Week 05 Flashcards
middle ages and early modern period
theories of urban decline
how do settlements respond
crisis and decline in the Roman Empire
200s-300s CE
plague and bad harvest
political infighting
attacks from asia
the barbarians and romans uneasy coexistance
(big wars)
environmental pressures on late Roman Empire
deforestation and flooding
wood for everything was needed
cleared land for farming
evidence from the 3rd century
(romes first floods, silting on the PO river)
post Roman Empire decline in Europe
from 200 CE to 600 CE they lost 28% of their population
de-urbanization
urban population fell
post-imperial society (catholic church as roman)
legacy
(monarchs and land-owing allies
post Roman semi-abandoned cities in Europe
privatized and reduced public space
fortifying arenas
shrunken cities
more walls
rental units in public monuments
large cities stayed just changed how they look/are used
they shrunk down and fortified more
St Agusting of Hippo
the city of gods
uses city as a metaphor for way of thinking of larger world
cities could be magical, beautiful, godlike city
first hand look at urbanism in the city
medieval europes castles as militarized urban space
nobilitys home base
defense and offense
display of power
storage
signals
converted the castles into the main functioning core of the city
castles and the reurbanization of europe 11th CE onwards
steady increase in population and trade
towns as marketplaces
ties to political adn religious centers but growing independence from both
interest in “protection of the city”
guilds as rival governing structure
freedom from rural service
cities in isamic world
600-1300s
starting point:imperial rivalry in the middle east (300-600s)
bynatium
competing univerlist religious claims (against sassanids)
similar imperial capitals
dead cities of northern syria, collapse
origins of Islam
the arabian peninsula
arabic a culture group with multiple religions and social practices
most people of pastoralists and traders
after mohammad, an expansive monotheistic empire
lots of commerce moving around them (through Indian ocean)
600 CE Islamic empire….
burst of energy, expansion, and growth
repurposing old imperial cities in Islam
islam as minority faith
conquered places where islam was religious minority, they make compromises with local cultures.
given protection and not forced to convert but taxed way more
building on existing cities vs making new ones in Islam empire
take christian churches and turn them into mosques
new islamic cities: garrison towns
Fustat (641)
new cities begun as fortified capitals
oftern near older cities, built on local traditions
re-oriented society away from ports, towards the interior
cities of riders
11th - 15th century
nomadic invaders that brought down the Roman empire
