The Architecture Of Medieval Britain: A Social History

The Architecture of Medieval Britain: A Social History

This is an approach to the social history and architectural heritage of medieval Britain through an examination of its buildings. History and archaeology are brought together to study those characteristics of medieval architecture which mirrored contemporary values, and to investigate the buildings for what they tell us of their period. The Normans thought big, and their great cathedrals at Winchester and Durham reflect this. No castle, especially in the late Middle Ages, was intended exclusively for defence, so that Warwick and Bothwell, Herstmonceux and Bodiam are notable less for strength than for display. Chivalry and religious faith were the guiding principles of late-medieval society, but there were also rising expectations of material comfort and personal privacy at all levels of society. Significant improvements in personal life-style are one major theme in Colin Platt's book, and the contemporary development of death styles reflected in memorial architecture after the Black Death is another.