#11thcentury

Hindu Architecture

Hindu Architecture evolved over the centuries from simple rock-cut cave shrines to massive and ornate temples which spread across the Indian sub-continent and beyond, forming a canonical style which is still adhered to today in modern Hindu temples across the globe.

Essential elements of Hindu architecture are precise and harmonious geometry when viewed from all four sides and above, the square form and grid ground plans, soaring towers, and elaborate decorate sculpture which includes gods, worshippers, erotic scenes, animals, and floral and geometric patterns.

Beginnings & Purpose

From the 1st century CE a new type of worship known as Bhakti or devotional Hinduism spread across the Indian sub-continent, and the old Vedic gods were replaced in importance by deities like Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna, Brahma, and Devi. These gods would become the central figures of Hinduism and their worship required temples where the devoted could offer their thanks and reveal their hopes for a better life.

Buildings were constructed which could house a sacred symbol of a particular god, which could be decorated with sculptural figures of them so recalling episodes from their mythological adventures, and which provided a space for worshippers to leave offerings and perform rituals such as bathing and dancing by professional female dancers (devadasi). The temple was considered the dwelling place of a particular god (devalaya). It was, therefore, a sacred place (tirtha) where heaven and earth meet and, as a god's home, it must be a suitably splendid palace (prasada). The needs of the god would, additionally, be supervised by a dedicated body of priests (pujaris) who attended the temple.

Hindus need not attend regular services, but an occasional walk around the temple interior (circumambulation), known as pradaksina and done in a clockwise direction, was considered auspicious. Further, they could say prayers, look at the god's representation – a specific act of piety known as darsan – and leave offerings of food and flowers (puja). Temples, inevitably, became the very centre of a community and, accordingly, their upkeep was guaranteed by land grants and endowments from the ruling class, as indicated by inscriptions on many temples.

From: Humphreys, Henry Noel, 1810-1879. The origin and progress of the art of writing. London : Ingram, Cooke, and Co., 1853

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Medieval Trades

Medieval Trades were essential to the daily welfare of the community and those who learned a skill through apprenticeship could make a higher and more regular income than farmers or soldiers. Professionals like millers, blacksmiths, masons, bakers and weavers grouped together by trade to form guilds to protect their rights, guarantee prices, maintain industry standards and keep out unlicensed competition.

As towns grew into cities from the 11th century so trades diversified and medieval shopping streets began to boast all manner of skilled workers and their goods on sale, from saddlers to silversmiths and tanners to tailors. Naturally, trades and trading practices varied over time and place throughout the Middle Ages and so what follows is a general overview of some of the common and interesting features of trades in medieval Europe.

Apprenticeship

Many children learnt the trade of their parents by informal observation and helping out with small tasks but there were also full apprenticeships, paid for by parents, where young people lived with a skilled worker or master and learned their craft. Very often a master who took on an apprentice also took on the role of parent, providing all their needs and moral guidance while in turn the apprentice was expected to be obedient to their master in all matters. An apprentice was not usually paid but did receive their food, lodgings and clothing. Boys and girls typically became apprentices in their early teens but sometimes they were as young as seven years old when they started out on the long road to learn a specific trade. There were many cases of apprentices running away and rules were established that the master and the apprentice's father had to spend one day each looking for the missing youth. There were time limits of one year, after which a master need not take the escapee back under apprenticeship.

The length of the apprenticeship depended on the trade and the master (the benefit of free labour was a temptation to extend the training for as long as possible) but around seven years seems to have been the average. A cook's apprentice might only need two years training while at the other end of the spectrum a metalworker like a goldsmith might have to learn their trade for ten years before they could set themselves up with their own business. An apprentice usually qualified by producing a 'masterpiece' which showed off his acquired skills. Earning the title of master cost money besides skill, though, and a qualified apprentice who could not afford their own place of business was known as a journeyman as they usually travelled around and found work with a master with premises wherever they could.

Medieval Icelandic Government

Early medieval Icelandic government, or Viking Iceland, has been termed an incipient form of democracy or democratic parliamentarism, however, the system was actually nothing like its European counterparts, be they medieval or contemporary. Historiography prefers the term 'free state'. As the name suggests, it refers to a freely organized political entity, with some elements of statehood but not quite a state. On the contrary, colonists in Iceland, the heroes of the saga literature, from many points of view created a stateless society. They had a well-defined judicial system and a council of lawmakers (lögrétta), but no king and no one to put judicial decisions into practice. There were differences between chieftains and commoners, but not as big as in many other places. Chieftains had little executive power, and at least in the 10th and 11th century they were not hierarchically organized. Settlers left Norway and other regions to start fresh and arrange their world as nowhere else in Europe.

Chieftains

The colonists (landnámnsmenn in Old Norse) came with political traditions from the continent, and many of them came from the same social class. Iceland gave up the aristocratic layer of continental Viking society and generally the hierarchy of warlords, earls, freemen, and partial freemen. Iceland came to be a society of landowning farmers who were not that enthusiastic about the elites and their roles. Indeed, it might have been what drove them away in the first place. They sought to avoid concentration of power in certain groups and to each have a share of control over the others. Chieftains (góðar in Old Norse) did benefit from some greater authority, but the role was temporary and not territorial. It depended on how many followers they had, if they offered support in disputes, if they could enforce the law, and if they had enough prestige. While in Scandinavia farmers lost rights to the growing authority of kings and other leaders, Icelanders rejected a centralized state. In the words of Jesse Byock, it represents "an example of a self-limiting pattern of state formation" (Viking Age Iceland, 66), meaning that they did not want to evolve but to come back to simpler forms of coexistence.

Local influential men can be seen as leaders but only small-scale ones. Some chieftains but also farmers (bændr in Old Norse) had more wealth and prestige than others, thus being similar to ranked societies. Chieftains could have slaves, tenants or labourers, however, slavery disappeared in the 11th century. Goðar typically competed not only for riches and status but also for followers (thingmenn in Old Norse), who were very important to assert dominance. They arbitrated in disputes, which was risky business that could get you killed, yet perhaps worth the risk, given the economic benefits. They transferred properties, gave loans to farmers, and increased their prestige by offering gifts, a practice that consolidated alliances. They held carefully planned feasts, especially at harvest time, where they displayed their generosity and importance.

It seems that chieftains acquired much less income than we would expect, due to the relatively simple economy and scarce resources. One main source of wealth, besides renting land or cattle, was intervening and settling a dispute. Technically, farmers could also do this, but chieftains were more qualified because they knew more of the law. Nevertheless, social barriers could be overcome, as farmers could become goðar, and rank depended on law and convention. Farmers could switch their loyalties from one chieftain to another, concentration of power was avoided, and authority was a pretty loose concept. This situation would change in the 13th century, once small groups gained more power, stimulated by the medieval Church among other factors.

Hindu Architecture

Hindu Architecture evolved over the centuries from simple rock-cut cave shrines to massive and ornate temples which spread across the Indian sub-continent and beyond, forming a canonical style which is still adhered to today in modern Hindu temples across the globe.

Essential elements of Hindu architecture are precise and harmonious geometry when viewed from all four sides and above, the square form and grid ground plans, soaring towers, and elaborate decorate sculpture which includes gods, worshippers, erotic scenes, animals, and floral and geometric patterns.

Beginnings & Purpose

From the 1st century CE a new type of worship known as Bhakti or devotional Hinduism spread across the Indian sub-continent, and the old Vedic gods were replaced in importance by deities like Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna, Brahma, and Devi. These gods would become the central figures of Hinduism and their worship required temples where the devoted could offer their thanks and reveal their hopes for a better life.

Buildings were constructed which could house a sacred symbol of a particular god, which could be decorated with sculptural figures of them so recalling episodes from their mythological adventures, and which provided a space for worshippers to leave offerings and perform rituals such as bathing and dancing by professional female dancers (devadasi). The temple was considered the dwelling place of a particular god (devalaya). It was, therefore, a sacred place (tirtha) where heaven and earth meet and, as a god's home, it must be a suitably splendid palace (prasada). The needs of the god would, additionally, be supervised by a dedicated body of priests (pujaris) who attended the temple.

Hindus need not attend regular services, but an occasional walk around the temple interior (circumambulation), known as pradaksina and done in a clockwise direction, was considered auspicious. Further, they could say prayers, look at the god's representation – a specific act of piety known as darsan – and leave offerings of food and flowers (puja). Temples, inevitably, became the very centre of a community and, accordingly, their upkeep was guaranteed by land grants and endowments from the ruling class, as indicated by inscriptions on many temples.