Medieval Architecture Essay Example for Free

Medieval Architecture Essay The Middle Ages, also known as the Medieval era, though scarred with a history of violence and war, has given the world some of the most marvelous and beautiful pieces of art, particularly in architecture. The Middle Ages is the name given to the time period from the late 5th century to the 15th century, particular to European history. The construction of these types of buildings was a constant for various cultures for a thousand years. They can be categorized into three phases; Pre-Romanesque, Romanesque and Gothic. The most important buildings during medieval times were religious, defensive and governmental or power related. Figure 1 – Sarcophagus of Abbess Theodechilde in the Abbey of Jouarre. The Pre-Romanesque era started, arguably, with the Merovingian Dynasty of the Franks. Some say that not much was gained, from an architectural point of view, during the rule of the Franks but I believe there are a couple of points worth making. The Merovingian rule lasted from the 5th century, after the fall of the Roman Empire, to the late 8th century. Most of their buildings followed after the Roman basilica style. The Franks, due to religious beliefs, pushed the building of monasteries and included crypts within their structures. (see figure 1) Although there were many monasteries built with crypts, only five remain intact today. One of the noteworthy aspects of Merovingian architecture was that they are credited with being the first to build raised reliquaries of the saint within their monasteries, located behind the altar. Figure 3 – The 9th century Torhalle, or gatehouse, at the Lorsch Abbey in Germany. Figure 2 – Exterior of Corvey Abbey, showing the Westwork. The Carolingian Dynasty, which some say is where Pre-Romanesque architecture began, reigned from the late 8th century into the 10th century. Also deriving from a Frankish noble family, the Carolingians are credited with a couple of key designs that carry forward into the Romanesque and Gothic phases of architecture. The westwork, which was basically the west facing side of the church consisting of two towers with several stories between them, was probably the most significant change in architectural design for churches during the Pre-Romanesque time period. The first church to incorporate this new style was the St. Riquier Abbey completed in 799. The plan included equal emphasis on both the east and west ends, including a complex west facade. This church was later destroyed but the westwork was to be repeated in many Carolingian churches and passed on to Ottonian and Romanesque architecture. The oldest standing example today of this style is the Corvey Abbey built in the late 9th century. (see figure 2) Another piece of the Carolingian architecture is the Torhalle, or gatehouse, built at Lorsch. This gatehouse, built around 800, stands today in perfect condition. (see figure 3) It was built as the formal entrance to the Lorsch Abbey. And though it is small in comparison to the many other buildings at the time, it remains the oldest monument of the Carolingian era. Figure 4 – The Gloucester Cathedral in England. The Romanesque era is where we see a dramatic change in architectural style as well as an increase in the amount of building that takes place. The Romanesque period doesn’t have an exact date range, but most tend to agree that it existed from roughly the 9th century to the 12th century. Although churches remain the number one built structure in the time, we do see a large increase in the number of castles being built. There are many characteristics of Romanesque architecture. New building ideas and techniques were introduced, such as stone vault ceilings, buttresses, semicircular arches as well as barrel, groin and ribbed vaults. As new designs were added, the need for stronger supports systems resulted in massive double shelled walls, large piers and drum columns. (see figure 4) The Romanesque period is known for massive structures and elaborate designs. From this we see a noticeable increase in the skill of the masons during this time as the stone work displays an obvious increase in precision and engineering. Much of the architecture in the Romanesque era evolved into Gothic architecture. The Gothic era ran from the 12th century into the 16th century. There wasn’t necessarily a clean break from Romanesque to Gothic styles of architecture, but rather a gradual shift in design. The main characteristics of Gothic architecture are the pointed ribbed vaults and arches, flying buttresses and, in place of solid walls, a cluster of columns. Due to the vertical emphasis of the design, the archways could be redesigned and stretched or pointed. Four main Figure 5 – The depressed arch supported by fan vaulting at King’s College Chapel, England. ypes of arch designs that are commonly found within Gothic architecture are the lancet arch, which is simply a steeply pointed arch, the equilateral arch, the flamboyant arch and the depressed arch as seen in the King’s College Chapel. (see figure 5) Due to the new design of supporting the weight of the ceiling through the columns and flying buttresses, there was no need for walls made of heavy materials. With all the columns and archways in place, the structure took on a skeletal look. This gave way to expanding the once small openings for windows to an expanse of window space providing plenty of light to the interior of the structure. This space was commonly filled with stained glass. From this, stained glass flourished as an art work to be an essential part of many of the churches in the medieval time. Castles are a huge part of Medieval times and started to grew in number and size during the Romanesque and Gothic eras. The castles were massive and built primarily for defensive purposes. However, some were designed to convey messages of wealth, power and respect as well as fear and domination. Besides a military need, castles were used for administrative purposes as well as a residence. Typical castle residents consisted of the castle’s owner, his family and his military and administrative support staff. Castles were generally made from local materials of stone and wood as well as recycled materials, like Roman bricks and marble. There are, of course, exceptions to this depending on how much money and/or power the person building the castle had. For example, William the Conqueror had the White Tower of The Tower of London built from Caen stone, imported from France. (see figure 6) Figure 6 – The White Tower of the Tower of London. Castles come in all different shapes, sizes and designs depending on the materials available as well as the terrain chosen to build on. Some of the common characteristics of castles are; the motte – an earthen mound created with a flat top for the castle to be built upon; the moat – a large ditch around the castle, typically filled with water; the bailey – fortification that surrounds the keep; the keep – the actual residence of the lord in charge and the most strongly defended part of the castle; the gatehouse – the entrance to the castle; and the curtain wall – a large defensive wall, typically between two bastions. Castle construction would depend on the materials chosen for the building. Earth and timber castles were less expensive to build but could be constructed in most locations due to plentiful resources and most skilled workers had wood working skills. Stone castles cost much more, take longer to complete and require higher skilled masons, and many of them. Not to mention that the location was often relative to the location of the rock quarry. Naturally, stone castles were many times stronger than ones made from timber and, in the eyes of many, were worth the extra cost and time. Depending on the lord in charge and the primary reason for building the castle, the architectural design didn’t stop with just the construction of the building. Many castles maintained beautiful landscapes to compliment their architectural master piece. As seen in figure 7, landscapes play an important role in the overall allure of the entire estate. This particular landscape for the Leeds Castle in England has been maintained since the 13th century. Figure 7 – Panoramic view of the Leeds Castle in England. Throughout the Middle Ages, the key to the many successful pieces of architecture has been the architect. Of course they were not called architects back then, instead they were simply called masons. Often time there were many masons working together on one project. The mason in charge of the design and construction was sometimes referred to as the master mason. Prior to the 13th century, most masons were trained on the job site. From the 13th century onward, the masons took on apprentices and training became more formalized. The masons maintained a constant presence on the job site in smaller structures attached to the building project called lodges. They would store their tools, eat their meals and perform all their inside type work within their lodge. Masonry was one of the few crafts that did not form into a trade guild prior to the 14th century. In later centuries, the masons and their lodge became what we know today as the Freemasons. Architectural design and innovation was not protected and masons often borrowed ideas from one another. In the 14th century, masons were sent to study the design incorporated with the Chateau de Mehun-sur-Yevre in France. This structure was destroyed in the 18th century. Figure 8 shows the ruins today and figure 9 shows what the chateau would have looked like. Figure 9 – Artist rendition of what the Chateau de Mehun-sur-Yevre in France may have looked like. Figure 8 – Current day Chateau de Mehun-sur-Yevre in France. During the estimated thousand years of the Middle Ages, and what we know of it, it is quite evident that architecture played an important part of each society. In religions, in governments and in noble families, the physical structure of the building was just as important to the people as were the traditions and work carried out within. Architecture was not merely a necessary profession but it was a desired form of art work and we are fortunate that so many of these master pieces have been left for us to study and admire.

To Homeschool or Not to Homeschool, That is the Question Essay

When a child walks out the door to his first day of school, a parent may ponder about his child’s future. Will he be a doctor or a lawyer? Is music or art in his future? Although most of the questions parents deliberate are positive in nature, fears also arise. Will he be smart? Will he fit in socially with others? From a child’s educational to social growth, parents have a responsibility to navigate their child down a path which will yield the greatest reward. Of these paths are public schools, private schools, online school or homeschooling. Within these schooling options, numerous factors enter into the final determination. Time commitment and money required are two of the biggest factors parents consider when choosing how their children will be educated. Caring parents want the best for their children and know they have only one chance to make the right educational decision. Although the homeschooling option may have some positive attributes steering par ents toward choosing this method, the negative aspects prove it is not the most beneficial choice for a student or his family. Different scenarios of instruction fall under the homeschooling umbrella. Whether a child is actually taught at home with a curriculum his parents either purchased or drafted themselves, or the child is taught online via a home-study course, all are types of homeschooling. In addition, some parents practice a homeschooling method known as unschooling. In this situation, parents fill their house with â€Å"encyclopedias, history books, art supplies, games and other learning tools that children are free to take up if or when they choose.† (Home schooling). This type of schooling uses daily life lessons to incorporate the core subject learning... ...r. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. â€Å"Preface to ‘Why Do Parents Choose to Homeschool?’.† Homeschooling. Ed. Myra Immell. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Current Controversies. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context.Web. 25 Apr. 2012. Shives, Steve. â€Å"Homeschooling Curricula Do Not Meet Academic Standards.† Homeschooling. Ed. Noah Berlatsky. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. From â€Å"Homeschoolers Who Don’t Learn Science Shouldn’t Receive a Diploma.† American Chronicle. 2008. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. â€Å"Tuition & Class Fees.† The Academy of Creative Learning. 2012. N.p., n.d., Web. 30 Apr. 2012. http://www.azpianoforte.com/464001.html Wilson, Jacque. â€Å"Unschoolers learn what they want, when they want.† cnn.com. 2011. N.p., 3 Aug. 2011. Web. 27 April 2012.

Development of the Cold War Essay

Up until 1945 the tensions between the USSR and the USA had been covered by the fact that both sides were trying to fight against Hitler and therefore relations up until the war had been relaxed. However this changed after 1945 the victory against Germany brought them international superpower status giving them more control and influence over many countries especially in Eastern Europe. As a result Stalin changed and adapted policies accordingly to increase competition with the USA; both countries were fearful of each other hence why Stalin concentrated on things such as industry and ignoring agricultural production for example. I will explain what and why the cold war influenced Stalin’s policies inside the USSR and come to a conclusion. My first point is that Stalin focused his efforts even more on the development of industry than ever before. The reason why Stalin did this was to rival the USA’s superpower status and therefore they focused on quantitative rather than the qualitative side of industry. Stalin wasn’t worried if the products they produced were any good as long as they met the 5 year plan targets then he believed he could compete with the USA. This showed as according to the statistics every planned target in 1950 was apparently met e.g. the coal target was 250 million tons which they surpassed and reached 261 million tons. Even the figures may have been exaggerated it is clear that the Stalinist approach had worked in terms of recovering from the war as well making significant progress in terms of producing goods. My next point is again to do with industrial production, but more specifically how they focused on heavy industry and capital goods in order to help with defence and the production of nuclear weapons. In 1950 industrial production was almost up by 75% compared to 1940. The most significant increases were in the production of capital goods such as coal and steel which were important in terms of everyday living. Defence was also an important sector in the USSR as it received the most favourable treatment in the allocation of resources, including skilled labour. The reason why Stalin concentrated on these things was because he wanted to carry out the task and maintain their new superpower status. Stalin was also fearful of the USA and the UK because they had refused to share information with him on the atom bombs which increased the tensions further between them and the USA. But because of Stalin’s drive to carry through heavy industry and concentrate particularly on their defenc e he was able to use his skilled labour and eventually managed to produce their own bomb by 1949. Another change to policies inside the USSR was to do with social policies and more specifically the campaign against cosmopolitanism. The reason why Stalin approved of the campaign against cosmopolitanism was because he feared anything from the Western world and he was particularly scared of what would happen in Leningrad as it was known as the â€Å"window to the West† where Stalin believed foreign influences was most likely to enter the USSR. He therefore opposed and banned things such as jazz music which was seen as something that was particularly Western. It wasn’t just that though as what was known as the â€Å"Leningrad purge† in 1948 where over 200 leading Leningrad party officials were either arrested or shot also occurred. Other things that were controlled because of the cold war tensions included controls on what was read as well as what was viewed at cinemas & theatres. But the campaign against cosmopolitanism was also linked with the increased anti-Semitism, the discrimination and violence against Jews. Other examples include the doctor’s plot where Jewish doctors were blamed poisoning Zhadnov and plotting Stalin’s death as well as banning marriages with foreigners. The reason why Stalin did this was because the cold war essentially made him even more suspicious of the West and therefore made him become stricter in terms of the policies he carried out. Alongside the campaign against cosmopolitanism was the rise in Russian nationalism. The USSR distrusted the Western powers and capitalism and Stalin knew that the two sides (USSR and USA) could not work together without trying to fight for supremacy at some point. The USSR decided that they would do this by praising everything that was Russian and making out that anything Russian was better than anything from the West. But in general this was excessive and made them look insecure; this reflected that in the past they were often invaded by Western powers that had better technology, as well as showing that they weren’t used to their new superpower status. The reason why Stalin imposed these policies inside the USSR was to make sure the people knew that anything Russian was far superior to anything that was Western and make the USSR look even better in terms being seen as a great country from anywhere in the world. The essence of competition was important to Stalin as he wanted his country to look even greater than the USA. The victory against Germany in the Great Patriotic war gave the USSR the chance to expand and gain more communist allies and help spread their influence in Eastern Europe particularly as well as the world in general. Stalin concentrated his efforts mainly on Eastern Europe as an â€Å"insurance zone† essentially to help protect them if they did come under attack from the USA. After 1945 the USSR recaptured Baltic States and therefore he had control over some major Eastern European countries such as Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania. This was important for two reasons, one because it would add protection if they came under attack again as well as spread their communist roots/ideologies so that they would gain more influence for the future. This was even discussed with wartime allies, the USA and the UK at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. This was to help decide the fate of post-war Europe. It was dominated by Stalin and the conferences helped decide on the amount of influence countries had and who would make key decisions. Stalin also used his powerful position to strip assets from the Eastern countries mentioned above to help rebuild Soviet industry. By doing this they could deal with the fact that Stalin was fearful of the USA because of their development of the atomic bomb and the increasing tensions between the two countries. The tension between the USSR and the USA also explains to some extent to why Stalin continued to ignore agricultural production and focus on industrial production as mentioned above. The situation got worse first during the war when the general public faced starvation because there was a lack of food and this continued to get worse as famine affected the USSR in 1946 & 47 when other Baltic states e.g. Moldova had to deal with drought. Agricultural production during the development of the cold war therefore continued to get worse as the planned 1950 target wasn’t met (didn’t get close). Another reason that could be suggested why Stalin ignored agricultural production was because there was a lack of competition with the USA in terms of agriculture, and therefore to him it didn’t really matter. Stalin’s rural economy was consequently a failure, which clearly underperformed and was obviously a weakness in the Soviet regime. The fact was because money was being directed towards industry there wasn’t any many to spend on producing food and providing modern equipment. My last point is what was known as â€Å"comecon† or short for The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. The Comecon was founded in 1949 by the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. The primary factors in Comecon’s creation were that Stalin’s desire was to co-operate and strengthen the international communist relationship at an economic level with the lesser states of Eastern Europe. This was a response to the USA’s marshal plan which provided aid and money to European countries that were affected by the war. Again this gives the sense of competition that Stalin liked to implement and show that the USSR was more than a match to the USA. The programme also encouraged trade and industrial between the communist countries. There was also an important legacy of this brief period of activity; the Sofia principle which radically weakened intellectual property rights, making each country’s technologies available to the others which greatly benefited the USSR because in terms of technology they were far behind most countries. If it wasn’t for the USA’s Marshall Plan then the USSR would probably not have gained advanced technology, but because of the influence of the cold war Stalin wanted to compete with the USA at everything and make them look superior in any way possible. In conclusion I believe the development of the cold war greatly influenced Stalin’s policies in the USSR. The fact that Stalin saw the USA as major competition in terms of being the ultimate superpower in the world also drove these policies faster than they might have been without the tensions of the cold war. But the fact that Stalin became more paranoid and suspicious as this reign went on also explains some changes in his policies e.g. becoming stricter on Jews. However in my opinion most of his policies including focusing on industrial production, ignoring agricultural production, introducing Comecon and the upsurge in Russian Nationalism can all be accounted for by the influence of the cold war.

The Strength Of Character, Leadership, And Integrity,...

When reviewing the articles â€Å"The Strength of Character,† â€Å"Leadership,† and â€Å"Integrity, Sense of Humor amount Traits of a Leader† a multitude of topics concerning ethical thinking and behavior can be found. From a person’s reputation to what it means to be a leader, moral reasoning plays an incredibly important role in all edifices of our daily lives. With this in mind, the purpose of this paper is to explore three of the critical concepts discussed in each of the articles above and why they are important aspects to a person’s moral character. Since nine topics shall be discussed in total, three per article, each media piece shall be discussed individually with comparisons made as needed. ::: Review Starts Below This Point ::: Article 1: Starting with â€Å"The Strength of Character,† the first topic that is breached is the concept of what â€Å"reputation† actually is. To most, â€Å"reputation† is just a tag which describes a person’s character based upon their actions and the resulting social sentiments. This is mostly true, however, reputation is merely a projection of how we want others to see us and not actually how we are. Only when a person’s outside social appearance and true internal values align shall an accurate representation of their true reputation appear. Because of this moral strength is necessary to be a good upstanding person with appropriate concepts of right vs. wrong and thus a good unshaking reputation. 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