Buttress your knowledge! The wonderful world of medieval vaults
Medieval architecture offers a treasure trove of beautiful vaults that are often impressive feats of architectonics. Vaulted ceilings are art as well as engineering, combining attractive visual designs with structural ingenuity.
Biography of Medieval Egyptian Queen shows her influence on Cairo’s architecture
A woman born into slavery in 13th-century Egypt broke the glass ceiling of the time to become a sultan and changed the look of Cairo with her innovative architectural projects.
Medieval Fortifications in the Balkans
Throughout the Middle Ages, the regions of the Balkan Peninsula were caught at the crossroads of competing worldviews and defensive architecture became an important mechanism through which to ensure the protection of secular and religious sites.
Medieval Women Who Built Things, with Rachel Delman
Rachel Delman researches medieval women who were involved in building projects. In this episode of Scotichronicast, she joins Kate Buchanan to talk about her work and her journey to studying medieval Scottish history.
Top 10 Medieval Megaprojects
From cathedrals to bridges, conduits to the cities – the megaprojects of the medieval world.
From Slide Projectors to Rosslyn Chapel, with Lizzie Swarbrick
What can we learn about art and architecture in medieval Scotland? On this episode of Scotichronicast, Kate Buchanan is joined by Lizzie Swarbrick to discuss Lizzie’s journey to studying Rosslyn Chapel and other Scottish churches.
Hagia Sophia: Past, Present, Future
Hagia Sophia has had a rich and turbulent history, changing hands between Christians and Muslims and having its doors open to all as a secular building from 1935 to 2020.
Changing Landscapes: Roman Infrastructure in the Early Middle Ages
The Romans constructed buildings and infrastructure all over Europe. What was the fate of these sites in the Middle Ages?
Sacred Marginalia: The Gargoyles and Buttresses of Gothic Cathedrals
There are few things which signal medieval architecture quite like buttresses. Those long, arching supports that give cathedrals like Notre Dame de Paris their distinctive silhouettes appeared on many medieval cathedrals across Europe from the twelfth century on
Notre Dame de Paris: the medieval cathedral and its 19th century restoration
I want to do today is really trying to contribute to our understanding of this building in the Middle Ages, and first I want to underline the way that the structure of Notre Dame has changed continually really since this church was first begun in the 1160s.
Abbot Suger’s Saint-Denis: A Study in Early Environmental Design
Abbot Suger’s choir at the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis is a re-occurring topic of discussion among architectural historians.
The Anglo-Norman cathedral of Ferns, history and architecture
A history of Ferns and its Cathedral, with an insight into Ferns becoming a diocesan centre in the reform of the 12th century
Gothic Cathedral as Theology and Literature
I will explore correlations in the use of sacred geometry, number symbolism, light metaphysics, and optics in Gothic cathedral architecture and sacred literature of the same period
How Much did the Gothic Churches Cost? An Estimate of Ecclesiastical Building Costs in the Paris Basin between 1100-1250
I estimate that over this 150-year period, on average, 21.5 percent of the regional economy was devoted to the construction of these Gothic churches, 1.5 percent of which is directly related to the implicit cost of labor.
The ritual recycling of Roman building material in late 4th- and early 5th-century Britain
This article examines the widespread late- and post-Roman practice in Britain of including recycled Roman building material in ritual activities, especially in closure deposits made in wells.
The Celestial Element; Light As The Integral Component In Circassian Mamluk Religions Architecture
My research was actually to do with the study of interior lighting in Circassian Mamluk religious architecture.
The Lives and Deaths of Houses in the Iron and Viking Ages
The longhouses built in the Norse world were more than just simple structures that served as places of shelter. In many ways they had a life of their own.
The Architectural Setting of English Romanesque Sculpture
Malcolm Thurlby considers English Romanesque sculpture in the context of its architectural matrix, focusing on specific carved elements such as portals, tympana, capitals, and figural reliefs.
Why hasn’t an earthquake toppled the Leaning Tower of Pisa?
Ironically, the very same soil that caused the leaning instability and brought the Tower to the verge of collapse, can be credited for helping it survive these seismic events.
How were medieval churches affected by the 2016 Umbrian earthquake?
In 2016, earthquakes in the Italian region of Umbria caused the collapse of several medieval churches, resulting in the destruction of local architectural and cultural heritage. A recent article investigates the cause of this problem and what may be done about it.
10 things you might not know about British cathedrals
Discover 10 curious facts you might not know about Great Britain’s most famous cathedrals.
Architecture in medieval Persian painting: fact or fantasy?
Robert Hillenbrand looks at how Persian painters tackled depicting architecture while also showing the process of construction, and how they operated within what to a Western eye might seem like constricting conventions.
“Stand by your man”: Caterina Lupi, wife of Bonifacio. Artistic patronage beyond the deathbed in late medieval Padua
The chance discovery of a document, some years ago led to the conclusion that the initial foundation of the chapel of St. James in Padua was a more complex affair. In this essay, I wish to turn to the most neglected collaborator until now, Caterina di Staggia, wife of Bonifacio.
Historical and Technical Notes on Aqueducts from Prehistoric to Medieval Times
The aim of this paper is to present the evolution of aqueduct technologies through the millennia, from prehistoric to medieval times.