Social Class and Residential Architecture in Medieval Europe

I. Medieval urbanism: cities after the fall of the Roman Empire A.Main lines of city morphology (form) in Europe:1. the old rural pattern Open field village: Wharram Percy (East Anglia), England 1.

Continuous occupation of Roman gridded colony Florence, Italy Fosdinovo, Italy New village springs up near a castle or monastery New town deliberately founded by a patron Montaubon (bastide), France 3. I. A. 2. three basic patterns of the medieval town

I. B. A partiality for regular, urban-based geometric plans in the Middle Ages: the pitfalls of thinking that similar forms have similar significance 1. In spite of similar form, how were medieval bastides in France unlike Roman towns? Medieval bastide Montaubon, France Roman colony Timgad, Algeria Law of the Indies plan New Orleans, LA 6. 8.

I. C. Purposefulness of the medieval organic towns, a rural, topography-based “plan” 1. Influence of topography on form: why did faubourg type towns often conform to topography? Friesbach, Austria, 12 th century 4. Faubourg in German-speaking landsFaubourg in England Farnham, England, 12 th century

Friesbach, Austria, 12 th century I. C. 1.

I. C. 2. How did the influence of economic considerations shape informal medieval town plans? Siena, Italy (free commune)

I. C. 3. How could intelligent decisions based on accidents of site become part of the aesthetic identity of an organic town? Siena, Italy – view over town square (the Campo)

II. Middle Ages in Northern Europe: the culture of the hall Great Hall at Oakham Castle, Oakham, England,

II. A. Functions: What functions did a great hall serve? Halls and the Great Hall of the Saxon royal court at Yeavering, England, 7 th - 9 th cen. Remains of a byre in Ezinge, Netherlands 2 nd cen. BC

II. A. Origins of the rural North European timber hall 1. Vernacular Saxon royal hall at Cheddar (c. 1100), England Halls and the Great Hall of the Saxon royal court at Yeavering, England, 7 th - 9 th cen.

II. A. 2. Roman basilicas Great Hall at Oakham Constantine’s Aula or Basilica Trier, Germany, c. 300

II. C. Evolution of a northern architecture for the elite: making the hall an architecture of power Great Hall at Oakham Castle bailey (grounds) earthen banks w/ stone walls

“Here below, some pray, others fight, still others work.” (11th century, Bishop Adalbero of Laon) “From the beginning, mankind has been divided into three parts, among men of prayer, farmers, and men of war.” (11 th century, Bishop Gerard of Cambrai) II. C. Feudal context of the substantial great halls: why did great halls become more monumental beginning in the 11 th century?

Great Hall at Oakham II. C. 2. How were architectural languages combined to distinguish great halls with pretensions from other halls?

II. C. 2. Great Hall at Oakham

Figure playing a viol II. C. 2.

Keep (donjon) of Loches Castle, Loches, France, 1030s III. Signature architecture of the feudal aristocracy: The keep ➝ an un-Roman vertical status dwelling

Tower of London, 1078 Royal residence of William the Conqueror Keep of Durham Castle III.

Remains of motte-and- bailey castle at Pleshey, England wood hall → future masonry keep III. A. Origin of the keep in north European motte-and-bailey earthwork fortifications motte (mound) and bailey (enclosed grounds) great hall and other buildings

Loches Castle III. B. Rural landscape setting: Why would the idea to live in a vertical house not have occurred to the elite Roman?

Hall at Oakham CastleStacking of halls seen in Bayeux Tapestry, 11 th cen. III. C. a keep

Loches Castle III. C. Architectural program of the tower, keep, or donjon

4 floor levels inside the keep at Loches Plan of the keep at Loches great hall chambers armory chambers III. C. 1. keep as stacked feudal halls for feasting, entertaining, sleeping, praying

The great hall (2 nd floor) III. C. 1. Loches Castle

The chapel in the small keep (3 rd floor chamber level) III. C. 1.

III. C. 2. thick walls (idea found also in Romanesque churches) Loches Castle Dwarf gallery at Durham Cathedral

III. D. Aesthetics: non-defensive statements made by the castle and keep Loches Castle

III. D. 1. Its relationship to the grandeur of Romanesque church design Engaged shafts at Loches CastleRomanesque Speyer Cathedral Engaged shafts, passageways in walls, and ashlar masonry: already appear at Loches before they become widespread in church architecture

Tower of London, 1078Keep of Castle Rising, England, 1140 More complex massing and/or exterior articulation III. D. 1.

Étampes donjon, Étampes, France, III. D. 1. Evolution away from the rectangular hall toward more visually flashy keeps