THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE MEDIEVAL CONCEPT OF TIME IN WESTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Abstract

This essay will analyze the concept of time from a cultural and social point of view. Our purpose is to briefly describe the transformation of the concept of time throughout ten centuries in Western Europe, precisely during medieval times. We shall take into account the arrival and extension of the Christian cult as a factor of this transformation, the emergence of the urban mentality, the creation of mechanical tools for the measurement of time and other elements contributing to the change described. We shall discuss the ways in which gothic architecture developed in Western societies in the period analysed is relevant for the new social perception of time.