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Oct. 22nd, 2005 12:54 pmI just realised that the reason Gerbert of Mez and his brethren appeared in my list of recommended reads was that I am missing the Middle Ages. Writing about how modern writers use and think about the Middle Ages is not the same as studying a period pure, it appears. My mind, missing the medieval, last night fell to thinking about town plans.
I was thinking about how different the living experience would be if you lived in London, in Paris, in one of those new-fangled bastides with streets as regular as downtown Melbourne, or in a village in the Pyrenees, where the only streets were those trodden by villagers and reflected daily work and how often relatives and friends linked.
I looked at a map of Winchester and the main street curves - knowledge of who was doing what would depend on where you were in the curve. Every town must have been different and every location in a town must have had its own feel. I can imagine that the shop at the right part of that Winchester curve would be seen by more potential customers, for instance, and attract more passing gossipers who just wanted an excuse to see what could be seen.
How were walls accessed? Did they enclose and diminish a place (the walls at Aigues-Mortes certainly give that feel) or were they a part of the social and worklife of a town. Did people ever congregate on them or use them as shortcuts?
I need maps. Lots and lots of maps. Now.
I was thinking about how different the living experience would be if you lived in London, in Paris, in one of those new-fangled bastides with streets as regular as downtown Melbourne, or in a village in the Pyrenees, where the only streets were those trodden by villagers and reflected daily work and how often relatives and friends linked.
I looked at a map of Winchester and the main street curves - knowledge of who was doing what would depend on where you were in the curve. Every town must have been different and every location in a town must have had its own feel. I can imagine that the shop at the right part of that Winchester curve would be seen by more potential customers, for instance, and attract more passing gossipers who just wanted an excuse to see what could be seen.
How were walls accessed? Did they enclose and diminish a place (the walls at Aigues-Mortes certainly give that feel) or were they a part of the social and worklife of a town. Did people ever congregate on them or use them as shortcuts?
I need maps. Lots and lots of maps. Now.