Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Romanesque Medieval (pt. 1)

Now we come to the Romanesque Period, which is the time of Robin Hood, Maid Marion, Friar Tuck, Little John, Allen a Dale…and—who could forget?—Will Scarlett.  Anyway, the Romanesque Period becomes fully developed in Europe by the 11th century.  There is more art during this time than in the Early Medieval Period.
Feudalism reached its peak in the Romanesque Period; it was the cause of a lot of the unrest during Medieval times.  Land was the source of power and wealth, so naturally the fighting and wars were over land.  To defend the valuable land which you had already, it was necessary to construct stone fortifications, or castles, which featured towers, walls, moats, and drawbridges (among other architectural elements).  No other creation defines the period so well—castles are the quintessential Romanesque symbol.

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