How did knowledge, ideas and building materials spread inside Medieval Europe in a world with both traditional geographies and shifting fashions?
Building Networks: Exchange of Knowledge, Ideas and Materials in Medieval and Post-Medieval Europe
Series: themes in Contemporary Archaeology
Ed by Jeroen Bouwmeester, Laura Patrick and Duncan L. Berryman
Springer Verlag 2024
How did people learn to build in the Middle Ages? And where did they get the inspiration to import new technologies such as brick building? Or new materials such as window glass? Or even lean to construct vaulted church roofs?
In the construction of medieval buildings across Europe, networks appear to have played a vital role. There were many aspects to these networks, such as the relationship between builders and patrons, transport links for construction materials, or connections between different buildings. The introduction to the volume provides an overview of the networks discussed and places them in a theoretical context. This introduction is followed by more detailed studies of the role of stonemasons, church roofs in Sweden, 12th century brick building in Denmark, the construction of urban dwellings, the trade in Scottish window glass, tower houses in Ireland, and much more.
The volume springs from a series of sessions and papers presented at various EAA annual Meetings.
ABOUT THE EDITORS
Jeroen Bouwmeester since 2009, has been employed by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands as a senior researcher of medieval and early-modern towns. His research focuses on urban archaeology in relation to archaeological heritage management with special attention to predictive modelling and the development of houses and other buildings in relation to urban planning.
Laura Patrick completed her PhD at Queen’s University Belfast in 2022. Her research focused on landscape archaeology, using case studies in Ulster to develop a methodology for the visualisation of rural medieval communities in Ireland through GIS and mapping techniques. She is also employed in the heritage and museums sector, promoting the importance of heritage and history.
Dr. Duncan L. Berryman is an archaeologist researching medieval rural buildings. He received his PhD from Queen’s University Belfast; this research studied the materials and investment of the buildings of fourteenth-century English manorial curiae. Currently, he is developing this research across the rest of the British Isles. He is also involved in community archaeology in Ulster with the Ulster Archaeological Society.