Where Did the Knights Build their Manor Houses?

In the case of late medieval settlement studies the issue of geographic determinism seems to be less significant when compared with earlier periods. I feel obliged from the chronicler's point of view only to mention that these issues have been the subject of consideration in historical studies at least since the times of F. Ratzel1. A criticism of the monist approach to settlement studies was expressed mainly by the French school of social geography, which led to further discussions evolving between environmental and humanist determinism, that gave rise to modern historical geography. A concise overview of the issues concerning the relationship between man and the environment in the Middle Ages can be found in the works of J. Tyszkiewicz. Without going into further methodological considerations, we can say that throughout history, environmental resources were the most significant factor that determined the choice of the site for settlement. Environmental resources shall be very widely understood as the climate, soil quality, access to water and building materials, as well as food availability and also the exploitation of natural resources. In the Late Middle Ages the choice of location for a residence was considerably limited due to the private ownership of land.

Even the social elites referred to in this book had restricted choice options as to the land they owned. Certainly the choice was all the greater when the larger landed estates were in possession of a particular family or individual. When analyzing the preferences in the choice of the location for the seat, one should pay attention to what forms of terrain were actually available within a particular landed estate. Here, however, our possibilities are considerably limited. Hardly ever are we able to identify the founder of the residence that is being excavated. Even if we narrow down the group of potential founders to a particular family, it is still difficult to establish the boundaries of their landed estate, in which their seat was located.