Elitele medievale româneşti la ele acasă. Locuinţa nobiliară în secolele XIV-XVI/Romanian Elites at Home. The Nobiliary Dwelling House, 14th-16th Centuries

Abstract

Using the statistical method, this paper identifies a type of medieval dwellings common to the social elites (princes, boyars, high clergy, and urban patricians) in the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia during the 14th to the 16th centuries. Built of wood, masonry or in a mixed system, the house combines a cellar partially raised above the ground level and a high ground floor, resulting in a structure with a tower-like appearance. Its origins can be traced back to medieval Hungary, whence it was brought and imposed by the Romanian and German elites who emigrated to Wallachia and Moldavia during the 14th century. The author considers that its adoption by the Romanian medieval elites resulted as a compromise between the elites’ need to assert their social prestige, the relatively low construction costs of this type of dwellings and the practical needs of everyday life.