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T O P I C R E V I E W
amoqt In Social Studies class, each of the students were assigned to pick a medieval topic (I chose castles) and compare it to something in the twentith century. I unfortunately can not think of anything! The one idea I have is the White House. If I was going to use this, I need some sites that describe the inner rooms of a castle and the White House and I have yet to find any. Please help me eitherfind a twentieth century topic that combines architecture with purpose or (if that fails) some various sites about the inner structure of a castle adn the White House. Thank you.
Philip Davis Medieval castles had a vast range of functions and that certainly included being the seat of government. However, in medieval England the government was centered on the king, who actually had many castles, palaces, houses and hunting lodges. So rather than the King meeting his executive officers in one place he and his court moved around the country and met where ever.
The executive branch of government really needs very little. The number of members of the executive (The cabinet) is actually quite small and can meet in almost any room. Actually some of the medieval meetings took place in the Kings bed chamber a fact still recognised in the title of one british government officer - the Lord Chamberlain. The only other thing needed is a way of recording the decisions made and then spread that decision along. In practice this means some who can write and plenty of quills, ink and parchment (I imagine much of the White House is taken up with the modern equivalents - radio, tv, computers, telephones, etc.)
A modern american president can get the information he needs about how thing are in the country sat at his desk in the Oval Office supported by his sophisticated communications systems. A medieval King had to get the information by moving around his country and visiting places. To do this safely in difficult times he heeded safe places to stay and hence castles.
So I think your idea is a good one but can only work if you look at the functional similarities and differences rather than the structural ones. ie considering not how things looked (architecture, floorplans etc.) but what they were for and how they worked.
Another thought is that function of both the White House and castles is to be symbolic representations of power. This means that the decorative elements in both have important social function. The most important castle in England from this point of view was the Tower of London in the heart of the Capital. The earliest and most impressive bit of the this castle is the White Tower, built by William the First to show his might in his newly conquered realm. Like the White House this building was made more impressive by being made white.
See
http://www.tower-of-london.com/
and
http://www.hrp.org.uk/tol/indextol.htm
for info on the Tower.
------------------
And the astronomyours beheldyne the constellacions of hys bryth by thare castle, and foundyn that he sholde bene wyse and curteyse, good of consaill
Secreta Secretorum
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T O P I C R E V I E W
amoqt	In Social Studies class, each of the students were assigned to pick a medieval topic (I chose castles) and compare it to something in the twentith century. I unfortunately can not think of anything! The one idea I have is the White House. If I was going to use this, I need some sites that describe the inner rooms of a castle and the White House and I have yet to find any. Please help me eitherfind a twentieth century topic that combines architecture with purpose or (if that fails) some various sites about the inner structure of a castle adn the White House. Thank you.
Philip Davis	Medieval castles had a vast range of functions and that certainly included being the seat of government. However, in medieval England the government was centered on the king, who actually had many castles, palaces, houses and hunting lodges. So rather than the King meeting his executive officers in one place he and his court moved around the country and met where ever. The executive branch of government really needs very little. The number of members of the executive (The cabinet) is actually quite small and can meet in almost any room. Actually some of the medieval meetings took place in the Kings bed chamber a fact still recognised in the title of one british government officer - the Lord Chamberlain. The only other thing needed is a way of recording the decisions made and then spread that decision along. In practice this means some who can write and plenty of quills, ink and parchment (I imagine much of the White House is taken up with the modern equivalents - radio, tv, computers, telephones, etc.) A modern american president can get the information he needs about how thing are in the country sat at his desk in the Oval Office supported by his sophisticated communications systems. A medieval King had to get the information by moving around his country and visiting places. To do this safely in difficult times he heeded safe places to stay and hence castles. So I think your idea is a good one but can only work if you look at the functional similarities and differences rather than the structural ones. ie considering not how things looked (architecture, floorplans etc.) but what they were for and how they worked. Another thought is that function of both the White House and castles is to be symbolic representations of power. This means that the decorative elements in both have important social function. The most important castle in England from this point of view was the Tower of London in the heart of the Capital. The earliest and most impressive bit of the this castle is the White Tower, built by William the First to show his might in his newly conquered realm. Like the White House this building was made more impressive by being made white. See http://www.tower-of-london.com/ and http://www.hrp.org.uk/tol/indextol.htm for info on the Tower. ------------------ And the astronomyours beheldyne the constellacions of hys bryth by thare castle, and foundyn that he sholde bene wyse and curteyse, good of consaill Secreta Secretorum http://www.castlesontheweb.com/members/philipdavis/index.html