Prestige of Architects-Engineers in the Middle Ages

Prestige of Architects-Engineers in the Middle Ages

Prestige of Architects-Engineers in the Middle Ages

Prof. Dr. Kadircan KESKİNBORA

Bahcesehir U. Faculty of Medicine Lecturer. Member of

In the Middle Ages, there was a small professional group that had other privileges in addition to a good income. These were the architects-engineers of that time.

13. In the 13th and 14th centuries, there was neither professional specialization nor separation of jobs, similar to the institutionalizations that manifest themselves in the form of architecture, structural engineering, mechanical engineering, contracting and subcontracting, as there are today. In the Middle Ages, the building foreman was a truly expert person who knew the practices of every stage of the building and closely monitored and supervised them. They were architects as well as engineers. No change in their functions and positions came to the fore until the Renaissance.

In the Middle Ages, the need for architects was so great that they could impose their conditions on the employer. In 1129, when Raymond, the Chief Architect of Lugo Cathedral, was worried about inflation, he had the archbishop accept the condition that his salary would be paid mainly in goods and wrote it into his contract: 6 silver marks a year, 36 rolls of cloth, 17 drawers of wood, as many shoes and leggings as he needed, 2 shillings a month. , 1 measure of salt and 1/2 kg of wax.

Raymond was a smart person. Other architects who were not as financially astute died in debt. When the king's master builder, John of Gloucester, died in 1260, he owed the king at least 80 marks, or 53 pounds 6s 8d; whereas John had one land, three houses and a mansion. The king constantly granted privileges and gifts to John of Gloucester. He not only exempted him from certain taxes, but also ordered that he be paid twice as much on business trips. He also gave both himself and his wife, Agnes, two garments of squirrel fur, as well as barrels of wine.

James of Saint George, who undertook the construction of ten new castles in the north of Wales between 1277 and 1295, was allocated a very high allowance of 54 pounds, 15 shillings per year, for life, in 1284. He was then given a principality of land, said to be worth 25 pounds, 16 shillings and 6 pence, which he could keep for life. Considering that at that time, a land ownership of 20 pounds was enough for a person to earn the right to become a knight, it is understood that this was an extraordinary income. In old texts, James of Saint George is sometimes called le machoun (mason), sometimes machinator (machinist), and sometimes ingeniator (engineer). In addition to being the possible designer of famous castles, he was also known by professional titles such as Civil Engineer and War Equipment Maker..

The word engineer has often taken on a different meaning and has begun to be used for people who specialize in the construction of military buildings. Architects who designed cathedrals or town churches were not called engineers, but in terms of engineering they were no less than their colleagues who specialized in military structures. Medieval people fulfilled their longing for arches and towers to be higher and more magnificent structures than those in neighboring cities with these works of architects-engineers. In those days, people were chasing world-class records. However, this passion ended when the choir vault of Beauvais Cathedral, which was approximately 47.7 meters high (a fourteen-storey building), collapsed in 1284. In this context, the medieval record was broken by the Strasburg Tower, which was approximately 142 meters (a forty-storey building) high. Over the next six hundred years, no stone structure came close to this record. Although engineers tried to use iron to strengthen their structures, they could not achieve this until the last quarter of the 19th century, when the Eiffel Tower was built.

            Strasburg's record was not broken until the 1960s, when the 189-meter-high London Post Office was built. II. The tower of Saint Paul's Cathedral, which scratched the skies of London until after World War II, is only 111 meters high, from the top of the cross rising above it. Again, in an introductory guide to London, the Victoria Tower, which exceeds the Clock Tower by 6 meters and climbs to a height of 117 meters, is mentioned with admiration. The 97.5 meter high rooftop bar of the London Hilton Hotel dwarfs the Strasburg Tower.

Medieval people, like most contemporary Europeans, did not see skyscrapers as structures devoid of aesthetics. The fact that the architects-engineers of the time were viewed as heroes, just like today's astronauts or Olympic champions, was probably a result of their professional skills and success. None of the contemporary architects and engineers have achieved the respect and honor that medieval architects gained.