ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 describes urban ideals and urban practices during the Middle Ages. The fall of Rome implied a “fall of the square,” and Augustine introduced the distinction between the City of God and the City of Man. Medieval literature put allegory at its center, and since allegory is derived from the Greek allos (“other, different”) and agoreuein (“speaking openly, speaking in the agora”), it is suggested that this distinction between the City of Man and the City of God may explain the importance of allegory in the medieval interpretation of the world. The chapter also points to a new emphasis on privacy in contrast to the classic ideal of public life. Around the turn of the millennium, however, a new wave of urbanization led to a renewed interest in life on the marketplace as well as a burgeoning interest in the architectural shape of the square.
