1. Name
multiple important aspects about furniture and residences in the Middle Ages.
Middle Ages furniture was constructed in a very architectural
manner. This is because there were no examples as to what furniture should look
like; therefore furniture was made to resemble architecture like buildings,
columns, and other structures. Also furniture at this time was either portable
or fixed due to the fact that the Lords of the estate and its people had to
move around to different estates for food. If furniture was portable it meant
it was light weight and could be packed up on a cart or carried to a different
destination. Fixed furniture didn't necessarily mean it was attached to
anything; fixed typically just meant it was too heavy to move or carry. This was
a strategic move to keep anyone who happens to wonder onto the estate from
taking anything while the Lord was gone. There were very few pieces of
furniture at this time. The chest was a staple at this time. It was not only
used to store things in but could also be used to sleep in or as seating. Chairs
were also an important piece, because typically only important people like the
Lord used chairs. Typically the Lord would sit in his chair on a raised
platform while everyone else stood or sat on the floor. Occasionally the Lord’s
wife or daughters sat on chests which were decorated by textiles or tapestries.
Textiles were among the many things use to show ones status or rank in the
social ladder; the more textiles you and the more elaborate they were meant you
were important and or rich. Another thing that showed status was the cup board,
which is where we get the name for the modern day cupboard. Cup boards were basically planks or boards
placed on a side board in which you places things on typically cups; and again
the more boards you had the more important you were. There was also the
development of the rope bed, which was a rectangular frame raised off the
ground with rope strung across it. Normally a sack filled with hay was used to
make a mattress for more “comfort”. At this time the comfort as we know it was ultimately
nonexistent. People then didn't really know comfort, so they didn't know they
were missing anything. Everything was more or less functional and built to do a
minimal set of duties and comfort was not one of them.
2.
Describe
multiple important features or developments with the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was the most important room of a castle. This
was the center of all action, the castles’ social center. Everyone did everything
in this room, people ate, slept, had sex, meetings, and parties. In the great
room there wasn't much furniture; generally there was one chair which was for
the Lord and everyone else stood or sat on the floor. Again textiles were used
to decorate the walls of the bare room. The biggest development in the Great
Hall was the wall fireplace and chimney. Before the wall fireplace the Great
Hall was heated essentially by a fire pit in the middle of the room. The problem
with the fire pit was that there was no ventilation for the smoke to leave the
room. The wall fire place gave the smoke more of an escape yet it still wasn't very
efficient in heating a room but at least there was less chance of dying from
smoke inhalation.
3. Detail the important
components of ecclesiastical buildings; include Romanesque, Byzantine and/or
Gothic.
There were generally two types of plans associated with ecclesiastical
buildings of the Middle Ages which were the Latin cross and the Gothic cross. Key
components of these buildings were the nave, the aisles, the choir, and the
apse. The nave is the center aisle of the building where the congregation would
have gathered. The aisles were positioned on either sides of the nave. The aisles
were used to house relics and to allow people to walk around the nave and see the
relics without disturbing services. The choir was the chancel area which
usually housed a choir of monks. Lastly the apse is ordinarily where the priest
was. There were different styles of architecture that became pronounced at the
time two of which were Romanesque and Gothic.
Romanesque architecture is notorious for its groin vaults, round arches, decorative
arcading, rectangular piers, thick walls, large towers and massive quality. Romanesque
buildings are typically simplistic and have a very symmetrical plan but they
did have a characteristically have a tripartite elevation. On the other hand
Gothic architecture symptomatically used the Latin cross with the transept,
pointed arches, the flying buttresses, and ribbed vaults. Gothic was also accustomed
to stained glass, trefoil, quatrefoil, and tracery.
3
ReplyDelete