The History Book Club discussion

This is a thread dedicated to Medieval Architecture.



Medieval architecture is architecture common in Medieval Europe.

Topics for this thread include the following:

* Religious Architecture
* Military Architecture
* Civil Architecture
* Pre-Romanesque
* Romanesque
* Gothic

* Locations: Central Europe, Scandinavia, Kievan Rus

The following shows: Bodiam Castle East Sussex England UK (I have actually been here - lovely spot)


Bodiam-castle-10My8-1197CC BY-SA 3.0

Please feel free to add books, images of medieval architecture, urls, etc that pertain to this subject area. No self promotion please.

Introduction to English Mediaeval Architecture

(no image) Introduction to English Mediaeval Architecture by Hugh Braun (no photo)

Synopsis:

None available on Goodreads

Sir Banister Fletcher's a History of Architecture

(no image) History of Architecture on the Comparative Method by Sir Banister Fletcher (no photo)

Synopsis:

he 20th edition of Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture is the first major work of history to include an overview of the architectural achievements of the 20th Century.

Banister Fletcher has been the standard one volume architectural history for over 100 years and continues to give a concise and factual account of world architecture from the earliest times.

In this twentieth and centenary edition, edited by Dan Cruickshank with three consultant editors and fourteen new contributors, chapters have been recast and expanded and a third of the text is new.

* There are new chapters on the twentieth-century architecture of the Middle East (including Israel), South-east Asia, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, the Indian subcontinent, Russia and the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

* The chapter on traditional architecture of India has been rewritten and the section on traditional Chinese architecture has been expanded, both with new specially commissioned drawings

* The architecture of the Americas before 1900 has been enlarged to include, for the first time, detailed coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean

* The book's scope has been widened to include more architecture from outside Europe

* The bibliography has been expanded into a separate section and is a key source of information on every period of world architecture

* The coverage of the 20th century architecture of North America has been divided into two chapters to allow fuller coverage of contemporary works

* 20th century architecture of Western Europe has been radically recast

* For the first time the architecture of the twentieth century is considered as a whole and assessed in an historical perspective

* Coverage has been extended to include buildings completed during the last ten years

* The coverage of Islamic architecture has been increased and re-organised to form a self contained section

This unique reference book places buildings in their social, cultural and historical settings to describe the main patterns of architectural development, from Prehistoric to the International Style.

Again in the words of Sir Banister Fletcher, this book shows that 'Architecture ... provides a key to the habits, thoughts and aspirations of the people, and without a knowledge of this art the history of any period lacks that human interest with which it should be invested.'

*Winner of the International Architecture Book Award, The American Institute of Architects Book of the Century.

*The source book for the historical development of architecture

Cathedrals and Castles: Building in the Middle Ages

by Alain Erlande-Brandenburg (no photo)

Synopsis:

The lofty spires of Gothic cathedrals and massive fortifications of magnificent castles represent the pinnacle of building achievement in medieval western Europe. Learn how the era's ingenious new tools and techniques helped to create not only these extravagant monuments but also bridges, houses, and city walls. In this book, the story of the birth of the building trades-and the changing society it reflected-gains an exciting new dimension.

Alhambra

by Michael Jacobs (no photo)

Synopsis:

The Alhambra inspires and enchants like no other site. With its fascination history; its romantic locale overlooking Granada, against the backdrop of the Sierra Nevada mountains; its intricately decorated rooms; its numerous courtyards and fountains; the palace city of the Alhambra is endlessly alluring and has captivated the imagination of visitors since it was conceived in the thirteenth century.

By 720 AD, most of Spain was under Islamic rule. Formerly a minor settlement, Granada now thrived: the town was reconstructed as an Islamic city, with a medina and a fortress, and, in the early eleventh century, the residents of the nearby town of Elvisra were relocated to this more strategically-situated and temperate locale. A military fortification had existed at the top of the hill overlooking Granada since the ninth century and this site, know as the "Alhambra," expanded as the city developed.

The palace city was mapped out by the founder of the Nasrid dynasty, Ibn Nasr, in 1238 and largely constructed in the fourteenth century by his descendents Yusuf I (1333-1354) and Muhammed V (1354-1391). They built the main structures, known as the Nasrid palaces, which captivate throngs of tourists to this day. In subsequent centuries, other palaces were added-like that of the palace of the Catholic Charles V, whose pioneering building startled locals with its Renaissance style. Today the Alhambra is a fascinating amalgam of style, both Moorish and European, with labyrinthine hallways, numerous fountains, pools, and courtyards, stunning details, and breathtaking views.

In "Alhambra," author Michael Jacobs details the history of this spectacular monument-the stories of the rulingfamilies who lived in the palaces, the capturing and recapturing of this region in Spain, and the myths that surround the Alhambra. Evocative photographs by Francisco Fernandez lead readers on a virtual journey through the various palaces, government and military buildings, mosques, baths, courtyards, and beautiful gardens that make up this mythical place.

A feast for the eyes, this book traces how architecture changed as culture changed during early Europe.

Medieval Architecture, Medieval Learning: Builders and Masters in the Age of Romanesque and Gothic

by Charles M. Radding (no photo)

Synopsis:

The eleventh and twelfth centuries witnessed a thoroughgoing transformation of European culture, as new ways of thinking revitalized every aspect of human endeavor, from architecture and the visual arts to history, philosophy, theology, and even law. In this book Charles M. Radding and William W. Clark offer fresh perspectives on changes in architecture and learning at three moments in time. Unlike previous studies, including Erwin Panofsky's classic essay Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism, Radding and Clark's book not only compares buildings and treatises but argues that the ways of thinking and the ways of solving problems were analogous. The authors trace the professional contexts and creative activities of builders and masters from the creation of the Romanesque to the achievements of the Gothic and, in the process, establish new criteria for defining each. During the eleventh and early twelfth centuries, they argue, both intellectual treatises and Romanesque architecture reveal a growing mastery of a body of relevant expertise and the expanding techniques by which that knowledge could be applied to problems of reasoning and building. In the twelfth century, new intellectual directions, set by such specialists as Peter Abelard and the second master builder working at Saint-Denis, began to shape new systems of thinking based on a coherent view of the world. By the thirteenth century these became the standards by which all practitioners of a discipline were measured. The great ages of scholastic learning and of Gothic architecture are some of the results of this experimentation. At each stage Radding and Clark take the reader into the workshops and centers of study to examine the methods used by builders and masters to create the artistic and intellectual works for which the Middle Ages are justly famous. Handsomely illustrated and clearly written, this book will be of great interest to scholars and students of medieval art, culture, philosophy, history,

Medieval Architecture

by Nicola Coldstream (no photo)

Synopsis:

Medieval architecture comprises much more than the traditional image of Gothic cathedrals and the castles of chivalry. A great variety of buildings--synagogues, halls, and barns--testify to the diverse communities and interests in western Europe in the centuries between 1150 and 1550. This book looks at their architecture from an entirely fresh perspective, shifting the emphasis away from such areas as France towards the creativity of other regions, including central Europe and Spain. Treating the subject thematically, Coldstream seeks out what all buildings, both religious and secular, have in common, and how they reflect the material and spiritual concerns of the people who built and used them. Furthermore, the author considers how and why, after four centuries of shaping the landscapes and urban patterns of Europe, medieval styles were superseded by classicism.

Thanks Jose and Jill.

Hagia Sophia: Architecture, Structure and Liturgy of Justinian's Great Church

by Rowland J. Mainstone (no photo)

Synopsis:

Rowland Mainstone's description of one of Christendom's oldest churches is based on years of detailed observation and critical reading of historical source material. This book offers an authoritative account of the the building's provenance.

High Gothic: The Age of the Great Cathedrals

by Gunther Binding (no photo)

Synopsis:

Notre-Dame in Paris, the cathedrals of Chartres, Reims and Amiens, Strasbourg Minster, Cologne Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Canterbury - these are the magnificent sacred buildings that for us epitomise Gothic architecture. The colossal dimensions of these cathedrals required not only enormous financial outlay, but also great organisational and technical skills. How, for example, were such long-term projects planned, lasting in some cases for many generations? How was work organised on the building site? Which forms were used, and how were they developed? What were the representational aims of the patrons of churches and secular buildings? And what symbolic significance lies behind these buildings, which were not only architectural masterpieces but also a vehicle for theological content, as part of the liturgy? We can only begin to understand the 'spirit of the Gothic' through an understanding of the historical, sociological, theological, economic and technological background in this time of change. Given this, we can then start to read Gothic cathedrals like the pages of a book.

Sunnis, Shi'is and the Architecture of Coexistence: The Shrines of the 'Alids in Medieval Syria

by Stephennie Mulder (no photo)

Synopsis:

Explores the relationship between Sunnis and Shi'is as expressed in the shrines of the 'Alids. Though the headlines of today's newspapers suggest that the rift between Sunnis and Shi'is is eternal, the relationship between these two primary Islamic sects has not always been contentious. This is most evident around the shrines of the 'Alids: revered by Sunnis and Shi'is alike, shrines to the Prophet's family have often served as unique spaces of intersectarian exchange and shared devotion. Mulder links the architecture and patronage of shrines to the wider, pan-Islamic landscape of interconnected pilgrimage sites created from these acts of patronage.

Notre Dame, Cathedral Of Amiens: The Power Of Change In Gothic

by Stephen Murray (no photo)

Synopsis:

Notre Dame, Cathedral of Amiens: The Power of Change in Gothic is a comprehensive study of one of the most ambitious building programs of the high middle ages. Offering a new approach to the traditional building monograph, Stephen Murray critically reexamines the documentary, archaelogical, and historiographical evidence; contemporary theological debates; as well as the social, political and economic contexts in which Amiens was conceived and erected.

Universe of Stone: A Biography of Chartres Cathedral

by Philip Ball

Synopsis:

Chartres Cathedral, south of Paris, is revered as one of the most beautiful and profound works of art in the Western canon. But what did it mean to those who constructed it in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries? And why, during this time, did Europeans begin to build churches in a new style, at such immense height and with such glorious play of light, in the soaring manner we now call Gothic?

Universe of Stone shows that the Gothic cathedrals encode a far-reaching shift in the way medieval thinkers perceived their relationship with their world. For the first time, they began to believe in an orderly, rational world that could be investigated and understood. This change marked the beginning of Western science and also the start of a long and, indeed, unfinished struggle to reconcile faith and reason.

By embedding the cathedral in the culture of the twelfth century—its schools of philosophy and science, its trades and technologies, its politics and religious debates—Philip Ball makes sense of the visual and emotional power of Chartres. Beautifully illustrated and written, filled with astonishing insight, Universe of Stone argues that Chartres is a sublime expression of the originality and vitality of a true "first renaissance," one that occurred long before the birth of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, or Francis Bacon.

The Stones of Naples: Church Building in Angevin Italy, 1266-1343

by Caroline Bruzelius (no photo)

Synopsis:

The rich architectural legacy of the Angevins, three generations of French kings who regined in southern Italy from 1266 to 1343, is very little known today. This groundbreaking book examines Angevin religious architecture, bringing to light for the first time the novelty and importance of these buildings while extending current understanding of the variety of medieval architecture beyond the well-known cathedrals of France and England. Caroline Bruzelius explores the complex encounter of the French with the worlds of the Mediterranean and of Italy. Although the Angevin period has often been associated with a vigorous renewal of the Gothic style in Italy, she contends instead that the principal Angevin monuments are built of local materials, reviving traditional building techniques and aesthetic preferences. The result is an architecture of adaptation and integration rather than one of colonial importation.

The Fires of Excellence: Spanish and Portuguese Oriental Architecture

by Miles Danby (no photo)

Synopsis:

The oriental influence in Spain and Portugal has left a legacy of extraordinary architecture, celebrated by scholars, poets and artists. In this illustrated book, Miles Danby reveals the multi-layered cultural interactions which took place, and which have in turn provided inspiration for architects through the centuries and around the world.

Medieval Russian Fortresses AD 862-1480

by Konstantin Nossov (no photo)

Synopsis:

Using archaeological evidence and first-hand sources, Konstantin Nossov charts the history of the medieval Russian fortress from its early beginnings until the 14th century.

According to Russian legend, in AD 862, the Slav tribes of what is now European Russia invited a number of Scandinavian princes to rule over them. In AD 882, Prince Oleg united these kingdoms as the feudal state of Kievan Rus, by building a series of settlement and border fortifications, including the Zmievy Valy (Snake Ramparts), to protect against foreign invasion.

The rise of feudalism through the 11th century saw the development of individual fortified sites to the detriment of the extended border defenses. Consequently, Mongol hordes poured over the border, introducing the siege warfare techniques of the East, and heavily influencing the fortification styles thereafter.

The rise of Muscovy in the fourteenth century saw an enhanced role for Moscow and the Kremlin, which was rebuilt in stone reflecting its increased significance.

This book brings all these diverse strands together into a comprehensive volume on the fortifications of Russia from the early days of the Kievan Rus' until the foundation of the modern state in 1480.

The Origins of Medieval Architecture: Building in Europe, A.D. 600-900

by Charles McClendon (no photo)

Synopsis:

This book is the first devoted to the important innovations in architecture that took place in western Europe between the death of emperor Justinian in A.D. 565 and the tenth century. During this period of transition from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages, the Early Christian basilica was transformed in both form and function.Charles B. McClendon draws on rich documentary evidence and archaeological data to show that the buildings of these three centuries, studied in isolation but rarely together, set substantial precedents for the future of medieval architecture. He looks at buildings of the so-called Dark Ages—monuments that reflected a new assimilation of seemingly antithetical “barbarian” and “classical” attitudes toward architecture and its decoration—and at the grand and innovative architecture of the Carolingian Empire. The great Romanesque and Gothic churches of subsequent centuries owe far more to the architectural achievements of the Early Middle Ages than has generally been recognized, the author argues.

The Bishops's Palace: Architecture & Authority in Medieval Italy

by Maureen C. Miller (no photo)

Synopsis:

This lavishly illustrated book looks at the art and architecture of episcopal palaces as expressions of power and ideology. Tracing the history of the bishop's residence in the urban centers of northern Italy over the Middle Ages, Maureen C. Miller asks why this once rudimentary and highly fortified structure called a domus became a complex and elegant "palace" (palatium) by the late twelfth century. Miller argues that the change reflects both the emergence of a distinct clerical culture and the attempts of bishops to maintain authority in public life. She relates both to the Gregorian reform movement, which set new standards for clerical deportment and at the same time undercut episcopal claims to secular power. As bishops lost temporal authority in their cities to emerging communal governments, they compensated architecturally and competed with the communes for visual and spatial dominance in the urban center. This rivalry left indelible marks on the layout and character of Italian cities.Moreover, Miller contends, this struggle for power had highly significant, but mixed, results for western Christianity. On the one hand, as bishops lost direct governing authority in their cities, they devised ways to retain status, influence, and power through cultural practices. This response to loss was highly creative. On the other hand, their loss of secular control led bishops to emphasize their spiritual powers and to use them to obtain temporal ends. The coercive use of spiritual authority contributed to the emergence of a "persecuting society" in the central Middle Ages.

Thank you Francie and Jose.

Heavenly Vaults: From Romanesque to Gothic in European Architecture

by David Stephenson (no photo)

Synopsis:

The Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages are among the world's greatest architectural achievements. Looking up at the soaring vaulted ceiling of a Gothic church, it is impossible not to marvel at the seemingly unending design variations of these transcendent structures. Photographer David Stephenson continues his exploration of the architecturally sublime by focusing his camera on the amazing vaulted ceilings of the medieval churches, cathedrals, and basilicas of Europe. Stephenson presents more than eighty Romanesque and Gothic vaults in kaleidoscopic photographs that reveal their complex geometrical structures, decorative detailing, and ornamental painting in ways they have never before been seen.

From simple arched stone tunnels, or so-called barrel vaults, to quadripartite and sexpartite rib vaults, to intricate tierceron and lierne vaults with their added decorative ribs, to complicated net, fan, and diamond vaults of the late Gothic period, Stephenson's visual taxonomy of this ancient structural form is strikingly beautiful and showcases numerous varieties across time and location. In an accompanying essay, the author charts the history of the vault and explains its technological developments. A foreword by photography curator Isobel Crombie puts Stephenson's work in context.

Thank you Jose

Architecture for the Dead: Cairo's Medieval Necropolis

by Galila El Kadi (no photo)

Synopsis:

The great medieval necropolis of Cairo, comprising two main areas together stretching twelve kilometers north to south, constitutes a major feature of the city's urban landscape. With monumental and smaller-scale mausolea dating from all eras since early medieval times, and boasting some of the finest examples of Mamluk architecture not just in the city but in the region, the necropolis is an unparalleled-and until now largely undocumented-architectural treasure trove. In Architecture for the Dead, architect Galila El Kadi and photographer Alain Bonnamy have produced a comprehensive and visually stunning survey of all areas of the necropolis. Through detailed and painstaking research and remarkable photography, in text, maps, plans, and pictures, they describe and illustrate the astonishing variety of architectural styles, from Mamluk to neo-Mamluk via baroque and neo-pharaonic, from the grandest stone buildings with their decorative domes and minarets to the humblest-but elaborately decorated-wooden structures. The book also documents the modern settlement of the necropolis by families creating a space for the living in and among the tombs and architecture for the dead.

The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals: A Study of Medieval Vault Erection

by John Fitchen (no photo)

Synopsis:

John Fitchen systematically treats the process of erecting the great edifices of the Gothic era. He explains the building equipment and falsework needed, the actual operations undertaken, and the sequence of these operations as specifically as they can be deduced today. Since there are no contemporary accounts of the techniques used by medieval builders, Fitchen's study brilliantly pieces together clues from manuscript illuminations, from pictorial representations, and from the fabrics of the building themselves.

Byzantine Architecture

by Cyril A. Mango (no photo)

Synopsis:

A lavishly illustrated study of the construction materials and techniques and the significant architectural achievements of the Byzantine Empire.

Thank you Jose

Notre-Dame de Paris

by Alain Erlande-Brandenburg (no photo)

Synopsis:

The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris is one of the jewels of the French capital and a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. This, the most detailed and lavishly illustrated book on the cathedral available in English, beautifully evokes the awe-inspiring monument that attracts countless visitors from around the world.

Master Builders of Byzantium

by Robert G. Ousterhout (no photo)

Synopsis:

Examining Byzantine architecture--primarily churches built in the area of Constantinople between the ninth and fifteenth centuries--from the perspective of its masons, its master builders, Robert Ousterhout identifies the problems commonly encountered in the process of design and construction. He analyzes written evidence, the archaeological record, and especially the surviving buildings, concluding that Byzantine architecture was far more innovative than has previously been acknowledged.Ousterhout explains how masons selected, manufactured, and utilized materials from bricks and mortar to lead roofing tiles, from foundation systems to roof vaultings. He situates richly decorated church interiors, sheathed in marble revetments, mosaics, and frescoes--along with their complex iconographic programs--within the purview of the master builder, referring also to masons in Russia, the Balkans, and Jerusalem.

The New Palaces of Medieval Venice

by Juergen Schulz (no photo)

Synopsis:

The palaces of Venice have long excited the wonder of visitors. Ornate and grand, the buildings seem to float on the water of the city s canals like the sea castles in a mariner s dream. But Juergen Schulz demonstrates that the origins of these residences lay on terra firma, in a widely disseminated building type that, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, was adapted to the special circumstances of an Adriatic lagoon and the needs of the merchants turning this environment into a center of trade.

An internationally recognized expert on Venetian art, architecture, and cartography, Schulz examines the city s medieval palaces with scholarship of unprecedented breadth and insight. Based in both archival research and first-hand knowledge of Venice, his book reconstructs the original appearance of the city s oldest surviving residences, such as that of the Corner and Pesaro families, and traces the many later modifications made to these buildings. Further, Schulz's book breaks new ground by presenting a systematic discussion of the use of sculpture in Venice's early palaces, famed for their "exhibitionistic" scale and ornament.

Illustrated with numerous photographs and plans, The New Palaces of Medieval Venice provides a comprehensive account of the ways in which a group of buildings came to embody the lives of Venice s leading mercantile families. Schulz s discussion of the Venetian palaces impact on later architecture further enhances the significance of this handsome publication.

Medieval Naples: An Architectural & Urban History, 400-1400

by Caroline Bruzelius (no photo)

Synopsis:

This volume forms a comprehensive and illustrated survey of the art and architectural history of Naples in the Middle Ages, while reviewing the development of Naples and its chief monuments, urban fabric, and topography.

The Church Of St. Panteleimon At Nerezi: Architecture, Programme, Patronage

by Ida Sinkevic (no photo)

Synopsis:

The church of St. Panteleimon at Nerezi is one of the major surviving monuments of twelth-century Byzantium. Commonly referred to simply as Nerezi, the church is distinguished as a foundation built by a member of the imperial family, decorated by some of the best artists of the period, and crowned by five domes in emulation of famous buildings of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. Thus, although located on the Byzantine periphery, in what is now the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Nerezi stands as an important testimony to twelfth-century Constantinopolitan artistic and architectural trends. Its significance becomes even greater considering that, uniquely among its contemporaries, Nerezi is preserved virtually intact.

Although Nerezi is recognized by scholars as one of the major surviving monuments of Byzantine art, it lacks a scholarly monograph, and large portions of its architecture and ornament remain unknown and inaccessible even to scholars.This book represents the first effort to study Nerezi comprehensively. In six successive chapters it examines different aspects of the building: its historical and social context, its architectural design, its sculpture, and its cycle of mural painting. In addressing these varied facets, the book attempts to relate the different components of the building both to one another, and to the relevant contemporary Byzantine monuments.

The book does it with two goals. First, as the pioneering study of this major document, it seeks to provide clear data on it: its measurements, materials, inscriptions, furnishings, and imaginery. Second, the book uses these data as a way to gain access to the figure of the patron, the Komnenian aristocrat Alexios Angelos Komnenos. Reading in its structural, programmatic, and aesthetic choices the characteristics of the building's patron, the book raises broader questions about the role which a Komnenian aristocrat and his church played at Nerezi's provincial setting. Thus, in its scope, the book extends the boundaries of a traditional monograph and encompasses both the study of the church and a contextual analysis of the historic, social and cultural trends ot the period.

In addition, this study introduces the complete visual documentation of the church. A series of architectural monuments, drawings and photographs of the decoration, as well as documentary evidence related to the restoration of Nerezi, are presented here for the first time.

Castles and Landscapes: Power, Community and Fortification in Medieval England

by Oliver H. Creighton (no photo)

Synopsis:

Castles were among the most dominant features of the medieval landscape and many remain impressive structures to the present day. This paperback edition of a book first published in hardback in 2002 is a fascinating and provocative study which looks at castles in a new light, using the theories and methods of landscape studies. For the first time castles are examined not as an isolated phenomenon, but in relation to their surrounding human as well as physical landscapes. Taking a thematic approach, the study examines a broad range of evidence - archaeological, documentary and topographical - to put castles back into the medieval landscape and assess their contribution to its evolution. Far more than simply a book about castles, this is a study of the impact of power and authority on the landscape. O.H. Creighton is Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Exeter. He is the author (with R.A. Higham) of Medieval Castles (Shire, 2003).

The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral

by Robert A. Scott (no photo)

Synopsis:

The great Gothic cathedrals of Europe are among the most astonishing achievements of Western culture. Evoking feelings of awe and humility, they make us want to understand what inspired the people who had the audacity to build them. This engrossing book surveys an era that has fired the historical imagination for centuries. In it Robert A. Scott explores why medieval people built Gothic cathedrals, how they built them, what conception of the divine lay behind their creation, and how religious and secular leaders used cathedrals for social and political purposes. As a traveler’s companion or a rich source of knowledge for the armchair enthusiast, The Gothic Enterprise helps us understand how ordinary people managed such tremendous feats of physical and creative energy at a time when technology was rudimentary, famine and disease were rampant, the climate was often harsh, and communal life was unstable and incessantly violent.

While most books about Gothic cathedrals focus on a particular building or on the cathedrals of a specific region, The Gothic Enterprise considers the idea of the cathedral as a humanly created space. Scott discusses why an impoverished people would commit so many social and personal resources to building something so physically stupendous and what this says about their ideas of the sacred, especially the vital role they ascribed to the divine as a protector against the dangers of everyday life.

Scott’s narrative offers a wealth of fascinating details concerning daily life during medieval times. The author describes the difficulties master-builders faced in scheduling construction that wouldn’t be completed during their own lifetimes, how they managed without adequate numeric systems or paper on which to make detailed drawings, and how climate, natural disasters, wars, variations in the hours of daylight throughout the year, and the celebration of holy days affected the pace and timing of work. Scott also explains such things as the role of relics, the quarrying and transporting of stone, and the incessant conflict cathedral-building projects caused within their communities. Finally, by drawing comparisons between Gothic cathedrals and other monumental building projects, such as Stonehenge, Scott expands our understanding of the human impulses that shape our landscape.

These cathedrals are truly amazing as the book points out. It makes you wonder how long it would take to create one now, if anyone could afford it.

Gothic is my favorite architectural style, and I am amazed at the expertise of the people who worked on all those beautiful churches. I wonder the same thing.

The Age of the Cathedrals: Art and Society, 980-1420

by Georges Duby

Synopsis:

Recognizing that a work of art is the product of a particular time and place as much as it is the creation of an individual, Duby provides a sweeping survey of the changing mentalities of the Middle Ages as reflected in the art and architecture of the period.

The Romanesque Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela: A Reassessment

by Christabel Watson (no photo)

Synopsis:

This detailed survey reassesses the great Romanesque Cathedral and pilgrim destination, Santiago de Compostela, concentrating in the main in establishing an accurate chronology of the building work, and thus attributing the various architectural features to the men we know to have worked on it. The focus is on the west end, which the author argues was left unfinished at the death of Archbishop Gelmirez, but she detects far more of his influence in its design than is often admitted, and she attempts to untangle the work of Gelmirez from his successor in directing the building works, Master Mateo.

Fortress-Churches of Languedoc: Architecture, Religion and Conflict in the High Middle Ages

by Sheila Bonde (no photo)

Synopsis:

Fortress-Churches of Languedoc traces the changing relationship between military and religious realms as expressed in the architecture of medieval Europe. The scholarship of medieval architecture has traditionally imposed a division between military and ecclesiastical structures. Often, however, medieval churches were provided with fortified enclosures, crenellations, iron-barred doors, and other elements of defense. In her study of fortress-churches, Sheila Bonde focuses on three twelfth-century monuments located in southern France - Maguelone, Agde, and Saint-Pons-de-Thomiere, which are among the earliest examples of the type. She provides new surveyed plans of these structures, as well as a reexamination of their documentation, which is here presented both in the original Latin and in new English translations. Fortress-Churches of Languedoc also explores the larger context of fortification and authority in twelfth-century Languedoc and examines the dynamics of architectural exchange and innovation in the Mediterranean at a moment of critical historical importance.

Fine maps. Wish I knew more about the subject.

Abandoned Castles: A Photographic Exploration Of More Than 100 Forts, Castles And Citadels From Around The World

by Kieron Connolly (no photo)

Synopsis:

If these walls could talk...

From ancient Roman redoubts to Norman keeps, French medieval châteaux to Gothic strongholds, Indian Ocean sea forts to American Civil War garrisons, Abandoned Castles explores more than 100 structures from across the globe in 150 color photographs.

Many were built in one century, expanded in another, perhaps besieged hundreds of years later, and ruined later still. Over the years their names changed, states rose and fell, borders changed or dissolved, but the castles remained. In their ragged walls we can see layers of history-bloody invasions and sieges, political upheavals, religious persecutions, changing architectural styles, and the evolution of military defenses.

Abandoned Castles is a vivid pictorial examination of worlds gone by.

100 strongholds, including:

Eleutherae, Attica, Greece
Masada, Judea, Israel
Coity Castle, Glamorgan, Wales
Yamchun, Wakhan Valley, Tajikistan
Tamagusuku, Okinawa, Japan
Altenstein, Bavaria, Germany
Janjira, Maharashtra, India
Fort San Lorenzo, Colón, Panama
Cape Coast Castle, Ghana
Fort Alexander, St. Petersburg, Russia
Fort Richmond, New York City, USA

About the Author

Kieron Connolly is a journalist and editor who has worked for the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday, and The Literary Consultancy. His books include Abandoned Places, Bloody History of America, Dark History of Hollywood, Disasters, and Stories of the Constellations.

I am surprised as well as glad that an Indian fort 'Janjira' that too from my own state (Maharashtra) made it to the list. I would like to give a little bit of information about this unique fort.

Janjira is considered one of the strongest marine forts in India. The fort, built at the end of the 17th century, is almost entirely intact today. During its heyday, the island fort boasted having 572 cannons. The fort belonged to the Siddis (Africans). Despite their repeated attempts, the Portuguese, the British and the Marathas (Hindu empire) failed to capture the fort. Even the Great Indian Maratha King Shivaji couldn't capture this fort after numerous attempts. Janjira remained unconquered until it became part of Indian territory after independence from the British in 1947.

That is really amazing Rohit - it should be called Janjira - the invincible fort.

Anachronic Renaissance

by Alexander Nagel (no photo)

Synopsis:

In this widely anticipated book, two leading contemporary art historians offer a subtle and profound reconsideration of the problem of time in the Renaissance.

Alexander Nagel and Christopher Wood examine the meanings, uses, and effects of chronologies, models of temporality, and notions of originality and repetition in Renaissance images and artifacts.

Anachronic Renaissance reveals a web of paths traveled by works and artists--a landscape obscured by art history's disciplinary compulsion to anchor its data securely in time.

The buildings, paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, and medals discussed were shaped by concerns about authenticity, about reference to prestigious origins and precedents, and about the implications of transposition from one medium to another.

Byzantine icons taken to be Early Christian antiquities, the acheiropoieton (or -image made without hands-), the activities of spoliation and citation, differing approaches to art restoration, legends about movable buildings, and forgeries and pastiches: all of these emerge as basic conceptual structures of Renaissance art.

Although a work of art does bear witness to the moment of its fabrication, Nagel and Wood argue that it is equally important to understand its temporal instability: how it points away from that moment, backward to a remote ancestral origin, to a prior artifact or image, even to an origin outside of time, in divinity.

This book is not the story about the Renaissance, nor is it just a story. It imagines the infrastructure of many possible stories.