Medieval architecture

Art in the Middle ages was inseparable from religion. It was infused with spiritual symbolism and meaning. The purpose of art was to awe and inspire the viewer with the grandeur of God. It also served to symbolize what people believed. Pope Gregory the Great, he of the Gregorian chants, said, "painting can do for the illiterate what writing does for those who read." He might have added that sculpture could serve the same purpose.

Church Sculpture. The mission of the sculptor, whose work was seen almost exclusively adorning church buildings, was to educate as well as decorate. He brought Bi 18518s182s blical tales and moral lessons to life in stone. Carvings were not just religious, however. Everywhere you look there is evidence of pre-Christian symbology in church sculpture; animals real and fanciful, scenes of everyday life, and the pagan "Green man" peering out from amongst carefully wrought leaves and vines of stone. Sculpture burst forth gloriously in the Romanesque era, with little regard for classical conventions of proportion of figures.

The Romanesque Period. At the beginning of the Norman era the style of architecture that was in vogue was known as Romanesque, because it copied the pattern and proportion of the architecture of the Roman Empire. The chief characteristics of the Romanesque style were barrel vaults, round arches, thick piers, and few windows.

The easiest point to look for is the rounded arch, seen in door openings and windows. In general the Romanesque churches were heavy and solid, carrying about them an air of solemnity and gloom.

These early Norman churches were not always so stark as they seem today, however. In their heyday the church walls were hung with tapestries or painted richly. The statues of the saints were gilded (on some you can still see traces of the paint if you look closely), and the service books were inlaid with gold, jewels, and ivory. Chalices and reliquaries were encrusted with gems.

The Gothic Style. Beginning in 12th century France a new style of architecture and decoration emerged. At the time it was called simply "The French Style", but later Renaissance critics, appalled at the abandonment of classical line and proportion, derisively called it "Gothic". This was a reference to the imagined lack of culture of the barbarian tribes, including the Goths, which had ransacked Rome in the twilight of the Roman Empire.

Gothic architecture is light, spacious, and graceful. Advances in architectural technique learned from contacts with the Arab world during the Crusades led to innovations such as the pointed arch, ribbed vault, and the buttress. Heavy Romanesque piers were replaced by slender clusters of columns. Window sizes grew enormously, as did the height of vaults and spires.

Sculpture became free standing rather than being incorporated in columns. The new expanse of window space was filled with gloriously rich coloured glass. The easiest point of reference to look for in a Gothic church is the pointed arch, seen in window openings and doors. Also, the later Gothic churches had very elaborate decoration, especially the "tracery", or stonework supporting the stained glass windows.

Church Building. Churches were a point of civic pride, and towns vied to outdo each other in the glory of their churches. Money for the church was raised by the sale of indulgences, fund raising caravans of relics, parish contributions, and donations from nobles. Many times a guild would pay for a stained glass window depicting their trade. Often people would volunteer their labour to the construction, though much of the work was carried on by skilled workmen under the watchful eye of the head mason and the architect.

Church Siting and Orientation. Churches were often sited on pre-Christian sites of spiritual importance, taking advantage of peoples' existing devotion to a particular place. Worship was carried on in the same place, just with a Christian orientation. Speaking of orientation, churches are nearly always oriented so that the main altar is at the east end of the church, facing Jerusalem and, not coincidentally, the rising sun. Even if the altar end of the church is not literally in the east, that end is still referred to as the east end. In theory, then, the east end of an English church could face west

Homes

Most medieval homes were cold, damp, and dark. Sometimes it was warmer and lighter outside the home than within its walls. For security purposes, windows, when they were present, were very small openings with wooden shutters that were closed at night or in bad weather. The small size of the windows allowed those inside to see out, but kept outsiders from looking in.

Many peasant families ate, slept, and spent time together in very small quarters, rarely more than one or two rooms. The houses had thatched roofs and were easily destroyed.

Castles in England and Wales

The castle was a special kind of manor holding. Usually castles could only be built by the approval of the king, who wanted to ensure that any good fortified castle was in the hands of someone he could trust. In times of anarchy there was generally an outbreak of illegal castle building and fortification.

The Norman conquerors developed castle building into a fine art. They had to; it was such a turbulent and insecure period that defence was a necessity of life. When most people think of castles they tend to picture a massive stone structure, but before 1100 castles were primarily thatched wooden buildings on the motte and bailey plan.

Motte and Bailey Castles. The castle was built on top of a large artificial or natural mound (the motte), surrounded by a deep ditch. Around this was an area of land called the bailey. Inside the bailey were various buildings for the people who lived and worked in the castle, including stables, storehouses, bakeries, kitchens, cottages, and quarters for soldiers. The bailey was surrounded by a wooden palisade and an outer ditch, or fosse. Sometimes the fosse was filled with water diverted from a nearby stream. There are no good examples of these early motte and bailey castles remaining. Most were rebuilt in the early and mid 12th century as stone donjons, or keeps.

Early Keeps. Shell keeps, of which few survive, were set on artificial or natural mounds. Stone walls 8-10 feet thick and 20-25 feet high enclosed a circular or polygonal area of 40-100 feet in diameter. Within the walls residential buildings in stone and possibly wood were built. A stronger design was the square or rectangular Norman keep which developed mainly in the middle and late 12th century. These immensely strong keeps were too heavy for artificial mounds and had to be built on natural high points. The keep walls were 20 feet thick at the base, rising to over 100 feet in height. Bedchambers, garderobes (latrines), and passages were built inside the thickness of the walls. Corner turrets provided an unobstructed line of sight along each wall.

Keep Design. The basement of the keep was used for storage, and possibly dungeons, although the dungeons might be on a separate, deeper level. The ground floor was the domain of soldiers and servants. The first floor contained the great hall, the centre of life in the castle. The second floor housed the lord and his family, and often contained a chapel built into the wall. The roof above boasted the kitchens and ovens. In times of war these could be easily converted to heat up oil, water, burning brands, or sand to hurl at enemies. Sand? Yes, sand. When hot sand was poured on enemies attempting to scale the walls it got into their armour and caused severe discomfort and itching.

An outer defensive wall surrounded the keep. The main doorway was protected by a second tower or set of towers. This gatehouse or barbican was pierced by a portcullis of iron and wood which could be raised or lowered on heavy chains. A ditch might surround the whole keep.

Edwardian Castles. The keeps were ideal for the time in which they were built, but by the middle of the 13th century needs had changed. A base that could be used for offensive operations rather than as a purely defensive stronghold was needed. So the keep was discarded in favour of a concentric design. These castles are often called "Edwardian" after Edward I, who perfected the style in the castles he built in Scotland and Wales.

Concentric Design. Concentric castles have no central strong point like a keep. Instead they rely on rings of walls, one inside the other, with towers along the length of the walls. Most Edwardian castles have three concentric rings of walls and towers. The central space was kept as an open courtyard around which were clustered separate domestic buildings. The outer wall was ringed by a moat with access over a draw bridge through a separate gatehouse or barbican. Several Norman keeps were converted into concentric castles. The central keep was retained for accommodation.

Palaces and Manors. Defensive needs declined in after the 14th century, and the invention of canons made castles less easy to defend in any case. Attention shifted from defence to comfort and accommodation. Large castles became palaces, and smaller ones became fortified manor houses.

Living Conditions. Meals in the castle were held in the great hall, on long trestle tables. The lord's table was raised on a dais at one end of the hall. At the other tables guests were arranged by social standing. The lower classes were seated on the far side of the salt cellar ("below the salt"). Diners were often entertained by musicians seated in a gallery, or loft, overlooking the hall. Other entertainers were jugglers, acrobats, and troubadours. Troubadours might be retained by the lord, or they could be traveling musicians, spreading news and gossip as they travelled through the country. Their repertoire consisted of "chansons de geste", or songs of deeds, and "chansons d'amour", or songs of love.