1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910254892603321

Autore

Barras Richard

Titolo

A Wealth of Buildings: Marking the Rhythm of English History [[electronic resource] ] : Volume I: 1066–1688 / / by Richard Barras

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London : , : Palgrave Macmillan UK : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2016

ISBN

1-137-31921-6

Edizione

[1st ed. 2016.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XXVI, 337 p. 48 illus., 16 illus. in color.)

Disciplina

330.15

Soggetti

Schools of economics

Urban economics

Architecture

Heterodox Economics

Urban Economics

Architectural History and Theory

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

1. Of Works and Monuments -- 2. Wealth of the Nation -- 3. Norman Conquest -- 4. Gothic Ascendant -- 5. Magnate Display.

Sommario/riassunto

This two-volume book explores how the great buildings of England bear witness to a thousand years of the nation’s history. In every age, investment in iconic buildings reaches a climax when the prevailing mode of production is operating most effectively, surplus wealth is most plentiful, and the dominant class rules supreme. During such periods of stability and prosperity, the demand for new buildings is strong, structural and stylistic innovations abound, and there is fierce competition to build for lasting fame. Each such climax produces a unique vintage of buildings that are an expression of cultural hegemony. They are monuments to the wealth and power of those who ruled their world. This first volume provides an introduction to the study and a review of wealth accumulation over the past millennium. There follow three case studies of iconic building investment from the eleventh to the seventeenth century. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries the conquering Norman kings and barons erected castles



throughout the country to cement their feudal power. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the great wealth of the ecclesiastical estates funded the lavish construction of Gothic cathedrals and abbeys. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries Tudor and Jacobean magnates vied to build the most magnificent palaces and prodigy houses. The English Revolution brought this era to a close.