Chapter 7

Medieval Secular Architecture

Continued Development of Defensive Construction: Crenellations, Machicolations - Feudal System, Monastic System, Sacred Relics, Commerce

Medieval Secular Architecture will present discussion of the four major influences of the Medieval Period: the Feudal System, the Monastic System, the Veneration of Sacred Relics, and the development of Commerce and Trade Routes. Also the continued Development of Defensive Construction, with explanations of Crenellations, and Machicolations. We shall look at the walled city of Carcassone, in France, and the castles of Caernarvon, and Conway, in Wales. Then we shall be on to a fortress in Alarcon, Spain. This will be followed by a visit to Florence Italy, and its Piazza Della Signoria, the Palazzo Vecchio, the adjacent Loggia Dei Lanzi, and finally the Ponte Vecchio over the River Arno.