British Culture - User contributions [en]

Gothic revival

2011-01-14T13:47:42Z

Alexander Wissmann:

'''The Gothic Revival''', also called Victorian Gothic, is an architectural style which was prominent during the second half of the 19th century and was inspired by the forms and elements of medieval architecture. The style emerged approximately around 1730, although a definite starting point cannot be defined as medieval elements were still used for churches and university buildings, and lasted up to 1930.
The early beginnings of the Gothic Revival can be dated back to the late 17th century, when buildings started to imitate Gothic forms. The survival of medieval structures only became a revival when architecture was connected with literary aspects; especially the evoking of feelings about the medieval past. At that time, Gothic elements were still used in English architecture in combination with other styles, like in the classical gatehouse at Hampton Court Palace created by William Kent (1723) where they were mixed with Rococo.

The first time, Gothic elements were used to a larger extend was by Thomas Walpole, who can be regarded as one of the prime movers of Gothic architecture. As he redesigned his country house at Strawberry Hill (1747), he intended the building to reflect his taste for topography and history and aimed at creating a picturesque composition. In order to achieve his aim, he used a large range of medieval decorative elements and added two towers to the building in 1761 and 1776. This and other early examples of the Gothic style show, that the adopted shapes were used for decorative purposes only, especially for the picturesque and romantic, and not for structure and function.
Up to the 1820s, the Gothic style became primarily used for church and collegiate buildings. This was about to change as it was chosen by Sir Charles Barry and A.W.Pugin for the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (The House of Parliament) between 1836 and 1865, after it was destroyed by a fire in 1834. In the following years, the style became the major mode in architecture not only because of its use in public buildings, but also because of its connection with contemporary philosophical ideas promoted, for example by John Ruskin in The Seven Lamps of Architecture in 1849 and The Stones of Venice in 1853. In these works, Ruskin stated that the morally superior way of life of the Middle Ages was shown by the quality and the design of medieval architecture and therefore demanded to return to the times conditions of work. To his mind, only materials which had been used in medieval times should also be used for Victorian Gothic buildings. Furthermore, there was a general interest in Gothic tales and romances created by the Romantic Revolution at that time, while on the other hand, architectural theorists tried to carry the liturgical significance of Gothic architecture over to their time.

In the middle of the 1850s, the Victorian Gothic hit its peak and was therefore called High Victorian Gothic. At that time, the design of a huge variety from domestic to official buildings, like railroad stations, churches or schools, have been following the example of gothic architecture. Examples for such buildings are Cardiff Castle, the Keble College Chapel and Exeter College Chapel in Oxford,Scarisbrick Hall, Lancashire and The Albert Memorial, London. The major elements of this style are
''“exuberant forms and decoration, turrets, polychrome brickwork, steeply pitched roofs,gables, pointed arches, bay windows, elaborate porches, medieval details such as decorative corbels and gargoyles, stained glass and patterned floor tiles”''(http://www.buildinghistory.org/style/gothicrevival.shtml).

Towards the end of the decade, the style started to lose its influence but still remained until the beginning of the 20the century. The style ultimately disappeared when ideas about functionalism and new building materials, which allowed new forms, emerged.

Sources:

Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. (Ed.) The New Encyclopedia Britannica Volume 13. Chicago, 1994

"Gothic Revival." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 14 Jan. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/239789/Gothic-Revival>.

Manco, Jean. “Gothic Revival”. Researching Historic Buildings in the British Isles. Ed. Jean Manco 2007 http://www.buildinghistory.org/style/gothicrevival.shtml [14.1.2011]

Ross, David. “Gothic Revival Architecture”. Ed. Britain Express n.d. http://www.britainexpress.com/architecture/gothic-revival.htm [14.1.2011]

Gothic revival

2010-12-22T10:29:40Z

Alexander Wissmann: Created page with 'work in progress "Gothic revival" describes an architectural style within the 19th century which is inspired by medieval architecture. Examples for this style are Strawberry Hi…'

work in progress

"Gothic revival" describes an architectural style within the 19th century which is inspired by medieval architecture.

Examples for this style are Strawberry Hill as the earliest one and the Housepf Parliament (1840).

Thomas Robert Malthus

2010-11-23T08:41:28Z

Alexander Wissmann:

English demographer and economist. He was born on the 13th, 14th or 17th (depending on the source) of February 1766 near Surrey as the sixth child of Daniel and Henrietta Malthus and died on the 23rd of December 1834 in St Catherine. His father was a gentleman who earned enough money through family connections in law and medicine. Therefore, the family was able to pay for Robert’s education and sent him amongst others to Jesus College at Cambridge in 1784 from which he graduated in 1788 as the ninth best mathematician of the year. After his studies he became a minister of the Church of England in 1789.

Malthus became popular for his ''Essay on the Principle of Population'' which he published anonymously as a first edition in 1798 and later, as an enlarged version, in 1803 as a response to the utopian ideas of [[William Godwin]] and the Marquis de Condorcet. Both thinkers were of the opinion that "the elimination of private property would ensure equality for all; mind would triumph over body the body and the passion between the sexes would disappear…" (Huzel 17).

Malthus spent most of his essay arguing against this utopian view of mankind and promoted a rather pessimistic view. The central point of his essay is his theory on population growth and its impact on society. Right at the beginning, he postulates first that food is essential for human life and second that "the passion between the sexes is necessary and will remain nearly in its present state" (Huzel 18). From his observations of plants and animals he concludes that far more descendants are produced than can be supplied by nature. Malthus transferred this idea to the human population and claimed that humans are also able to overproduce until the limit of food supply is reached. To his mind, the human population increases geometrically while food production only increases arithmetically.

The gap between food production and the demand for food leads to a lack of food supply and a general decline of the living conditions. Therefore, this shortage must be countered by certain means of population control. As possible means he suggest ‘preventive’ checks for all social classes, like the delay of marriages and all forms of sexual intercourses which do not aim at procreation, and especially ‘positive’ checks for the poor to reduce their population. To his mind, war, diseases and famine are justifiable means to reduce the family size to a number they can supply on their own because he regards the working class as irresponsible and not able to control its size on its own. These three factors together, food shortage, overpopulation and the lower classes’ irresponsibility are from Malthus’ point of view the main reasons for the decline of the living conditions in Britain at that time. As a result from this, he promoted also some other social changes; especially the abolishment of Poor Laws because the working class needs constantly to be forced to work as they "prefer ‘leisure’ and ‘drunkenness’ to ‘industry’ and ‘sobriety’" (Huzel 21).

Sources:

Encyclopædia Britannica. Thomas Robert Malthus. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Nov. 2010 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/360609/Thomas-Robert-Malthus.

Heineberg, Heinz. ''Einführung in die Anthropogeographie/ Humangeographie.'' Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag 3 ed. 2007.

Huzel, James P. ''The Popularization of Malthus in Early Nineteenth-Century England''. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006.

University of California Museum of Palaeontology. Thomas Malthus. 14. Nov. 2010 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/malthus.html

Thomas Robert Malthus

2010-11-18T13:18:43Z

Alexander Wissmann:

Thomas Robert Malthus was an English demographer and economist. He was born on the 13th, 14th or 17th (depending on the source) of February 1766 near Surrey as the sixth child of Daniel and Henrietta Malthus and died on the 23rd of December 1834 in St. Catherine. His father was a cultivated gentleman who earned enough money through family connections in law and medicine. Therefore, the family was able to pay for Robert’s education and sent him amongst others to Jesus College at Cambridge in 1784 from which he graduated in 1788 as the ninth best mathematician of the year. After his studies he became a minister of the Church of England in 1789.

Malthus became popular for his ''“Essay on the Principle of Population”'' which he published anonymously as a first edition in 1798 and later, as an enlarged version, in 1803 as a response to the utopian ideas of William Godwin and the Marquis de Condorcet. Both thinkers were the opinion that
''“the elimination of private property would ensure equality for all; mind would triumph over body the body and the passion between the sexes would disappear…”'' (Huzel 17).

Malthus spent most of his essay arguing against this utopian view of mankind and promoted a rather pessimistic view. The central point of his essay is his theory on population growth and its impact on society. Right at the beginning, he postulates first that food is essential for human life and second that ''“the passion between the sexes is necessary and will remain nearly in its present state”'' (Huzel 18). From his observations of plants and animals he concludes that far more descendants are produced than can be supplied by nature. Malthus transferred this idea to the human population and claimed that humans are also able to overproduce until the limit of food supply is reached. To his mind, the human population increases geometrically while food production only increases arithmetically.

The gap between food production and the demand for food leads to a lack of food supply and a general decline of the living conditions. Therefore, this shortage must be countered by certain means of population control. As possible means he suggest ‘preventive’ checks for all social classes, like the delay of marriages and all forms of sexual intercourses which do not aim at procreation, and especially ‘positive’ checks for the poor to reduce their population. To his mind, war, diseases and the famine are justifiable means to reduce the family size to number they can supply on their own because he regards the labour class as irresponsible and not able to control their size on their own. These three factors together, food shortage, overpopulation and the lower classes’ irresponsibility are from Malthus’ point of view the main reasons for the decline of the living conditions in Britain at that time. As a result from this, he promoted also some other social changes; especially the abolishment of Poor Laws because the working class needs constantly to be forced to work as they ''“prefer ‘leisure’ and ‘drunkenness’ to ‘industry’ and ‘sobriety’”'' (Huzel 21).

Encyclopædia Britannica. Thomas Robert Malthus. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Nov. 2010 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/360609/Thomas-Robert-Malthus.

Heineberg, Heinz. Einführung in die Anthropogeographie/ Humangeographie. Paderborn 3 ed. 2007

Huzel, James P. The popularization of Malthus in early nineteenth century England. Ashgate 2006

University of California Museum of Palaeontology. Thomas Malthus. 14. Nov. 2010 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/malthus.html

Thomas Robert Malthus

2010-11-18T13:18:08Z

Alexander Wissmann:

Thomas Robert Malthus was an English demographer and economist. He was born on the 13th, 14th or 17th (depending on the source) of February 1766 near Surrey as the sixth child of Daniel and Henrietta Malthus and died on the 23rd of December 1834 in St. Catherine. His father was a cultivated gentleman who earned enough money through family connections in law and medicine. Therefore, the family was able to pay for Robert’s education and sent him amongst others to Jesus College at Cambridge in 1784 from which he graduated in 1788 as the ninth best mathematician of the year. After his studies he became a minister of the Church of England in 1789.

Malthus became popular for his “Essay on the Principle of Population” which he published anonymously as a first edition in 1798 and later, as an enlarged version, in 1803 as a response to the utopian ideas of William Godwin and the Marquis de Condorcet. Both thinkers were the opinion that
''“the elimination of private property would ensure equality for all; mind would triumph over body the body and the passion between the sexes would disappear…”'' (Huzel 17).

Malthus spent most of his essay arguing against this utopian view of mankind and promoted a rather pessimistic view. The central point of his essay is his theory on population growth and its impact on society. Right at the beginning, he postulates first that food is essential for human life and second that ''“the passion between the sexes is necessary and will remain nearly in its present state”'' (Huzel 18). From his observations of plants and animals he concludes that far more descendants are produced than can be supplied by nature. Malthus transferred this idea to the human population and claimed that humans are also able to overproduce until the limit of food supply is reached. To his mind, the human population increases geometrically while food production only increases arithmetically.

The gap between food production and the demand for food leads to a lack of food supply and a general decline of the living conditions. Therefore, this shortage must be countered by certain means of population control. As possible means he suggest ‘preventive’ checks for all social classes, like the delay of marriages and all forms of sexual intercourses which do not aim at procreation, and especially ‘positive’ checks for the poor to reduce their population. To his mind, war, diseases and the famine are justifiable means to reduce the family size to number they can supply on their own because he regards the labour class as irresponsible and not able to control their size on their own. These three factors together, food shortage, overpopulation and the lower classes’ irresponsibility are from Malthus’ point of view the main reasons for the decline of the living conditions in Britain at that time. As a result from this, he promoted also some other social changes; especially the abolishment of Poor Laws because the working class needs constantly to be forced to work as they ''“prefer ‘leisure’ and ‘drunkenness’ to ‘industry’ and ‘sobriety’”'' (Huzel 21).

Encyclopædia Britannica. Thomas Robert Malthus. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Nov. 2010 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/360609/Thomas-Robert-Malthus.

Heineberg, Heinz. Einführung in die Anthropogeographie/ Humangeographie. Paderborn 3 ed. 2007

Huzel, James P. The popularization of Malthus in early nineteenth century England. Ashgate 2006

University of California Museum of Palaeontology. Thomas Malthus. 14. Nov. 2010 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/malthus.html

Thomas Robert Malthus

2010-11-14T15:42:48Z

Alexander Wissmann:

'''Work in Progress'''

Thomas Robert Malthus was born near Dorking on February
14/17, 1766 and died on the 23rd of December 1834 in St. Catherine.
He was a demographer and economist and wrote the “Essay on the
Principle of Population” in 1798 where he expressed his theory on
population growth and its impact on society.

In this essay, he observed that plants and animals produce far more descendants than can be supplied by nature which leads to a natural shortening of the population caused by a lack of food supply. Malthus transferred this idea to the human population and claimed that humans are also able to overproduce until the limit of food supply is reached. To his mind, the human population increases geometrically while food production only increases arithmetically which leads, at the end, to the outbreak of the famine as a natural outcome. To counter this development, he suggests limiting the family size of the lower classes to a number they can supply on their own. This would not only prevent the effects of the famine but also the decline of living conditions in Britain for which food shortage, overpopulation and the lower classes’ irresponsibility were seen as the main reasons.

Encyclopædia Britannica. Thomas Robert Malthus. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Nov. 2010 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/360609/Thomas-Robert-Malthus>.

Heineberg, Heinz. Einführung in die Anthropogeographie/ Humangeographie. Paderborn 3 ed. 2007

University of California Museum of Palaeontology. Thomas Malthus. 14. Nov. 2010 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/malthus.html

Thomas Robert Malthus

2010-11-14T15:42:34Z

Alexander Wissmann:

Work in Progress

Thomas Robert Malthus was born near Dorking on February
14/17, 1766 and died on the 23rd of December 1834 in St. Catherine.
He was a demographer and economist and wrote the “Essay on the
Principle of Population” in 1798 where he expressed his theory on
population growth and its impact on society.

In this essay, he observed that plants and animals produce far more descendants than can be supplied by nature which leads to a natural shortening of the population caused by a lack of food supply. Malthus transferred this idea to the human population and claimed that humans are also able to overproduce until the limit of food supply is reached. To his mind, the human population increases geometrically while food production only increases arithmetically which leads, at the end, to the outbreak of the famine as a natural outcome. To counter this development, he suggests limiting the family size of the lower classes to a number they can supply on their own. This would not only prevent the effects of the famine but also the decline of living conditions in Britain for which food shortage, overpopulation and the lower classes’ irresponsibility were seen as the main reasons.

Encyclopædia Britannica. Thomas Robert Malthus. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Nov. 2010 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/360609/Thomas-Robert-Malthus>.

Heineberg, Heinz. Einführung in die Anthropogeographie/ Humangeographie. Paderborn 3 ed. 2007

University of California Museum of Palaeontology. Thomas Malthus. 14. Nov. 2010 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/malthus.html

Thomas Robert Malthus

2010-11-14T15:38:48Z

Alexander Wissmann: Created page with 'Work in Progress Thomas Robert Malthus was born near Dorking on February 14/17, 1766 and died on the 23rd of December 1834 in St. Catherine. He was a demographer and economis…'

Work in Progress

Thomas Robert Malthus was born near Dorking on February 14/17, 1766 and died on the 23rd of December 1834 in St. Catherine. He was a demographer and economist and wrote the “Essay on the Principle of Population” in 1798 where he expressed his theory on population growth and its impact on society.

In this essay, he observed that plants and animals produce far more descendants than can be supplied by nature which leads to a natural shortening of the population caused by a lack of food supply. Malthus transferred this idea to the human population and claimed that humans are also able to overproduce until the limit of food supply is reached. To his mind, the human population increases geometrically while food production only increases arithmetically which leads, at the end, to the outbreak of the famine as a natural outcome. To counter this development, he suggests limiting the family size of the lower classes to a number they can supply on their own. This would not only prevent the effects of the famine but also the decline of living conditions in Britain for which food shortage, overpopulation and the lower classes’ irresponsibility were seen as the main reasons.

Encyclopædia Britannica. Thomas Robert Malthus. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Nov. 2010 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/360609/Thomas-Robert-Malthus>.

Heineberg, Heinz. Einführung in die Anthropogeographie/ Humangeographie. Paderborn 3 ed. 2007

University of California Museum of Palaeontology. Thomas Malthus. 14. Nov. 2010 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/malthus.html