Urbanization – Medieval Europe
The
growth of trade and commerce in the medieval Europe has given birth to the
urbanization which lead to the growth of towns and cities. Urbanization is
nothing but growing cities with luxury and the latter can be linked to the then
play of politics with city centers as core. Dukes and kings used to show off
their wealth in public with the help of city states, to gain their trust and to
ambassadors to make them sure about their alliances. This attitude is not only
restricted to the kings but to the other elite class of the society. With the
growth of cities feudal lords of country side have decided to make their
presence felt by constructing residences in the cities. This lead to the growth
of architecture in the towns and cities and huge allocation of funds for the
construction is seen in the medieval Europe.
Coming to the city planning, They were constructed with an architect plan with the roads cutting at 90 degrees and the markets placed along the roads. The roads were big enough to hold the citizens and the travelers. The city architecture was in such a way that the tallest building was the town hall and church and all the other building would have a lesser height than the latter. Each house has its own chimney opened at the roof top into the sky. This shows that the planners have taken the health of the city into consideration as the opening up of chimney into the sky doesn’t allow smoke to walk through the streets and will also give a clear vision for the guards. The houses of the lords and other non-state elites are well decorated with carpets and crafts on the walls. The buildings were high even if they of a single storey. The pointed arches, ribbed vaults of church, buttress or counterforts used shows the prevalence of gothic architecture.
Most
common building among the public are two storied buildings with chimney on the
top. State buildings have higher elevation than non-state due to the security.
On the latter buildings, there exist temporary watch towers built of wood to
have a bird’s eye view of the city. It is interesting to note that the
architecture of Islam and Christian world would have been started with a same
base. Even in the medieval architecture we can see the curved domes and arches
in the constructions of Europe. This can be seen in the Gentile Bellini's, Procession of the True Cross
painting.
The
roads are just adjacent to the buildings and are well laid with rocks. The
bankers, merchants, traders make the backbone of the economy of the city-state.
This stratum of the society has the well-furnished interiors than similar to
that of dukes.
Clothing
varied according to the person’s status of the society. Frias and religious
authorities would wear long robes. Peasants would have wool tunics and cloaks.
The upper stratum would wear fashionable clothing
with gems, lace, and embroidery. The
urban life style has little restrictions. The society consisted of doctors,
artisans, peasants, slaves, merchants, bankers, guilds, clergy, judicial
officers, guards, brothels, vendors, cloth merchants, artists etc. People are
free to perform any economic activity but the slaves were discriminated. The
slavery can be noted from the satirical novel Don Quixote authored by Cervantes
(Chapter
III. - Wherein is related the droll way in which Don Quixote had himself 197 dubbed a Knight) which
shows the dominance of elite class over in the society. The busy roads of
Florence can be understood from the Assassin’s creed II game. The showcase of
wealth has made the kings to encourage the art and architecture.
Many books have been written in the medieval Europe and were also in circulation without political borders. We can see the books stuffed in the book shelf from the Assassin’s creed game (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc9uJld515Y time: 3:48; and this also can be seen from the Novel Don Quixote written by Cervantes - Chapter I. - Which treats of the character and pursuits of the famous gentleman 173 Don Quixote of La Mancha). Painting has found a new style called perspective art. Leonardo da Vinci is the best example of the perspective art. Many paintings can be seen with religious themes, this shows the impact of church in the life of the people.
Many books have been written in the medieval Europe and were also in circulation without political borders. We can see the books stuffed in the book shelf from the Assassin’s creed game (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc9uJld515Y time: 3:48; and this also can be seen from the Novel Don Quixote written by Cervantes - Chapter I. - Which treats of the character and pursuits of the famous gentleman 173 Don Quixote of La Mancha). Painting has found a new style called perspective art. Leonardo da Vinci is the best example of the perspective art. Many paintings can be seen with religious themes, this shows the impact of church in the life of the people.
Thus, the autonomy of
city states was observed in medieval Europe which is opined as the upcoming
system in the contemporary world by Benjamin, author of famous work, Jihad Vs.
McWorld who opines that city mayors must be the backbone of the democratic
world and states must take a back step in the global governance.
References:
Gentile
Bellini. (1496). Procession in
St. Mark's Square. Retrieved from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gentile_bellini,_processione_in_piazza_san_marco_01.jpg
Miguel de Cervantes. (1605). Don Quixote
[translated
by John Ormsby]. Retrieved from http:// www.gutenberg.net/
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