CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Downs-Tepper, Liam Isaac |
|---|---|
| Title | A Mighty Fortress is Our God: Understanding the Geospatial Logic of Fortified Churches in Transylvania |
| Summary | Fortified churches loom over Transylvania, heavy walls built for defense. But against whom? And why are there so many of them? Through careful review of relevant literature, this thesis identifies ten theories which seek to explain the density and/or placement of fortified churches. Six concern density and locations broadly: fear of the Mongols, fear of the Ottomans, fear of Wallachia and domestic unrest, to follow in the footsteps of the Teutonic Knights, out of Saxon pride, and for the common people as “peasant fortresses.” Another four address location more specifically: placement upon hills, among foothills, as strategic watchtowers, or as part of a bigger chain of defenses. A new database was built for this project, enabling the use of geospatial analysis to probe the veracity of each theory. This research sheds new light on the fortified churches of Transylvania, highlighting the role of local community decisions in their development, and demonstrates how geospatial analysis can complement other methods to advance research in history topics. |
| Supervisor | József Laszlovszky, Béla Zsolt Szakács |
| Department | Medieval Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/downs-tepper_liam.pdf |
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