Britain’s capital? (c. AD 80–90)

This chapter describes London’s later Flavian architectural development, elements of which may have marked and celebrated the political maturity of the city. London’s first forum was probably built around the time of Agricola’s long governorship of Britain. Circumstantial evidence suggests that this building was erected c. AD 79/80. It could have accompanied the grant of formal urban status and the creation of the institutions of local self-government, although this remains uncertain. The contents of a legal judgement inscribed on a writing tablet suggests that London did not hold autonomous status in AD 76. Other public buildings and works included large public baths, one probably built c. AD 84 that has alternatively been identified as part of the governor’s palace. London may have benefitted from the architectural patronage of the emperor Domitian, executed on his behalf by the procurator, intended to grace Britain’s capital city following the completion of the conquest of the British Isles.

The Alfonso X’s patronage of Gothic architecture

This article examines the architectural patronage of King Alfonso X and the notion of a ‘Court Style’ in thirteenth-century Gothic architecture. Following brief consideration of problems of evidence, I briefly sketch common characteristics of the architectural patronage of Alfonso’s royal rivals and allies across Europe and the Iberian Peninsula. This prompts reassessment of the king’s relationships with mendicant and Cistercian orders, and then detailed consideration of his financial contributions to the cathedrals of Toledo, Burgos and León. Although royal heraldry and imagery is prominent in all three cathedrals, I argue that Alfonso probably did not play a significant role in promoting rayonnant architecture in his kingdom. The most distinctive feature of his patronage lies in his support for work on the converted mosque-cathedrals of Seville and especially Córdoba. Finally, I consider a number of projects associated with Alfonso in Seville, notably the Gothic palace in the Alcázar.

Matronage

Shajar al-Durr’s life is reflected in her architecture, coinage, and accounts of her deeds. Seen through the comparative methodological lenses of the historian and the art historian, the two modes of documentation tell different stories about power and gender. Written accounts dismiss her as a political anomaly whose autonomous rule was brief, whereas the material record indicates that she continued to play a role in politics even after her abdication. Her architectural patronage shows her to have been an innovator who changed the communicative potential of Islamic architecture to express the identity of the patron.

Tree of Pearls

The woman known as “Tree of Pearls” ruled Egypt in the summer of 1250. A rare case of a woman sultan, her reign marked the shift from the Ayyubid to the Mamluk dynasty, and her architectural patronage of two building complexes had a lasting impact on Cairo and on Islamic architecture. Rising to power from slave origins, Tree of Pearls—her name in Arabic is Shajar al-Durr—used her wealth and power to add a tomb to the urban madrasa (college) that had been built by her husband, Sultan Salih, and with this innovation, madrasas and many other charitably endowed architectural complexes became commemorative monuments, a practice that remains widespread today. This was the first occasion in Cairo in which a secular patron’s relationship to his architectural foundation was reified through the actual presence of his body. The tomb thus profoundly transformed the relationship between architecture and its patron, emphasizing and emblematizing his historical presence. Indeed, the characteristic domed skyline of Cairo that we see today is shaped by such domes that have kept the memory of their named patrons visible to the public eye. This dramatic transformation, in which architecture came to embody human identity, was made possible by the sultan-queen Shajar al-Durr, a woman who began her career as a mere slave-concubine. Her path-breaking patronage contradicts the prevailing assumption among historians of Islam that there was no distinctive female voice in art and architecture.

THE TIMBER LODGINGS OF KING HENRY VIII: EPHEMERAL ARCHITECTURE AT WAR IN THE EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY

A forgotten aspect of Henry viii’s architectural patronage and of the panoply of early modern European warfare is that of the timber lodging. Through two key case studies, this paper explores King Henry viii’s timber lodgings and demonstrates that not only did they form an important class of ephemeral architecture that successfully employed innovative technologies to make such structures portable for military campaigns, they were also used in conjunction with the royal tents to provide comfortable and secure battlefield accommodation for the king. The paper recreates their construction, functions, symbolism and elaborate appearance, revealing that the earlier timber lodging comprised a two-chambered wooden building which was painted externally to resemble brickwork and which was used at the sieges of Thérouanne and Tournai in 1513, while the later timber lodging was used at the siege of Boulogne in 1544. Through a close analysis of the surviving accounts for the making of the 1544 structure, the article demonstrates that it was an extravagant and architecturally pretentious building that combined the martial imagery of late medieval Gothic with refined touches of classicism. The paper also shows that the lodging used in 1544 is both recorded in the posthumous 1547 inventory of Henry viii’s possessions and appears in the engravings of the Cowdray House murals, held by the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Architectural Adventurism in Nineteenth-Century Colonial India: Begum Samru and Her Sardhana Church

This article explores the politically fluid and culturally hybrid environment of the Indian subcontinent during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Interaction between European mercenaries and their Indian patrons led to acculturation of both sides. This cultural affinity also extended into the realm of architecture and building patronage, resulting in a stylistic hybridity that drew upon both Indian and European traditions. This article examines the building projects of Begum Samru, bibi (consort) of a German mercenary and ruler of Sardhana near Delhi. The Begum, born a Muslim, converted to Christianity, but nonetheless still valued her roots, creating a syncretic identity that was reflected in her architectural patronage. The scope of her patronage went beyond domestic architecture to serve the cause of her adopted religion as well. While she donated generously to Catholic institutions, it was in the building of churches that the Begum resorted to what one may call architectural adventurism to mark her identity as a devout Catholic. Transcending the prevalent notions of space and aesthetics, the Begum's architectural trajectory was unconventional due to her gender, social status, faith, and patronage of churches. Commissioned in 1821, Sardhana's Catholic Church became a symbol of her architectural adventurism: it epitomized Begum Samru's feisty spirit and her quest to champion Catholicism in the subcontinent.