Medieval design principles and applications

Medieval Architecture

Medieval Design And Architecture

According to most historians, the Medieval Period, also known as the Middle Ages, represents about a thousand years from circa 400 a.D. To 1400 a.D., sometimes referred to as the "Dark Ages." For centuries, this period of time was thought to be the dark interval between the collapse of the Roman Empire and the "rebirth of Western civilization in the Renaissance, a rough and uncivilized era filled with barbarism and ignorance" (Saalman, 45), but since the 18th century, historians have revised their opinions on this period, particularly regarding the idea that Medieval design and architecture was crude and primitive. Several outstanding examples of Medieval architecture demonstrate that this old view is totally inaccurate, for there are many churches, cathedrals and related buildings in countries like France, England and Germany which bear out the truth, being that Medieval architecture and design was just as complicated and beautiful as any created during the centuries that followed the "Dark Ages."

Generally, almost all churches, cathedrals and even private homes were highly influenced by Christianity, especially through the "energetic spirit of the Celtic-Germanic people who firmly established a unifying force in the midst of anarchy and chronic warfare" (McClendon, 134). With this in mind, it is not surprising that a good number of Medieval buildings and their accompanying designs were greatly influenced by the lifestyles of Medieval people, such as peasants, government officials and especially religious leaders, for as Victor P. Borg points out, Medieval architecture, as compared with later styles, was "unremarkable in that it was more closely tallied with climatic and lifestyle needs rather than esoteric, philosophical and divine principles" ("Architecture," Internet).

As a result of what is known as feudalism, being "an economic system involving a complicated series of interpersonal relations, obligations and services based on land tenure and occupation" (Saalman, 78), one of the most important buildings in the Cluniac-Burgundian style is the Church of St. Sernin at Toulouse in southern France. The grand scale of this church, part of the Romanesque movement, was very popular with religious pilgrims and peasants who only wished to escape their dire social lives to spend as much time as possible in this edifice which was often overflowing with crowds celebrating special religious holidays and occasions.

Inside the church itself, the aisles around the eastern end which form an ambulatory or a "covered walkway with a passageway around the apse and choir" (McClendon, 189), made it easier for people to circulate within the church and the opening of this ambulatory into separate chapels provided more space for worshippers and for liturgical processions. Overall, the wall-vault system at St. Sernin was very successful, for its "grand scale provided ample space for all types of religious ceremonies" and allowed worshippers to ponder the grandeur of the church while keeping in mind the never-ending presence of God.

In England, the characteristics of what came to be known as English Gothic architecture and design is best illustrated by the Cathedral of Salisbury, built between 1220 and 1260 a.D. In order for this building to appeal to the citizens, the architects decided to construct it in a park, surrounded by verdant lawns and great stately trees. Unlike cathedrals and churches in France, this building does not reach high into the sky and makes little use of what are called flying buttresses or "inclined supports set in a series of arches which help to maintain the stability of the outer walls" (Saalman, 176). Certainly, the Lady Chapel, dedicated to the Virgin Mary is composed of unattached shafts of Purbeck marble which "seem to tether the billowing Gothic vaults high overhead rather than support them" (Saalman, 177). Not to far from this enormous chapel, one can find a single, huge window divided into horizontal tiers of transom windows which help to illuminate the whole interior.

Overall, this beautiful building must have been a very popular gathering place for worshippers from all levels of English society, even the English peasantry who usually lived in mud huts or cheaply-constructed wooden houses and could find some form of sanctuary within the walls of Salisbury away from all the poverty and starvation that characterized the typical Medieval village or town.