ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture
Building: 3000 Years of Design, Engineering & Construction
Chapter 2: The Medieval Era
East Meets West
1. What began in AD300? What happened by 395?
2. What was the situation with Christianity in the Eastern Empire and in the west during this time?
The Decline of the Roman Empire
3. What did Justinian do to try to hold the Roman Empire together in the East? What had
changed? What challenges were the Romans faced with?
4. What led land owners to give their land and a portion of their harvests to a protective lord?
How did religion play into this shift of power?
5. What happened with the demise of centralized government in terms of building and
infrastructure?
6. What influenced the new methods of building? Give multiple examples.
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture
Building: 3000 Years of Design, Engineering & Construction
Technological Revolution in the Middle Ages
7. Why was there little innovation in engineering up until 1100AD?
8. How many years passed between the fall of the Roman empire and the invention of the city in
its new form? Why was the progress slow? Why were there no massive building and
engineering projects during this time?
9. How did the Romans handle knowledge and its transmission in their society? Why was
knowledge lost with the fall of the Roman Empire?
10. What was one of the advances in engineering during this time? What were its advantages and
limitations?
11. How did the use of waterwheels change in medieval times? How did water and wind power
shape society in the four hundred years after 1066?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture
Building: 3000 Years of Design, Engineering & Construction
12. What technological changes were there for tools and devices during this time? How was
transportation affected?
13. What was the difference between Christian scholarship and academic scholarship? What were
the goals of each? How did they shape society?
14. How did the discovery of geometry shape society in the middle ages? How was geometry
related to cathedral design? How did geometry affect how people thought?
The Scientific Revolution of the Thirteenth Century
15. What was one of the causes of a major scientific revolution during this time?
16. What was one of the main focuses of the work in science at this time?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture
Building: 3000 Years of Design, Engineering & Construction
17. How does the author characterize the medieval era in terms of its technological and scientific
development?
18. How was music affected? How were languages shaped during this time?
19. How did artists and painters change during this period?
20. What were some of the educational facilities that were created at this time?
The Construction Boom in Late Medieval Europe
21. How did defensive needs affect construction?
22. How were towns protected? What role did Viollet-le-Duc play in the shaping of these walls?
23. How many castles were built during this time?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture
Building: 3000 Years of Design, Engineering & Construction
24. How did the crusades through the Middle East affect architectural and fortress styles? How did
they affect the workforce of Europe?
25. What was the non-military role of castles during this time? What was the significance and
contribution of military building to building in general during this time?
The Design and Construction of Cathedrals
26. How many cathedrals and churches were built in France during the three centuries after 1050?
27. What were some of the new ideas about building cathedrals during this time?
28. What do we know more about: Roman buildings or medieval cathedrals? Why?
29. What did Villard de Honnecourt do?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture
Building: 3000 Years of Design, Engineering & Construction
30. What did the medieval masons square look like? Make a drawing. What were its possible uses?
Designing Cathedrals
31. How did Italy influence the masons of the Medieval ages?
32. What was bigger, Roman baths or medieval cathedrals of the 12th and 13th century?
33. What was easier to work with: concrete or masonry? Why?
34. What were the two geometric “subroutines” they used? Draw examples of both.
35. Who wrote the first book on medieval cathedral design?
36. What material was used for roofs? What was the structure made of?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture
Building: 3000 Years of Design, Engineering & Construction
37. How was iron used in medieval and Gothic construction?
38. What were the four principle structural innovations in the medieval cathedral?
39. How do Romanesque churches resist toppling over? How do gothic churches resist these
forces?
40. Why was the pointed arch advantageous?
41. How are forces directed through a Gothic cathedral? Draw an example.
42. What structural function do the walls between buttresses serve?
43. What is the structural purpose of the upper tier of buttresses on a cathedral?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture
Building: 3000 Years of Design, Engineering & Construction
44. How is dead weight employed to achieve stability in a cathedral?
45. By what percentage did windows increase from Romanesque churches to Gothic churches?
46. Why were there relatively few structural collapses?
47. What type of vault was particularly English?