Medieval europe (1)

 In European history, the Middle
Ages or Medieval period, lasted
from the 5th to the 15th century.
 It began with the collapse of
the Western Roman Empire, and was
followed by the Renaissance and
the Age of Discovery.
 It is called the Dark Age because
there were no significant discoveries
made or artworks produced, there
were no great leaders.
 The period is subdivided into the
Early, the High, and the Late Middle
Ages.

 In the 3rd century AD the Roman Empire was split into
Western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire.
 Due to the constant barbaric invasions, the Western
Roman Empire fell.
 The province was split into small kingdoms as follows:
 Ostrogoths: Italian peninsula
 Visigoths: modern-day Spain
 Angles and Saxons: modern-day Britain
 Franks: central Europe
 The eastern roman empire sustained and was then called
the Byzantine empire.
 The capital of roman empire was shifted from Rome to
Constantinople

 The Early Middle Ages was the period
of European history lasting from the 5th
century to the 11th century (c. 476-
1000AD)
 This period was saw constant warfare
and invasions, deurbanisation, birth of
feudalism and the growing power of the
church.
 With the end of the Western Roman
Empire and with urban centres in
decline, literacy and learning decreased
in the West. Education became the
preserve of monasteries and cathedrals.
 The barbaric invasions resulted in
splitting up of Western Europe into
several small kingdoms until they were
conquered by the Carolingians.
Source: www.google.com

The Franks, under
the Carolingian
dynasty, established an
empire covering much
of Western Europe;
the Carolingian
Empire endured until
the 9th century, when
it succumbed to the
pressures of internal
civil wars combined
with external
invasions—
Vikings from the
north, Magyars from
the east,
and Saracens from the
south. Source: www.worldology.com

 In the early middle ages
(5-10 century AD), the
capital of the Roman
Empire shifted from Rome
to Byzantium. This resulted
in a change of trend in
architecture. A new style
evolved and came to be
known as byzantine
architecture.
 By the beginning of the 8th
century, the Carolingian
Empire revived the basilica
form of architecture.

 During the High Middle
Ages, i.e. after AD 1000, the
population of Europe
increased greatly due to
technological and
agricultural innovations.
 The Crusades, first preached
in 1095, were military
attempts by Western
European Christians to
regain control of the Middle
Eastern Holy Land from
the Muslims.
The crusaders

 Toward the end of the 11th century, the Catholic Church
began to authorize military expeditions, or Crusades, to expel
Muslim “infidels” from the Holy Land.

 The Crusades began in 1095 AD, when Pope Urban
summoned a Christian army to fight its way to
Jerusalem, and continued on and off until the end
of the 15th century.
 No one “won” the Crusades; in fact, many
thousands of people from both sides lost their lives.
 They made ordinary Catholics across Christendom
feel like they had a common purpose.
 They also exposed Crusaders to Islamic literature,
science and technology--exposure that would have
a lasting effect on European intellectual life.

 Kings became the heads of
centralized nation states,
reducing crime and violence
but making the ideal of a
unified Christendom more
distant.
 Intellectual life was marked
 by scholasticism, a philosophy
that emphasized joining faith
to reason.
 Architecture of
Gothic cathedrals such
as Chartres are among the
outstanding achievements of
this period.

 In the 10th century the
establishment of churches and
monasteries led to the
development of stone
architecture that elaborated
vernacular Roman forms, from
which the term Romanesque is
derived.
 Where available, Roman brick
and stone buildings were
recycled for their materials.
 The distinctive European form
of the castle was developed,
and became crucial to politics
and warfare.

 The Late Middle Ages was the period of European
history generally comprising the 14th to the 16th century (c.
1300–1500).
 A series of famines and plagues, such as the Great Famine of
1315–1317 and the Black Death, reduced the population to
around half of what it was before the calamities.
 Along with depopulation came social unrest and endemic
warfare.
 The unity of the Catholic Church was shattered by
the Western Schism.
 Printing press was discovered. Treaty of Magna Carta was the
first printed document.

 The large external sculptural schemes of
Early Gothic churches gave way to more
sculpture inside the building, as tombs
became more elaborate and other
features such as pulpits were sometimes
lavishly carved.
 Painted or carved wooden relief
altarpieces became common.
Carved Tombs
Lavishly carved pulpits

 In medieval Europe, rural life was governed by feudalism.
 A political, economic, and social system in which land
was allocated in exchange for services; roles and
obligations were clearly defined for all participants.
 Roles in the Feudal system:
1. Lord
2. Vassal
3. Fief
4. Manor
5. Serf

 While Christianity was the dominant religion in
Medieval Europe, it was not the only one.
 In the early Middle Ages, there were some people who
still believed in the ancient Greek and Roman gods
which were popular during the time of the Roman
Empire.
 The Norse people of Scandinavia were also slow to
abandon their pagan gods and goddesses.
 Between 1000 and 1500 AD there were also a number of
people belonging to Judaism in western Europe.
 Aside from Christianity, the other major religion in
Europe during the Middle Ages (and still today), was
Islam.

Medieval Architecture
• The end of Roman Empire not only disturbed the
political, social and educational culture of Middle
Ages, but also, it influenced the architecture of the
Middle Ages in a significant manner.
• The essential aspect of this change was the
increasing influence of Christianity and Church in
political and cultural matters. The Church virtually
became the major power to manage the life style
of people of Middle Ages.
• Another significant reason that evolved various
innovative steps in architecture of the Middle Ages
was the tumultuous invasions by the barbarians
and the evolution of feudal system during the
Middle Ages.

• Medieval architecture can be
divided in two classes;
namely, religious architecture
and military architecture.
• The temples of pagan and
Roman religion were not
designed for large gatherings.
• However, to spread
Christianity, it was necessary
to create Church buildings
where large meetings could
be held easily.
• To provide enough space,
early Christians opted for a
specific architectural design
which is known as basilica.
This design consisted of a
nave, transepts and altars.
Pagan Temple

• In order to protect their land
and to provide protection for
serfs, Lords created castles
and fortified walls which
later on became most
significant non-religious
examples of architecture of
the Middle Ages.
• The peasants and serfs on
the other hands were
exploited by the members of
nobility.
• The basic purpose of all
these Gothic Churches and
castles was either to spread
influence of Christianity or to
protect and to ensure
security against invaders,
barbarians and Islamic
rulers.

• With changing influences of Church and
feudalism, architectural styles of Middle Ages
gradually changed from Romanesque architecture
to Gothic architecture.
• During the early Middle Ages, most of the
innovative architectural styles were influenced by
modernization as architectural works were
influenced by Italian, northern, Spanish, and
Byzantine inputs. These architectural styles also
showed the impact of religious and political
competition between kings and the clergy

 It is the architecture of the Byzantine or later
Roman Empire.
 Early Byzantine architecture was a
continuation of Roman architecture.
 Technological advancement and political and
territorial changes meant that a distinct style
gradually emerged which imbibed certain
influences from the Near East and used the
Greek cross plan in churches.

Dome at Hagia Sofia, Istanbul, Turkey.

Ground plan is either Basilican or cruciform.

Principal building material was
brick arranged in decorative
patterns or covered in plaster.
Columns and capitals were classical
prototypes.

Nave in Santa Sabina Church, Rome

Ambulatory of an early Christian
church in Rome.

 One feature of the basilica is the use of a transept, or
the "arms" of a cross-shaped building that are
perpendicular to the long nave.

 Other new features of religious architecture include
the crossing tower and a monumental entrance to the
church, usually at the west end of the building.

View of the interior shows the
transept arms to right and left,
and the chancel in the centre.

• Romanesque architectural style was influenced by Roman
architecture with significant modernizing techniques.
• This architectural style was used during 800-1100 A.D.
• Stone used in Romanesque architecture was cut with
precision
• The use of the Roman arch led to the stone being supported
in the middle by the arch construction.
• Buttresses were introduced as a means of support to the
basic design in Romanesque architecture in Medieval Times.
• The vault was developed to enable the construction of stone
roofs. Barrel or Tunnel Vaults - consisted of a continuous
surface of semicircular or pointed sections resembling a
barrel or tunnel which has been cut in half lengthwise. Groin
Vaults were produced by the intersection, at right angles of
two barrel vaults. The arches of groin vaults were either
pointed or round.

Round arches in
arcades, windows,
doors and vaults,
Sant'Ambrogio, Milan, Italy

Massive walls, Towers
and Piers

Some types of vaulting used in Romanesque architecture.
The ribbed vaults at Saint-Étienne, Caen The aisle of the Abbey Church at
Mozac has a groin vault supported
on transverse arches.

Source: http://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/

Portals with
sculpture and
moldings

• Gradually, architecture of the Middle Ages went
through a significant change and constructors
started to produce building with perpendicular
architecture which is also known as the Gothic
architecture.
• This building and construction style was used
during the period of 1200 – 1500 A. D. Gothic
arch structures were light and spacious and they
helped in creating airy structures that helped in
creating high structures with proper light.

Tall structures with increased number of towers was
an important feature of gothic architecture.

Large stained glass window openings.

Decorative designs
and sculptures
including Gargoyles

the Notre dame-French gothic
The Louvre palace- French
gothic

• Flying Buttresses
• Stained glass windows
• Pointed arch
• Rib vaults
• Pinnacles

A new method of construction
was evolved.
The pointed ‘rib and panel’
vaults over the lofty church
naves were now being held in
position with the buttresses.
The buttresses took the thrust
of the roof.
Hence the walls no longer
required to carry the load of
the roof, were decorated with
huge windows of stained glass.

The stained glass windows and
the sculptures that decorate the
buildings depicted the biblical
history from creation to
redemption as also the
chronicles of the kings, the
nobles, the knights and the
commoners.

• They were structurally employed in medieval architecture
• Use of the pointed arch gave a greater flexibility to
architectural form.
• The pointed arch enabled architects to raise vaults much
higher than was possible in Romanesque architecture.
• This gave a very different and more vertical visual character
to the structure.
• The pointed arch is used in every location where a vaulted
shape is called for, both structural and decorative.
• Openings such as doorways, windows, arcades and
galleries have pointed arches.
• Vaulting above spaces was both large and small was
usually supported by richly moulded ribs.

Use of pointed arch in gothic
Architecture.

Pinnacles were used to
counter-react the force
exerted by the buttress

Summary
• In the early middle ages , the European kingdoms were in the state of constant
warfare.
• The end of the united roman empire disturbed the political ,social, cultural
stability.
• The art ,architecture, and science during the early medieval era, hence did not
have
• any innovations
• Although ,the byzantine empire sustained, and the capital of the Roman
Empire shifted from Rome to Byzantium. This resulted in a change of trend
in architecture. A new style evolved and came to be known as byzantine
architecture.
• Christianity was a new force in the medieval age. Christian faith was first
spread throughout the Roman Empire and then to the extremities of the
civilized world.
• The acceptance of Christianity as a state religion resulted in the construction
of churches in Rome.

• In the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries many churches,
cathedrals, monasteries, castles were erected.
• In the new nations of Europe, a new architectural style was seen
in the buildings. This style was an evolution from the late roman
architecture and hence came to be known as Romanesque
architecture.
• The religious enthusiasm that manifested in the crusades, led to
marvelous architectural developments during the high middle
ages.
• These were in turn evolved from the existing Romanesque style
and came to be known as gothic.
• The wealth and power of the clergy and the popular religious
fervor was responsible for the outburst of the construction of
churches during the late medieval europe.

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Medieval europe (1)

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