Medieval Architecture Glossary of Terms
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Romanesque and Gothic architecture, church sculpture, and daily life in Medieval England.
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MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE
INTRODUCTION
Read an introduction to the topic of Medieval Architecture in the context of this resource.
Medieval Architecture Glossary
Click on the architectural terms for definitions, illustrations, and even audio pronunciations. By Jane Vadnal.
Roads to Ruins ...
The Corinthian capital was developed further in Roman times and used often in the medieval period, again, without strict adherence to the rest of the system.
Medieval churches had solid stone vaults (the structure that supports the ceiling or roof). These were extremely heavy structures and tended to push the walls outward, which could lead to the collapse of the building.
Generally, medieval churches were oriented toward the east. However, topography of the land or other factors may have prevented an absolute east- west orientation for a church.
Medieval stone, art, architecture...and the Middle Ages
Gothic Design
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Medieval - Both Romanesque (Norman in England; c7-1140) and Gothic (1140-c1420).
[edit] Medieval Rus' (988-1230)
Main article: Architecture of Kievan Rus
The city of Novgorod boasts the largest number of pre-Mongolian churches.
Medieval architecture in Pakistan is best represented by the funerary and religious buildings of Multan and Uchch in the Punjab.
Medieval moulding of semicircular or more than semi-circular section.RomanThe architecture of the Roman Empire, to which most of Britain belonged from 43 to c. 410 A.D.
Medieval chapel endowed for the celebration of masses, especially for the soul of the founder of the chapel. (The one who put the money up front!)
Chevron.
Medieval Philosophy. the doctrine that abstract words or universals do not represent objectively existing entities, and that universals are only names applied to individual physical particulars that alone exist objectively. — nominalist, n.
A medieval window was consequently a patchwork of variously coloured pieces. And the earlier its date the more surely was it a mosaic, not in the form of tesserae, but in the manner known as "opus sectile.
In medieval, esp.Norman, architecture, a cubic capital with its lower angles rounded off. The flat part is sometimes carved, as in the illustration above.
Cushion capitals can also be found in Richardsonian Romanesque style ...
In medieval times the body of the church (the nave) was divided from the chancel by a screen.
late-medieval form of roof supported on horizontal beams (hammerbeams) projecting from the walls; it enabled the central span of the roof to be open
Heraldry
the system of coats of arms used to identify noble families ...
In late medieval architecture, a type of construction in which the heavy timber framework is exposed, and the spaces between the studs filled with wattle-and-daub, plaster or brickwork.
Found in medieval buildings, these narrow openings are often in a cross shape, enabling archers to fire arrows in a number of directions whilst being protected.
This is a medieval building style that uses very large pieces of hardwood, often oak, which are cut in half to form the structural elements or frame for the building.
Glossary of Medieval Art at University of Pittsburgh
New Jersey Churchscape Glossary
Gothic Art Glossary ...
Buttery
- in medieval buildings, a store room for bottles, usually wine.
(absolutely no connection with dairy products).
Gravett, C., Medieval Siege Warfare, London, 1990.
Guilbert, G., Ed., Hill-Forts Studies, Leicester, 1981.
Hinago, M., Japanese Castles, Japan, 1986.
or in England medieval BARNS
or timber-framed houses of which the Wealden House was notable type.
The Kelmscott Manor, owned by William Morris, is a prime example of England, specifically Oxfordshire, vernacular architecture.
The Art of the Medieval Church Treasury:
Liturgical Objects
Our modern museums with collections of medieval art are full of costly objects made of gold, silver, decorated with precious gems, ivory panels, and even antique cameos.
scriptorium : A Medieval writing room in which scrolls were also housed.
Most commonly seen in early medieval churches. basilica (basilique in French; basilika in German) Term describing an architectural style, the status of a church, or both.
Bailiff - person in charge of allotting work to peasants, organising repairs to castles, and doing other jobs on a medieval castle.
Ballista - siege engine in the form of a large catapult.
Baluster - a small column.
From East to West there is a steady growth in certainty of touch, in structural efficiency, and in the expression through beauty of form and line of the culminating civilization of medievalism.
Post-medieval Puritan tradition, with central chimney, casement windows, steeply-pitched roof, and second story overhang, or "jetty" (cantelievered). Oldest remaining house in Boston. Paul Revere's home from 1770-1800.
loggia A rostrum developed in medieval Italian towns, roofed, slightly elevated, and open on three sides, from which orators could address crowds. Back to Top
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During the Renaissance, artists were no longer regarded as mere artisans, as they had been in the medieval past, but for the first time emerged as independent personalities, comparable to poets and writers.
herberHerber is the medieval word for a planted garden (from the Latin herba=grass, or a herbaceous plant). The herber could be used for medicinal plants or flowers. Later the word came to be used for an arbour.
Sometimes considered a sub-category under Tudor Revival, the cottage style borrows heavily from English country cottages, the Arts and Crafts movement, and the medieval period.
The Gothic revival style was influenced from medieval Gothic architecture. Early in the period, Gothic Revival houses were constructed of stone and brick imitating the castles and magnificent cathedrals of Europe.
Episcopal statutes, or laws, concerning the furnishing and maintenance of parish churches provide us with a unique portrait of the interior of a medieval parish church. The earliest statutes date to the early 13th century.
MATERIALS III CONSTRUCTION IV THE ANCIENT WORLD A Mesopotamia B Egypt C India D South East Asia E China F Japan G Pre-Columbian Architecture H Classical Architecture H1 Aegean Architecture H2 Greek Architecture H3 Roman Architecture V THE MEDIEVAL ...
A medieval lodging for travellers, located along trade routes. They are generally built around a large courtyard or vaulted chamber, and are lined with rooms and halls where both men and animals would stay.
Medieval Art I, II, III Georges Duby, Skira, Geneva (1966-67)
The Medieval Architect, J. H. Harvey, London (1972)
The Age of the Cathedrals, Art and Society 980-1420,
Georges Duby, London (1981) ...
The picturesque and pointed forms of the Gothic Revival style were derived from medieval Gothic architecture. This style was first used in Vermont in the mid 1820s for churches.
The term Gothic was at first used as insulting criticism of medieval art by Renaissance architects.
Sometimes referred to as Carpenter Gothic Revival, cottages will have whimsical medieval details such as balconies, lacey gingerbread bargeboards and ornamental chimneys.
Rood screens are much less common in western churches today than in medieval times, when they originated. Protestants had theological problems with separating the laity from the liturgy.
Hall: principal living quarters of a medieval castle or house
Hoarding: covered wooden gallery affixed to the top of the outside of a tower or curtain to defend the castle
Inner Ward or Inner Bailey: open area in the center of a castle ...
The reasons that the cathedrals had so many of these vaulted roofs is because the medieval builders thought that they helped reduce the risk of fire.
Gothic architecture developed in Europe during the medieval period, from about 500 CE to 1500 CE.
Altar
The holiest part of a church. In the medieval period the altar was a table or rectangular slab made of stone or marble, often set upon a raised step. After the Reformation the stone altars were replaced by wooden communion tables.
bailey: a court in a medieval castle, lying between the outer walls and keep.
balustrade: a barrier consisting of several small columns, each known as a baluster, supporting a horizontal member.
Arrow slits in the walls of medieval fortifications, but more strictly applied to the round hole or circle with which the openings terminate. The sam...
Orthostatae ...
The emphasis was on the simple, rustic and the less impressive aspects of Tudor architecture, imitating in this way medieval cottages or country houses.
Half-timber - The common form of medieval construction in which walls were made of a wood frame structure filled with wattle and daub.
Hall - Principal room or building in complex.
CRENELLATED A notched parapet, usually associated with fortifying a medieval building; also known as a battlement.
CUPOLA A small domed lantern or turret on a roof.
CUSP The point formed by the intersection of two foils in Gothic tracery.
SOLAR: Upper living room of medieval house or cattle, often over the hall.
WALL WALK: A passage along the castle wall.
YETT: Iron gate.
oriel window - a bay window, especially one projecting from an upper story; in medieval European structures and derivatives, a subsidiary bay, or a corbeled, enclosed feature, exterior or interior.
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This is another of the many Revival Style houses of the early 20th century. Half-timbering was characteristic of buildings in Medieval Europe (5th -14th centuries) when beams held up buildings and the spaces between the beams were filled with sticks ...
Bay of Choir, Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral is situated in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. Architecturally, the choir (alt. spelling quire) is the area of a chu...
A vaulted space under part of a building, wholly or partly underground; in Medieval churches, normally the portion under an apse or a chevet.
Zigzag pattern of Anglo-Saxon derivation often used on medieval, Gothic revival, and Art Deco pieces.
Chinoiserie ...
chapels placed around the ambulatory (and sometimes the transepts) of a medieval church.
Radiocarbon dating
a method of dating prehistoric objects based on the rate of degeneration of radioactive carbon in organic materials.
 See also: Architecture, House, Church, Roman, Arches
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