Siena and the role of the fortifications in medieval cities
Posted on 04. Aug, 2010 by admin in Archive, Culture
The city of Siena is a prime example of how fortifications influenced the urban layout of mediaeval cities.
The fundamental role of fortifications in the mediaeval city followed perfectly the symbolic representation of the city in which there were only three elements: the cathedral, the walls of the city and then the seat of power or the town hall.
The Renaissance artist Sano di Pietro left some significant depictions of this in the Palazzo Pubblico di Siena. The city is depicted in the hands of its protecting saint and excluding a few secondary elements, all that can be seen at the red city walls, the Cathedral and the Town Hall with its Torre del Mangia.
The Middle Ages was a period marked by numerous battles and wars and which also had its influence on the architecture of that period. However, there is relatively little testimony of these military constructions which have reached the present day. The greater part of military architecture was decimated by the same battles and wars for which they were constructed and others were abandoned once they were of no more use. Others were also demolished because considered as a hindrance to the expansion of the city which was very frequent in the last century when many walled cities expanded outside their previous boundaries.
Apart from the defensive function of the walls in the Middle Ages, it also had an important psychological function. The walls were also used to determine citizenship and the also helped to create a certain sense of unity between inhabitants. The walls and the city gates were true elements connecting the city to the outside world and for this reason, great attention was given to their embellishment through the use of many decorative elements such as statues, inscriptions and coats of arms.
The solidarity and the stability of the city walls was of fundamental importance in guaranteeing the safety of the mediaeval city. Until the discovery of the gunpowder, warfare had remained practically unaltered for centuries but what had changed was a great advancement in construction. During sieges, war machines such as catapults, arrows, stone throwing machine, battering rams, mobile towers and artillery very similar to those used in the Roman times were used.
When the city was under siege the defender were almost always the stronger part and was able to resist for many years. For this reason most cities or castles were rarely taken by military action but more often through treason or famine.
Towards the end of the 1400 with the arrival of gunpowder, this equilibrium changed dramatically. This new technology consented the attackers to use heavier iron artillery and not stone and so the damage was greater and thus transforming previously impregnable mediaeval cities into easy prey for the attacker.
Great architects of that period started to explore innovative solutions for this new type of attack and this is when the first battlements started to appear and which remained until the Napoleonic period.
