During the High Medieval Colonization of Moravia (12th-14th centuries), village foundations followed several well-defined settlement morphologies that shaped both the built environment and the surrounding agricultural landscape. Since Manor Lords is set in this same period of Central European and HRE history, these documented examples offer valuable insight into how medieval settlements were actually planned and organized. The maps below illustrate some of the most common village types found in Moravia, along with their associated field systems and land-use patterns.
Here are five common village types that can serve as inspiration for more historically authentic settlements:
- Roadside Villages – Built along a single main road, often with long medieval strip fields behind each farmstead. These settlements could stretch for hundreds of meters while remaining only a few plots deep.
- Roadside Villages with a Green – Roadside settlements centered around a small village green used for trade and community life. The road remains the main axis, while the green provides a market and gathering space.
- Street Villages – Compact settlements developed along a side street branching from an important route. Houses and farmsteads are aligned along a single internal street rather than directly on the main road.
- Green Villages – Villages focused on a central green or square that acts as the heart of the community. Churches, taverns, and other important buildings are often located around this open communal space.
- Row Villages – Elongated valley settlements following streams or natural corridors through the landscape. Houses form a continuous row along the valley floor or top, while fields spread outward across the surrounding plateau or slopes.
I have attached several pictures with short captions of historical examples of types above (and one high altitude type of dispersed farmstead) from Moravia, ranging from early medieval settlements to later colonization villages. These examples are well-suited for non-main regions with 10-40 houses.
Hope this help anyone who aims for more historical settlements :) If you have any questions, Im open to answering them as much as I can (as professional landscape urbanist with passion in history).
Sorry if these types of villages have another names in academic english, Im not natural speaker and this was kinda freestyle translation :)
Source of pictures: Historical map layouts of Czech/Moravian villages by geographer Karel Láznička, published in the monograph Zeměpis Československa (Geography of Czechoslovakia), Academia, 1960