Builders of Stone Bridges in Latin Europe (11th–14th Centuries) in the Light of Written Sources

Abstract

The construction of a stone bridge over a river (especially a wide one) in the High Middle Ages was a technically and logistically very complicated undertaking. Unfortunately, the sources from before the mid-fourteenth century scarcely inform about the costs of such works. However, the costs must have been considerable. The choice of building material for the bridge construction project depended on its availability, geographic conditions and the nature (size, depth) of the river. The information included in the analyzed written accounts (quite a few in total) leads to the conclusion that the best professionals specializing primarily in sacred and fortified construction were employed as designers and direct constructors of a given bridge. What is more, one might argue that they were often invited from far away, even from other countries. This should not be surprising, as some sources emphasize expressis verbis the technical and architectural uniqueness of the bridge project and the supra-regional fame of the final effect achieved.