The vast majority of the medieval population lived in the villages. In European countries, such settlements were as if stereotyped, and if there were any differences between them (depending on countries and cities), they were very insignificant. The medieval village is a special memo for historians, which allows you to restore the picture of past life, traditions and features of life of the people of those times. Therefore, now we will consider what elements it consisted of and what was characterized by it.
General description of the object
The plan of the medieval village always depended on the area in which it was located. If it is a plain with fertile lands and spacious meadows, then the number of peasant households could reach fifty. The less useful the land, the fewer yards were in the village. Some of them consisted of only 10-15 units. In mountain ranges, people did not settle at all in this way. 15-20 people went there, who formed a small farm, where they maintained their small economy, autonomous from everything else. A notable feature was that the house in the Middle Ages was considered a moving property. It could be transported in a special cart, for example, closer to the church or even transported to another settlement. Because the medieval village was constantly changing, moving a little in space, and therefore could not have a clear cartographic plan, fixed in the state to which it belonged.
Cumulus village
This type of medieval settlement is (even for those times) a relic of the past, but a relic that has existed for a very long time in society. In such a settlement, houses, sheds, peasant land and the estate of the feudal lord were located "just as if." That is, there was no center, no main streets, no separate zones. The medieval village of the cumulus type consisted of randomly located streets, many of which ended in blind dead ends. Those that were continued, displayed in the field or in the forest. The type of farming in such settlements was, accordingly, also erratic.
Cruciform settlement
This type of medieval settlement consisted of two streets. They intersected with each other at right angles, thus forming a cross. At the intersection of roads always lay the main square, where there was either a small chapel (if the village had a large number of inhabitants), or a feudal lord who owned all the peasants living here. The medieval cruciform village consisted of houses that were facing with their facades to the street on which they were located. Thanks to this, the area looked very neat and beautiful, all the buildings were almost the same, and only the one on the central square stood out against their background.
Village road
This type of settlement in the Middle Ages was typical for areas where large rivers or mountain slopes were found. The bottom line was that all the houses where the peasants and the feudal lord lived, gathered in one street. It stretched along the valley or river, on the banks of which they were located. The road itself, of which, in general, the whole village consisted, might not be too direct, but it exactly repeated the natural forms that surrounded. The terrain plan of a medieval village of this type included, in addition to peasant land, the feudal lord's house, which was located either at the very beginning of the street or in its center. He was against the background of the rest of the houses always the highest and most chic.
Ray villages
This type of settlement was the most popular in all cities of medieval Europe, because very often its plan is used in cinema and in modern novels about those times. So, in the center of the village was the main square, which was occupied by a chapel, a small temple or other religious structure. Not far from it was the feudal lord's house and the adjacent courtyards. From the central square, all the streets diverged to different ends of the settlement, like the rays of the sun, and between them houses were built for peasants, to which land plots were attached. In these villages, the maximum number of inhabitants lived; they were distributed in the north, and in the south, and in the west of Europe. Also, there was much more room for various types of farming.
Urban situation
In medieval society, cities began to form around the 10th century, and this process ended in the 16th. During this time, new urban settlements appeared on the territory of Europe, but their type did not change at all, only the size increased. Well, the medieval city and the village had much in common. They had a similar structure, they were built up, so to speak, with typical houses in which ordinary people lived. The city was distinguished by the fact that it was larger than a village, its roads were often cobbled, and in the center a very beautiful and large church (and not a small chapel) certainly rose. Such settlements, in turn, were divided into two types. Some had a direct arrangement of streets that could be inscribed in a square. This type of construction was borrowed from the Romans. Other cities had a radio-centric location. This type was characteristic of the barbarian tribes that settled Europe before the arrival of the Romans.
