Mittelalterliche Architekturterminologie: Beobachtungen und Fragen

This paper examines the role of architectural terminology in the medieval understanding of architecture. Existing dictionaries are incomplete for this purpose, ideally a relevant European database would be helpful. A first, brief analysis of the sources with regard to the function and characteristics of architectural terminology (Latin and vernacular building descriptions, poetry, construction documentation) already shows that there are no illustrative descriptions; to a non-specialised populace "architecture" as such obviously remained inaccessible. No differentiated terminology was needed on the building site, the craftsmen had learned what to do. The most important medium for understanding and communicating architecture was obviously not verbal terminology, but the image, as a mental concept and, since the beginning of the Gothic era, as a drawing.