The materialization of powers in space as an expression of medieval urban memory and identity

Abstract

This paper aims to be a contribution to the study of medieval city’s memory and identity, through the materialization of power in the urban space.

In order to accomplish that goal we have structured this paper in three parts. We started with some preliminary considerations on the concepts of memory and urban identity, to situate this subject within a broader sociological and anthropological context. Secondly, we present some forms of materialization of power in urban areas, namely those that derive from royal, episcopal, lordly and municipal powers. Finally, we studied how those buildings and urban spaces constitute a part of urban memory and identity, in particular the cathedral, the walls and castles, palaces and city planning.

This paper is focused mainly on the medieval Portuguese cities of Braga and Porto, although occasionally with insights in some other towns.

The methodology used was based on the intersection of the different sources, particularly written, but also iconographic and cartographic ones, as well as material remains still existing today.