Louis the Stammerer. The Carolingian Empire was divided in France,
Germany under the banner of the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Italy and other minor factions.

A very important figure of the High Middle Ages is William the Conqueror who was crowned king of England in 1066. His
rule marked the mass construction of castles that dominated warfare for the following three centuries.

Before William the Conqueror's rule, Western Europe was frequently attacked by the Vikings who were eventually defeated
and played a minor role in European affairs throughout the High Middle Ages. This peace and the Warm Period that lasted
until the 14th century's Little Ice Age, gave room to an enormous increase in population. By the mid-13th century, many
parts of Europe reached population levels surpassed only until the 19th century. While this caused many scientific
discoveries and inventions, it also provided military stability which was despised by the army. An outlet for this desire of war
was The Crusades - called by the pope.

The Crusades caused thousands of deaths, but they also brought many innovations from the East to the West. Architecture
was greatly improved and Eastern inventions that would prove useful for the Age of Exploration during the 15th century
were usual.

It is during this epoch when, due to increased population and decreased activities of the upper class, many new forms of
literature emerged. In Southern France, troubadours who sang of courtly love appeared. Dante wrote the Divine Comedy
which was the period's most important poem. Folklore took a sharp twist and new stories, such as Robin Hood, were
continuously revised to fit the zeitgeist. Chess was also incorporated, just as many sports and games. The High Middle Ages
gave birth to many important inventions such as the astrolabe and the very first glasses. The notion that the Middle Ages,
or Dark Ages as some call them, lacked art or science couldn't be further from the truth.

Buildings and architecture of the Middle Ages:
During the medieval period, basically two types of buildings were built, religious medieval
buildings and military medieval buildings. Christianity was well supported and promoted by
kings and lords of the medieval period and as a result, they also promoted the church building
programs and as a result, some very fine and large religious buildings were constructed during
this era. Before the rise of Christianity, the temples of Roman Empire and pagan culture were
used for prayers.
However, these temples werent big enough to hold large masses. On the other hand, the Church,
with the help of the kings and lords were trying to spread Christianity in masses. For doing so, it
was necessary to built large Church buildings in such a fashion that would allow them to hold
lass religious gathering and meetings. During the Early Middle Ages, people made use of
particular architectural design to build religious buildings which is known as basilica. This
constructional design included a nave, transepts, and altars.
Christian buildings were also influenced by the Byzantine architectural design as those
cathedrals which were produced during the reign of Justinian had huge domes over the top.
During the same period of Justinian, architects also used the Greek cross over the Christian
buildings.
Apart from religious buildings, there was a strong need of military buildings which could help
the lords and kings to protect themselves, the members of nobility and the common masses. In
order to provide this required protection, kings and lords preferred to help in constructing large
castles and fortified walls. These military buildings proved to be the most important non-
religious or secular buildings of the Middle Ages.
The basic design and construction of buildings of the Middle Ages can also be observed under
the division of different time spans. There were significant differences between the Pre-
Romanesque buildings, Romanesque buildings and Gothic buildings. The strength of the Church
kept increasing over the system of feudalism and as a result, this significant growth of churches
was also depicted over the design and construction of buildings.
The buildings of pre-Romanesque era were significantly influenced with Spanish, Byzantine,
northern and Italian architectural styles. However, these buildings were constructed with a tinge
of modernization over those existing architectural styles and those buildings also explicitly
showed the impact of Christianity and its rising influence.
Romanesque Buildings of Medieval Period
Buildings of the medieval period which were constructed during 800-1100 A.D., are termed as
Romanesque buildings because of the influence of Roman architecture over these buildings.
However, these buildings were examples of significant improvement and modernization over the
roman architectural pattern.
They can be considered as the examples of first important constructional styles which were
developed after the fall of Western Roman Empire. However, they were still very much
influenced by the Roman architectural patterns. The stones used to construct these buildings
were precisely cut and settled. They had large roofs and the Roman arch system was used to
support the stones at the middle of the arches while the large stone roofs were supported by the
barrel vault system.
Gothic buildings of medieval period
In order to spread Christianity as a unifying religion throughout Europe, it was necessary for the
Church and the feudal kings to renounce the patterns of Roman and pagan architectural works
and other form of arts. As a result, they encouraged the development of new constructional
patterns which was visible in the buildings of late medieval period.
The constructors of Middle Ages gradually got away from the Roman architectural patterns and
they started creating buildings with perpendicular architecture. This architectural style of
medieval period is also known as Gothic architect and the buildings constructed with this
architectural plan are known as Gothic buildings. These gothic buildings were constructed in
between 13th and 16th century.
Gothic buildings were more suitable for religious ceremonies because they were lighter and more
spacious. Unlike Romanesque buildings, Gothic buildings had wider doors and windows and
instead of roman arch system, builders used flying buttress and more towers and pillars which
increased their strength. Gothic buildings were more decorative and beautiful and one of the
most significant decorative features of these buildings was gargoyles.
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