Urban Planning:

MEDIEVAL AGES
Proponent
GULAPA, CARLO P.
2012458331 AR1242
ARCH. ALVARO
PLANNING 2 Professor

Historical Background

The Middle Ages is a period in European history

which, along with its adjective Medieval, was
first referred to by Italian scholars andacademics
of the late fifteenth century. They were basically
stating that the society in which they now lived
was significantly more civilized and advanced in
many ways, than that which had existed during
the previous thousand years. This may have been
true within certain elite sections of Italian society
which had begun to emulate the art and
philosophy of ancient Greece, but generally in
Italy and Europe overall no all-pervading change
had occurred.

Historians since that time have, however, used

the terms 'middle ages' and medieval as a
convenient way to refer to that general period in
European history.

It has been regarded as extending approximately

from the end of the fifth century AD, when the
control of the Roman Empire had ended, until the
end of the fifteenth century AD, when the modern

OTHER FACTS:

Europeans established the world's first universitiesin the

1100s. Like the world outside then, the university could be a
violent place: Oxford University in England had rules that
specifically forbid students from bringing bows and arrows to
class.

A feudal societyvery much like that of Europe's developed in

Japan in the 1100's. The Japanese called theirknights"samurai,"
and, like the knights of Europe, they fought on horseback. As in
Europe, Japanese feudalism developed at a time of anarchy.

In the 1200s, northern Europe's largest towns--London, Paris and

Ghent--contained no more than 30,000 or 40.000 residents.
Southern European cities like Venice and Florence had over
100,000. The world s largest cities--Constantinople and
Baghdad--each had about a million people.

The Middle Ages period is divided into three ages, which are
known as Early Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages, and the Late
Middle Ages.

MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE
The Latin cross plan, common in medieval
ecclesiastical architecture, takes the Roman basilica as
its primary model with subsequent developments. It
consists of a nave, transepts, and the altar stands at
the east end (see Cathedral diagram). Also, cathedrals
influenced or commissioned by Justinian employed the
Byzantine style of domes and a Greek cross
(resembling a plus sign), with the altar located in the
sanctuary on the east side of the church.

MILITARY ARCHITECTURE

Surviving examples of medieval secular architecture mainly

served for defense. Castles and fortified walls provide the
most notable remaining non-religious examples of medieval
architecture. Windows gained a cross-shape for more than
decorative purposes, they provided a perfect fit for a
crossbowman to safely shoot at invaders from inside.
Crenellated walls (battlements) provided shelters for
archers on the roofs to hide behind when not shooting
invaders

ARCHITECTURAL STYLES
Romanesque
The name of this style of Middle Ages architecture leads to the
immediate association with this style of architecture is with the
Roman Empire. The reason for this association are the
similarities between Roman Architecture especially the Roman
'barrel vault' and the Roman arch. The Middle Ages
Romanesque Architecture was the first major style of
architecture to be developed after the collapse of the Roman
Empire.

GOTHIC

The later Middle Ages saw the emergence of Gothic style

architecture. Gothic or Perpendicular Architecture is the term
which is used to describe the building styles which were used
between 1200 - 1500AD. Middle Ages Gothic architecture and
decoration originally emerged in France. It was initially called
"The French Style". The name Gothic which is used to
describe this style of Middle Ages architecture was a derisive
term alluding to the Barbaric Goths who sacked Rome in
410AD. The name Gothic architecture was coined by people
who were appalled at the abandonment of classical
Romanesque lines and proportions.

MEDIEVAL PLANNING
Urban development in the early Middle Ages, characteristically focused on a
fortress, a fortified abbey, or a (sometimes abandoned) Roman nucleus,
occurred "like the annular rings of a tree", whether in an extended village or
the centre of a larger city. Since the new centre was often on high, defensible
ground, the city plan took on an organic character, following the irregularities
of elevation contours like the shapes that result from agricultural terracing.
Characteristics:
streets are often straight
and laid out at right angles
house lots are rectangular,
and originally largely of the
same size

Plan of Elburg in The Netherlands,

based on the cadastral plan of 1830.

ELEMENTS OF A MEDIEVAL
CITY
Individual House

Street Markets
Town Hall
Guild Hall
Hospital
City Gates, Walls,
Towers
Churches
Streets

1 . Church element
- church, cathedral, cloisters, monastery.
1 self protection ;2 . Secular element
- castle
or fortress
2 tilling of enough soil
to support
human life at a low
level
(meanwhile,
forces of nature
reforested
- especially
dominant
in England
and Germany
the once cultivated3areas
of Europe).
. Civic
element
- Walls and gates, town houses, town hall, guild hall,
market place.
of primary considerations were:

Orientation
Medieval Cities of Europe were orientated in
relation to their topography. Intentional
orientation is not noticeable; layouts of towns
and cities do not observe the four cardinal
points as in Antiquity.
Shape
The shape or outline of town plans was
delineated by the wall which would best protect
the city. A wall had to have the shortest
circumference possible and take advantage of
topographical features. Obviously, this often
limited the use of geometric shapes; yet simple,
geometric plans were adopted whenever
possible, especially in flat country. However, the
layout of medieval cities was not based on any
symbolic geometric figure. The choice of form or
outline of a town was left to the engineer
responsible for its fortifications (as in Classical
Greece)

Street Development

TYPES OF PLAN

EMERGENCE OF BASTIDES
BASTIDES Bastide
is a French term and means literally small fortress. German
examples.
Functions
-to populate and open-up new frontiers
-- to resettle population displaced by wars
-- to control conquered regions
-- to control and weaken a nearby older town by diverting
commerce from it to the new Bastide (e.g. Carcasonne)
Planning Principles
-1 . Bastides are new foundations and have pre-determined
plan forms 2
- . The Grid-iron system and rectilinear plot sub-division form
the basis of their layout
-3 . The main inducement to settle in Bastides provided by
house plot and some farming grants together with other
economic privileges

REFERENCES
http://users.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/townint5.html
https://www.google.com.ph/?
gfe_rd=cr&ei=aAGxVZu0FezH8Aec_bbwCw&gws_rd=s
sl#q=nucleus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria#/media/File:
Alexandria_-_Egypt.jpg
http://rubens.anu.edu.au/htdocs/bycountry/italy/rome
/popolo/melbourne.planning/Part4Medieval_Cities.pdf
http://www.castellscatalans.cat/documents/The_medi
eval_city.pdf