The Origins of Medieval Architecture: Building in Europe, A.D. 600-900 [Hardcover]

Charles McClendon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0300106882 | ISBN-13: 978-0300106886

This book is the first devoted to the important innovations in architecture that took place in western Europe between the death of emperor Justinian in A.D. 565 and the tenth century. During this period of transition from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages, the Early Christian basilica was transformed in both form and function.

Charles B. McClendon draws on rich documentary evidence and archaeological data to show that the buildings of these three centuries, studied in isolation but rarely together, set substantial precedents for the future of medieval architecture. He looks at buildings of the so-called Dark Ages—monuments that reflected a new assimilation of seemingly antithetical “barbarian” and “classical” attitudes toward architecture and its decoration—and at the grand and innovative architecture of the Carolingian Empire. The great Romanesque and Gothic churches of subsequent centuries owe far more to the architectural achievements of the Early Middle Ages than has generally been recognized, the author argues.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“McClendon displays an impressive command of the sources and the secondary literature. . . .he writes in a fluent yet authoritative manner. . . .”

(Choice )

About the Author

Charles B. McClendon is professor and chair, department of fine arts, Brandeis University. He is the author of The Imperial Abbey of Farfa: Architectural Currents of the Early Middle Ages, published by Yale University Press.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (October 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300106882
• ISBN-13: 978-0300106886
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,378,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book on a fascinating subject, April 5, 2008

By 

Penelope Glass (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Origins of Medieval Architecture: Building in Europe, A.D. 600-900 (Hardcover)

You may have to love medieval architecture to love this book, but if you do, you'll discover a very exciting journey into the development of Romanesque and Gothic Architecture from Roman and Byzantine forms. And very well written!

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, November 19, 2011

By 

Theseus "theseus" (US of A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Origins of Medieval Architecture: Building in Europe, A.D. 600-900 (Hardcover)

This intelligent, passionate, and well-illustrated book takes us from the the very end of antiquity to the beginnings of the Middle Ages.

Author McClendon argues that building and decoration in the "Dark Ages" was magnificent in its own right and had a greater impact on the fabulous traditions of medieval architecture than has been generally acknowledged He is particularly elegant and passionate when it comes to Carolingian (aka Frankish Empire) architecture. And this was a time of dramatic change for Europe! As the last bits of the Roman Empire fell away, "Barbarian" Europe took hold, establishing the beginnings the national divisions of what we now know as Europe. This -- accompanied with the steady rise of Christianity as the arbiter of taste and the prime mover of architecture -- provides us with an exciting time which, though certainly not modern, is a fertile mixing of ancient, older, and newer aesthetic traditions.

This is a handsome book from Yale University Press: large format hardback in dustjacket, 264 pp, 3.25 pounds. Cloth over hardback boards with a sewn binding. Indexed. Over 40 pp of bibliographic information.

Something like 400 illustrations grace this book in color and b&w: photos, floorplans, some sections, some elevations.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part I: The "Dark Ages"

The Legacy of Late Antiquity

The Roman Response to the Cult of Relics

Romanitus and the Barbarian West

The Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England

Part II: The Carolingian Era

Symbols of the New Alliance

Aachen and Rome: The Poles of an Empire

Private Patronage and Personal Taste

The Monastic Realm: Ideal and Reality

The Innovations of Later Carolingian Architecture

Epilogue: The Architectural Contribution of the Early Middle Ages