156-433: Early Gothic is the term for the first period of Gothic architecture which lasted from about 1120 until about 1200. The early Gothic builders used innovative technologies to resolve the problem of masonry ceilings which were too heavy for the traditional arched barrel vault . The solutions to the problem came in the form of the rib vault , where thin stone ribs passed the weight of the ceiling to rows of columns and outside
312-611: A pejorative description. Giorgio Vasari used the term "barbarous German style" in his 1550 Lives of the Artists to describe what is now considered the Gothic style. In the introduction to the Lives he attributed various architectural features to the Goths whom he held responsible for destroying the ancient buildings after they conquered Rome , and erecting new ones in this style. In
468-422: A Gothic choir, and six-part rib vaults over the nave and collateral aisles, alternating pillars and doubled columns to support the vaults, and buttresses to offset the outward thrust from the vaults. One of the builders who is believed to have worked on Sens Cathedral, William of Sens , later travelled to England and became the architect who, between 1175 and 1180, reconstructed the choir of Canterbury Cathedral in
624-474: A Norman building which was remodelled with the earliest rib vault known. Besides cathedrals, monasteries, and parish churches , the style was used for many secular buildings, including university buildings, palaces , great houses , and almshouses and guildhalls . Stylistic periodisations of the English Gothic style are The architect and art historian Thomas Rickman 's Attempt to Discriminate
780-553: A Renaissance ornament, was installed in the chapel of King's College Chapel , Cambridge. During the Elizabethan Period (1558–1603), the classical details, including the five orders of classical architecture, were gradually introduced. Carved ornament with Italian Renaissance motifs began to be used in decoration, including on the tomb of Henry VII in Westminster Abbey . The pointed arch gradually gave way to
936-463: A Romanesque church, a traverse of the nave and lower aisle was made with an early variation a rib vault, a ribbed groin vault , or meeting place of two barrel vaults, with stone ribs. The ribbed groin vaults were installed in 1093–96 and were the first of their kind in Europe. As the work continued, the builders experimented with an even bolder variation, using pointed instead of rounded arches, to spread
1092-537: A great effect on the arts and culture, which took a more sober direction. The perpendicular Gothic was the longest of the English Gothic periods; it continued for a century after the style had nearly disappeared from France and the rest of the European continent, where the Renaissance had already begun. Gradually, near the end of the period, Renaissance forms began to appear in the English Gothic. A rood screen ,
1248-410: A greater sensation of length. The new cathedral was unusual in form; the apse on the east was flat, not rounded, and the choir was exceptionally long, nearly as long as the nave. Another striking feature of Laon Cathedral were the three great rose windows, one on the west facade and two on the transepts. (Only the west and north windows still remain). Another unusual feature at Laon is the lantern tower at
1404-510: A lantern tower, deeply moulded decoration, and high pointed arcades. Coutances Cathedral was remade into Gothic beginning about 1220. Its most distinctive feature is the octagonal lantern on the crossing of the transept, decorated with ornamental ribs, and surrounded by sixteen bays and sixteen lancet windows. Saint-Denis was the work of the Abbot Suger , a close adviser of Kings Louis VI and Louis VII . Suger reconstructed portions of
1560-498: A new period of Gothic Revival . Gothic architecture survived the early modern period and flourished again in a revival from the late 18th century and throughout the 19th. Perpendicular was the first Gothic style revived in the 18th century. In England, partly in response to a philosophy propounded by the Oxford Movement and others associated with the emerging revival of 'high church' or Anglo-Catholic ideas during
1716-449: A series of tracery patterns for windows – from the basic geometrical to the reticulated and the curvilinear – which had superseded the lancet window. Bar-tracery of the curvilinear, flowing , and reticulated types distinguish Second Pointed style. Decorated Gothic similarly sought to emphasize the windows, but excelled in the ornamentation of their tracery. Churches with features of this style include Westminster Abbey (1245–),
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#17327720711011872-544: A single building at the choir of the Abbey of Saint-Denis north of Paris , completed in 1144. The earliest large-scale applications of Gothic architecture in England were Canterbury Cathedral and Westminster Abbey . Many features of Gothic architecture had evolved naturally from Romanesque architecture (often known in England as Norman architecture ). The first cathedral in England to be both planned and built entirely in
2028-462: A triforium, Early English churches usually retained a gallery. High Gothic ( c. 1194 –1250) was a brief but very productive period, which produced some of the great landmarks of Gothic art. The first building in the High Gothic (French: Classique ) was Chartres Cathedral , an important pilgrimage church south of Paris. The Romanesque cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1194, but
2184-405: A very large number of pilgrims, attracted by the relics of Saint Denis , the patron saint of Paris. To accommodate the large number of pilgrims, Suger first constructed a new narthex and façade at the west end, with twin towers and a rose window in the centre. The most original and influential step made by Suger was the creation of the chevet , or east end, with radiating chapels. Here he used
2340-482: A violent and bothersome mistake, as suggested by Vasari. Rather, he saw that the Gothic style had developed over time along the lines of a changing society, and that it was thus a legitimate architectural style of its own. It was no secret that Wren strongly disliked the building practices of the Gothic style. When he was appointed Surveyor of the Fabric at Westminster Abbey in the year 1698, he expressed his distaste for
2496-645: Is found at Ely Cathedral ; the architect Thomas Witney built the central tower from 1315 to 1322 in Decorated style. Soon afterwards another architect, William Joy, added curving arches to strengthen the structure, and made further extensions to join the Lady Chapel to the Choir. In 1329–45, he created an extraordinary double arch in the decorated style. The buttress became more common in this period, as at Lichfield Cathedral . These were stone columns outside
2652-550: Is generally termed Decorated Gothic , because the amount of ornament and decoration increased dramatically. It corresponded roughly with the Rayonnant period in France, which influenced it. It was a period of growing prosperity in England, and this was expressed in the decoration of Gothic buildings. Almost every feature of the interiors and facades was decorated. Historians sometimes subdivide this style into two periods, based on
2808-581: Is known in Britain as High Victorian Gothic . The Palace of Westminster in London by Sir Charles Barry with interiors by a major exponent of the early Gothic Revival, Augustus Welby Pugin , is an example of the Gothic revival style from its earlier period in the second quarter of the 19th century. Examples from the High Victorian Gothic period include George Gilbert Scott 's design for
2964-602: Is one of the reasons why Wren's theory is rejected by many. The earliest examples of the pointed arch in Europe date from before the Holy War in the year 1095; this is widely regarded as proof that the Gothic style could not have possibly been derived from Saracen architecture. Several authors have taken a stance against this allegation, claiming that the Gothic style had most likely filtered into Europe in other ways, for example through Spain or Sicily. The Spanish architecture from
3120-489: Is the chapter house of Old St Paul's Cathedral , built by the royal architect William de Ramsey in 1332. The early style was also practised by another royal architect, John Sponlee , and fully developed in the works of Henry Yevele and William Wynford . Walls were built much higher than in earlier periods, and stained glass windows became very large, so that the space around them was reduced to simple piers. Horizontal transoms sometimes had to be introduced to strengthen
3276-506: Is the pointed arch . The use of the pointed arch in turn led to the development of the pointed rib vault and flying buttresses , combined with elaborate tracery and stained glass windows. At the Abbey of Saint-Denis , near Paris, the choir was reconstructed between 1140 and 1144, drawing together for the first time the developing Gothic architectural features. In doing so, a new architectural style emerged that emphasized verticality and
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#17327720711013432-469: Is the sculpture of the six thirteenth-century portals. The spire on the north tower is later Flamboyant . Chartres still has much of its original medieval stained glass, famous for the deep color called Chartres blue. While most High Gothic cathedrals generally followed the Chartres plan, Bourges Cathedral took a different direction. It was built by Bishop Henri de Sully, whose brother, Eudes de Sully ,
3588-403: Is typified by lancet windows , tall narrow lights topped by a pointed arch. They were grouped together side by side under a single arch and decorated with mullions in tracery patterns, such as cusps , or spear-points. Lancet windows were combined similarly pointed arches and the ribs of the vaults overhead, giving a harmonious and unified style. The second style of English Gothic architecture
3744-519: Is why he constantly praised the classic architecture of 'the Ancients' in his writings. Even though he openly expressed his distaste for the Gothic style, Wren did not blame the Saracens for the apparent lack of ingenuity. Quite the opposite: he praised the Saracens for their 'superior' vaulting techniques and their widespread use of the pointed arch. Wren claimed the inventors of the Gothic had seen
3900-498: The Abbey of Sainte-Trinité, Caen , but they remained essentially Norman Romanesque churches. Rouen Cathedral had notable early Gothic features, added when the interior was reconstructed from Romanesque to Gothic by archbishop Gautier de Coutances beginning in 1185. The new Gothic nave was given four levels, while the later choir had the newly fashionable three. (See English Gothic architecture ) English architects had experimented with early Gothic features. At Durham Cathedral ,
4056-489: The Albert Memorial in London, and William Butterfield 's chapel at Keble College, Oxford . From the second half of the 19th century onwards, it became more common in Britain for neo-Gothic to be used in the design of non-ecclesiastical and non-governmental buildings types. Gothic details even began to appear in working-class housing schemes subsidised by philanthropy, though given the expense, less frequently than in
4212-651: The Byzantine , of course belong more to the Gothic period than the light and elegant structures of the pointed order which succeeded them. The Gothic style of architecture was strongly influenced by the Romanesque architecture which preceded it; by the growing population and wealth of European cities, and by the desire to express local grandeur. It was influenced by theological doctrines which called for more light and by technical improvements in vaults and buttresses that allowed much greater height and larger windows. It
4368-532: The Chateau of Gaillon near Rouen (1502–1510) with the assistance of Italian craftsmen. The Château de Blois (1515–1524) introduced the Renaissance loggia and open stairway. King Francois I installed Leonardo da Vinci at his Chateau of Chambord in 1516, and introduced a Renaissance long gallery at the Palace of Fontainebleau in 1528–1540. In 1546 Francois I began building the first example of French classicism,
4524-725: The English Renaissance , the stylistic language of the ancient classical orders and the Renaissance architecture of southern Europe began to supplant Gothic architecture in Continental Europe, but the British Isles continued to favour Gothic building styles, with traditional Perpendicular Gothic building projects undertaken into the 17th century in England and both Elizabethan and Jacobean architecture incorporating Gothic features, particularly for churches. Classical-inspired architecture predominated after
4680-592: The Great Fire of London The rebuilding of the City of London was so extensive that the numbers of workers employed broke the monopoly of the medieval livery company of stonemasons and the Worshipful Company of Masons and the role of master-mason was displaced by that of the early modern architect. The new St Paul's Cathedral designed by Christopher Wren and his Wren churches mostly dispensed with
4836-469: The Pantheon, Rome , was one of the first Renaissance landmarks, but it also employed Gothic technology; the outer skin of the dome was supported by a framework of twenty-four ribs. In the 16th century, as Renaissance architecture from Italy began to appear in France and other countries in Europe. The Gothic style began to be described as outdated, ugly and even barbaric. The term "Gothic" was first used as
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4992-491: The Pseudo-Areopagite , who taught that light was a divine manifestation, and that all things were "material lights", reflecting the infinite light of God himself. Therefore, stained glass became a way to create a glowing, unworldly light ideal for religious reflection. According to Suger, every aspect of the new apse architecture had a symbolic meaning. The twelve columns separating the chapels, he wrote, represented
5148-522: The Vitruvian architectural vocabulary of classical orders revived in the Renaissance and seen as evidence of a new Golden Age of learning and refinement. Thus the Gothic style, being in opposition to classical architecture, from that point of view was associated with the destruction of advancement and sophistication. The assumption that classical architecture was better than Gothic architecture
5304-409: The pointed arch and rib vault in a new way, replacing the thick dividing walls with arched rib vaults poised on columns with sculpted capitals. Suger wrote that the new chevet was "ennobled by the beauty of length and width." And "the midst of the edifice was suddenly raised aloft by twelve columns". He added that, when creating this feature, he was inspired by the ancient Roman columns he had seen in
5460-509: The rib vault , flying buttress , and the pointed arch , and used them in innovative ways to create structures, particularly Gothic cathedrals and churches , of exceptional height and grandeur, filled with light from stained glass windows. Notable examples of early Gothic architecture in France include the ambulatory and facade of Saint-Denis Basilica ; Sens Cathedral (1140); Laon Cathedral ; Senlis Cathedral ; (1160) and most famously Notre-Dame de Paris (begun 1160). Early English Gothic
5616-587: The rib vault , had appeared in England, Sicily and Normandy in the 11th century. Rib-vaults were employed in some parts of the cathedral at Durham (1093–) and in Lessay Abbey in Normandy (1098). However, the first buildings to be considered fully Gothic are the royal funerary abbey of the French kings, the Abbey of Saint-Denis (1135–1144), and the archiepiscopal cathedral at Sens (1135–1164). They were
5772-417: The triforium were gradually made smaller. or eliminated. After 1194, the builders of Chartres Cathedral enitlrely removed the tribune, making more space for stained glass. Stained glass windows were an important feature of early Gothic architecture, and they were significantly larger than those in earlier periods. Their purpose was to fill the church interior with a mystical coloured light, representing
5928-472: The twelve Apostles , while the twelve columns of the side aisles represented the minor prophets of the Old Testament . The Basilica, including the upper parts of the choir and the apse, were extensively modified into the Rayonnant style in the 1230s, but the original early Gothic ambulatory and chapels can still be seen. The construction of the choir and ambulatory of Sens Cathedral began before
6084-424: The 1250s, Louis IX commissioned the rebuilt transepts and enormous rose windows of Notre-Dame de Paris (1250s for the north transept, 1258 for the beginning of south transept). This first 'international style' was also used in the clerestory of Metz Cathedral ( c . 1245–), then in the choir of Cologne 's cathedral ( c . 1250–), and again in the nave of the cathedral at Strasbourg ( c . 1250–). Masons elaborated
6240-539: The 13th century; by 1300, a first "international style" of Gothic had developed, with common design features and formal language. A second "international style" emerged by 1400, alongside innovations in England and central Europe that produced both the perpendicular and flamboyant varieties. Typically, these typologies are identified as: Norman architecture on either side of the English Channel developed in parallel towards Early Gothic . Gothic features, such as
6396-532: The 17th and 18th centuries, especially in provincial and ecclesiastical contexts, notably at Oxford . Beginning in the mid-15th century, the Gothic style gradually lost its dominance in Europe. It had never been popular in Italy, and in the mid-15th century the Italians, drawing upon ancient Roman ruins, returned to classical models. The dome of Florence Cathedral (1420–1436) by Filippo Brunelleschi , inspired by
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6552-509: The 17th and 18th century several important Gothic buildings were constructed at Oxford University and Cambridge University , including Tom Tower (1681–82) at Christ Church, Oxford , by Christopher Wren . It also appeared, in a whimsical fashion, in Horace Walpole 's Twickenham villa , Strawberry Hill (1749–1776). The two western towers of Westminster Abbey were constructed between 1722 and 1745 by Nicholas Hawksmoor , opening
6708-431: The 17th century, Molière also mocked the Gothic style in the 1669 poem La Gloire : "...the insipid taste of Gothic ornamentation, these odious monstrosities of an ignorant age, produced by the torrents of barbarism..." The dominant styles in Europe became in turn Italian Renaissance architecture , Baroque architecture , and the grand classicism of the style Louis XIV . The Kings of France had first-hand knowledge of
6864-420: The 20th century. Medieval contemporaries described the style as Latin : opus Francigenum , lit. 'French work' or ' Frankish work', as opus modernum , 'modern work', novum opus , 'new work', or as Italian : maniera tedesca , lit. 'German style'. The term "Gothic architecture" originated as a pejorative description. Giorgio Vasari used
7020-640: The Air and Weather; the Coping, which cannot defend them, first failing, and if they give Way, the Vault must spread. Pinnacles are no Use, and as little Ornament. The chaos of the Gothic left much to be desired in Wren's eyes. His aversion of the style was so strong that he refused to put a Gothic roof on the new St. Paul's, despite being pressured to do so. Wren much preferred symmetry and straight lines in architecture, which
7176-415: The Gothic idiom in favour of classical work. Outside London however, new ecclesiastical buildings and repairs to older churches were still carried out in Gothic style, particularly near the ancient university towns of Oxford and Cambridge , where the university colleges were important patrons of 17th-century Gothic construction. By the 18th century, architects occasionally worked in Gothic style, but
7332-644: The Gothic style in a letter to the bishop of Rochester: Nothing was thought magnificent that was not high beyond Measure, with the Flutter of Arch-buttresses, so we call the sloping Arches that poise the higher Vaultings of the Nave. The Romans always concealed their Butments, whereas the Normans thought them ornamental. These I have observed are the first Things that occasion the Ruin of Cathedrals, being so much exposed to
7488-483: The Gothic style was Wells Cathedral , begun in 1175. Other features were imported from the Ile-de-France , where the first French Gothic cathedral, Sens Cathedral , had been built (1135–64). After a fire destroyed the choir of Canterbury Cathedral in 1174, the French architect William of Sens rebuilt the choir in the new Gothic style between 1175 and 1180. The transition can also be seen at Durham Cathedral ,
7644-642: The Greeks. Wren was the first to popularize the belief that it was not the Europeans, but the Saracens that had created the Gothic style. The term 'Saracen' was still in use in the 18th century and it typically referred to all Muslims, including the Arabs and Berbers. Wren mentions Europe's architectural debt to the Saracens no fewer than twelve times in his writings. He also decidedly broke with tradition in his assumption that Gothic architecture did not merely represent
7800-547: The Holy Spirit, and to illustrate Bible stores for the majority of parishioners who could not read.The windows were necessarily small, because, before the invention of the stone ribs of bar tracery , the windows were held together only with thin strips of iron. In the classification of architecture periods, Early Gothic raises certain issues. Early Gothic is defined as a style that used some principle elements of Gothic, but not all. Especially, it had no fine tracery. It marks
7956-528: The Ile-de-France. Pointed Rib vaults did not fully take hold in England until the second half of the 12th century. Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages , surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and
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#17327720711018112-832: The Monasteries , and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms . In the process of this Victorian "restoration" , much of the original Gothic architecture of the Middle Ages was lost or altered beyond recognition. However, medieval works left unfinished were often completed or restored to their "original" designs. According to James Stevens Curl , the revival of Gothic architecture was "arguably, the most influential artistic phenomenon ever to spring from England". The various English Gothic styles are seen at their most fully developed in cathedrals, monasteries, and collegiate churches. With
8268-548: The Moors could have favoured the emergence of the Gothic style long before the Crusades took place. This could have happened gradually through merchants, travelers and pilgrims. According to a 19th-century correspondent in the London journal Notes and Queries , Gothic was a derisive misnomer; the pointed arcs and architecture of the later Middle Ages was quite different from the rounded arches prevalent in late antiquity and
8424-506: The Roman rounded arch, brick began to replace masonry, the roof construction was concealed, and the Gothic finally gave way to an imitation of Roman and Greek styles. The pitched Gothic timber roof was a distinctive feature of the style, both in religious and domestic architecture. It had to be able to resist rain, snow and high winds of the English climate, and to preserve the integrity of
8580-831: The Saracen architecture during the Crusades , also called the Religious war or Holy War, organised by the Kingdom of France in the year 1095: The Holy War gave the Christians, who had been there, an Idea of the Saracen Works, which were afterwards by them imitated in the West; and they refined upon it every day, as they proceeded in building Churches. There are several chronological issues that arise with this statement, which
8736-660: The Style of Architecture in England , first published in 1812, divided Gothic architecture in the British Isles into three stylistic periods. Rickman identified the period of architecture as follows: From the 15th century, under the House of Tudor , the prevailing Gothic style is commonly known as Tudor architecture . This style is ultimately succeeded by Elizabethan architecture and Renaissance architecture under Elizabeth I ( r. 1558–1603 ). Rickman excluded from his scheme most new buildings after Henry VIII's reign, calling
8892-497: The addition of marble reliefs in behind the stalls in the 1750s. The new cathedral was 130.2 meters long and 30 meters high in the nave longer and higher than Notre-Dame de Paris . Since the cathedral was constructed with the new flying buttresses, the walls were more stable, enabling the builders to eliminate the tribune level, and have more space for windows. The lower portions of the west front (1134–1150) are Early Gothic . The north and south transepts fronts are High Gothic, as
9048-450: The ambulatory and side-chapels around the choir at Saint-Denis, and by the paired towers and triple doors on the western façade. Sens was quickly followed by Senlis Cathedral (begun 1160), and Notre-Dame de Paris (begun 1160). Their builders abandoned the traditional plans and introduced the new Gothic elements from Saint-Denis. The builders of Notre-Dame went further by introducing the flying buttress, heavy columns of support outside
9204-402: The apse and the chapels were polygonal. Work was nearly completed by 1225, with the architecture, glass and sculpture finished, though the seven steeples were still being rebuilt. It was not formally reconsecrated until 1260. Only a few changes were made since that time, including the addition of a new chapel dedicated to Saint Piat in 1326, and the covering of the choir columns with stucco and
9360-523: The brothers William and Robert Vertue 's Henry VII Chapel ( c. 1503 –1512) at Westminster Abbey . Perpendicular is sometimes called Third Pointed and was employed over three centuries; the fan-vaulted staircase at Christ Church, Oxford built around 1640. Lacey patterns of tracery continued to characterize continental Gothic building, with very elaborate and articulated vaulting, as at Saint Barbara's, Kutná Hora (1512). In certain areas, Gothic architecture continued to be employed until
9516-699: The capital of the medieval kingdom of Armenia concluded to have discovered the oldest Gothic arch. According to these historians, the architecture of the Saint Hripsime Church near the Armenian religious seat Etchmiadzin was built in the fourth century A.D. and was repaired in 618. The cathedral of Ani was built in 980–1012 A.D. However many of the elements of Islamic and Armenian architecture that have been cited as influences on Gothic architecture also appeared in Late Roman and Byzantine architecture,
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#17327720711019672-428: The cathedral at Metz ( c .1235–). In High Gothic, the whole surface of the clerestory was given over to windows. At Chartres Cathedral, plate tracery was used for the rose window, but at Reims the bar-tracery was free-standing. Lancet windows were supplanted by multiple lights separated by geometrical bar-tracery. Tracery of this kind distinguishes Middle Pointed style from the simpler First Pointed . Inside,
9828-405: The cathedral is 120 m (390 ft) long, without a transept or other interruption. The most unusual feature of Bourges Cathedral is the arrangement of vertical height; each part of the elevation is set back, like steps, with the highest roof and vaults over the central aisle. The outermost aisles have vaults nine meters high; the intermediate aisles have vaults 21.3 m (70 ft) high; and
9984-507: The cathedrals at Lichfield (after 1257–) and Exeter (1275–), Bath Abbey (1298–), and the retro choir at Wells Cathedral ( c .1320–). The Rayonnant developed its second 'international style' with increasingly autonomous and sharp-edged tracery mouldings apparent in the cathedral at Clermont-Ferrand (1248–), the papal collegiate church at Troyes , Saint-Urbain (1262–), and the west façade of Strasbourg Cathedral (1276–1439)). By 1300, there were examples influenced by Strasbourg in
10140-517: The cathedrals of Limoges (1273–), Regensburg ( c . 1275–), and in the cathedral nave at York (1292–). Central Europe began to lead the emergence of a new, international flamboyant style with the construction of a new cathedral at Prague (1344–) under the direction of Peter Parler . This model of rich and variegated tracery and intricate reticulated rib-vaulting was definitive in the Late Gothic of continental Europe, emulated not only by
10296-489: The center aisle has vaults 37.5 m (123 ft) high. Many later Gothic cathedrals followed the Chartres model, but several were influenced by Bourges, including Le Mans Cathedral , the modified Beauvais Cathedral , and Toledo Cathedral in Spain, which copied the system of vaults of different heights. Most buildings of Plantagenet style , also called Angevin Gothic , by dating and by shape are part of early Gothic. In
10452-420: The choir are separate extensions of the ambulatory (different from Saint-Denis, where they form something like an outer aisle). They gave an example for Magdeburg Cathedral that was begun in 1209 and has a polygonal ambulatory and chapels. The elevation of Senlis originally had four levels, including large tribunes. Like Sens, Senlis Cathedral had alternating strong and weak piers to receive the uneven thrust from
10608-409: The choir were built at about 1182 or 1185, not long before Chartres Cathedral . Its original elevations were intermediate between tree levels and four levels: above the tribunes there were no veritable triforia, but a clerestory with two levels of windows, the lower level consisted of small rose windows, and the upper level of modest pointed arched windows without tracery. In the 13th century, when it
10764-454: The city. Concerning its windows (without tracery or with plate tracery), this cathedral was still an example of Early Gothic, but its elevations were innovative. Therefore Chartres Cathedral is considered the initial building of Classic Gothic . The arcades and aisles were much taller than in the first Gothic cathedrals, and the tribune were omitted. Also the clerestories were higher than in any basilica before it. Except for their lowest parts,
10920-546: The classical columns he had seen in Rome. In addition, he installed a circular rose window over the portal on the façade. These also became a common feature of Gothic cathedrals. Some elements of Gothic style appeared very early in England. Durham Cathedral was the first cathedral to employ a rib vault, built between 1093 and 1104. The first cathedral built entirely in the new style was Sens Cathedral , begun between 1135 and 1140 and consecrated in 1160. Sens Cathedral features
11076-552: The cloisters and chapter-house ( c. 1332 ) of Old St Paul's Cathedral in London by William de Ramsey . The chancel of Gloucester Cathedral ( c. 1337 –1357) and its latter 14th century cloisters are early examples. Four-centred arches were often used, and lierne vaults seen in early buildings were developed into fan vaults, first at the latter 14th century chapter-house of Hereford Cathedral (demolished 1769) and cloisters at Gloucester, and then at Reginald Ely 's King's College Chapel, Cambridge (1446–1461) and
11232-637: The collegiate churches and cathedrals, but by urban parish churches which rivalled them in size and magnificence. The minster at Ulm and other parish churches like the Heilig-Kreuz-Münster at Schwäbisch Gmünd ( c .1320–), St Barbara's Church at Kutná Hora (1389–), and the Heilig-Geist-Kirche (1407–) and St Martin's Church ( c .1385–) in Landshut are typical. Use of ogees was especially common. The flamboyant style
11388-719: The competition. Work began that same year, but in 1178 William was badly injured by falling from the scaffolding, and returned to France, where he died. His work was continued by William the Englishman who replaced his French namesake in 1178. The resulting structure of the choir of Canterbury Cathedral is considered the first work of Early English Gothic . The cathedral churches of Worcester (1175–), Wells ( c .1180–), Lincoln (1192–), and Salisbury (1220–) are all, with Canterbury, major examples. Tiercerons – decorative vaulting ribs – seem first to have been used in vaulting at Lincoln Cathedral, installed c .1200. Instead of
11544-501: The construction of the ambulatory of Saint-Denis. Therefore, the ambulatory is rather Romanesque than Gothic. All adjacent chapels are much later and no more Primary Gothic. But its arcades and triforia already fit the criteria of Gothic architecture. It was constructed between 1135 and 1164. Different from the other cathedrals of Primary Gothic, it has no tribunes above the aisles, but triforia as one of three levels, alike some Romanesque basilicas before and Classic Gothic afterwards. It used
11700-591: The coverage of stained glass windows such that the walls are effectively entirely glazed; examples are the nave of Saint-Denis (1231–) and the royal chapel of Louis IX of France on the Île de la Cité in the Seine – the Sainte-Chapelle ( c .1241–1248). The high and thin walls of French Rayonnant Gothic allowed by the flying buttresses enabled increasingly ambitious expanses of glass and decorated tracery, reinforced with ironwork. Shortly after Saint-Denis, in
11856-469: The creation of buildings of unprecedented height and grandeur, filled with light from large stained glass windows. Important examples include Westminster Abbey , Canterbury Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral . The Gothic style endured in England much longer than in Continental Europe . The Gothic style was introduced from France, where the various elements had first been used together within
12012-497: The design of upper and middle-class housing. English Gothic architecture#Early English Gothic (late 12th–late 13th centuries) English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches . Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed arches , rib vaults , buttresses , and extensive use of stained glass . Combined, these features allowed
12168-414: The development of Renaissance architecture in Italy during the mid-15th century, the Gothic style was supplanted by the new style, but in some regions, notably England and Belgium, Gothic continued to flourish and develop into the 16th century. A series of Gothic revivals began in mid-18th century England , spread through 19th-century Europe and continued, largely for churches and university buildings, into
12324-525: The early portions of Salisbury Cathedral . Early Gothic was succeeded in the early 13th century by a new wave of larger and taller buildings, with further technical innovations, in a style later known as High Gothic . The Basilica of Saint-Denis was important because it was the burial place of the French Kings of the Capetian dynasty from the late 10th until the early 14th century. It attracted
12480-549: The east end of the church, which typically had a half-dome. The lantern tower was another common feature in Norman Gothic. One example of early Norman Gothic is Bayeux Cathedral (1060–1070) where the Romanesque cathedral nave and choir were rebuilt into the Gothic style. Lisieux Cathedral was begun in 1170. Rouen Cathedral (begun 1185) was rebuilt from Romanesque to Gothic with distinct Norman features, including
12636-557: The effect created by the transmission of light through stained glass windows. Common examples are found in Christian ecclesiastical architecture , and Gothic cathedrals and churches , as well as abbeys , and parish churches . It is also the architecture of many castles , palaces , town halls , guildhalls , universities and, less prominently today, private dwellings. Many of the finest examples of medieval Gothic architecture are listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites . With
12792-574: The ends of benches; and elaborate multicoloured decoration, usually in floral patterns, on panels or cornices called brattishing . The sinuous lines of the tracery in the Decorated style were replaced by more geometric forms and perpendicular lines. The style was also affected by the tragic history of the period, particularly the Black Death , which killed an estimated third of England's population in 18 months between June 1348 and December 1349 and returned in 1361–62 to kill another fifth. This had
12948-470: The exception of Salisbury Cathedral , English cathedrals–having building dates that typically range over 400 years–show great stylistic diversity. Early English Gothic predominated from the late 12th century until midway to late in the 13th century, It succeeded Norman Architecture , which had introduced early great cathedrals, built of stone instead of timber, and saw the construction of remarkable abbeys throughout England. The Normans had introduced
13104-534: The façades of Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes (1370s) and choir Mont-Saint-Michel 's abbey church (1448). In England, ornamental rib-vaulting and tracery of Decorated Gothic co-existed with, and then gave way to, the perpendicular style from the 1320s, with straightened, orthogonal tracery topped with fan-vaulting . Perpendicular Gothic was unknown in continental Europe and unlike earlier styles had no equivalent in Scotland or Ireland. It first appeared in
13260-526: The first buildings to systematically combine rib vaulting, buttresses, and pointed arches. Most of the characteristics of later Early English were already present in the lower chevet of Saint-Denis. The Duchy of Normandy , part of the Angevin Empire until the 13th century, developed its own version of Gothic. One of these was the Norman chevet , a small apse or chapel attached to the choir at
13416-408: The first phase of a division of Gothic style into three periods. If it is used for all countries, it has to be regarded that there may be special terms for the styles of single countries, such as Early English in England. In France, where Gothic style began, another phasing has been established: The term "Early Gothic" should not be extended backward; if Durham Cathedral and other buildings with
13572-442: The first rib vaults in Romanesque walls are subsumed to this style, most of German Late Romanesque architecture would be Early Gothic. Primary Gothic appeared in northern France in the 130s. In Normandy , it was mixed with regional traditions. In England, it gave the example for Early English architecture . It combined and developed several key elements from earlier styles, particularly from Romanesque architecture , including
13728-401: The fourth level, the triforium a narrow passageway between the ground-level gallery, the tribunes, and the top level clerestory , Noyon also used massive compound piers alternating with round columns, necessary because of the uneven weight distribution from the six-part vaults. The east end has five radiating chapels and three levels of windows, creating a created a dramatic flood of light into
13884-503: The front and back side of the façade. The new High Gothic churches competed to be the tallest, with increasingly ambitious structures lifting the vault yet higher. Chartres Cathedral's height of 38 m (125 ft) was exceeded by Beauvais Cathedral's 48 m (157 ft), but on account of the latter's collapse in 1248, no further attempt was made to build higher. Attention turned from achieving greater height to creating more awe-inspiring decoration. Rayonnant Gothic maximized
14040-481: The full weight of the roof still came down directly onto the walls. Gothic architects did not like the roof truss systems, because the numerous horizontal beams crossing the nave obstructed the view of the soaring height. They came up with an ingenious solution, the Hammerbeam roof . In this system, the point of the roof is supported by the collar and trusses, but from the collar curved beams reach well downward on
14196-429: The intention of surpassing all other existing churches in Europe. The new cathedral was 122 meters long and 35 meters high, eleven meters higher than Laon Cathedral , the previous tallest church. It featured a central nave flanked by double collaterals, and a choir surrounded by a double ambulatory, without radiating chapels. (The current chapels were added between the buttresses in the 14th century). The builders covered
14352-400: The interior of the cathedral with six-part vaults, but unlike Sens and other the earlier cathedrals they did not use alternating piers and columns to support them. The vaults were supported instead by bundles of three uninterrupted slender columns which were received by rows massive pillars with capitals decorated with classical decoration. This gave the nave greater harmony. The upper parts of
14508-615: The interior. Early examples of Early Gothic include the east end, chapels and ambulatory of the Abbey of Saint Denis in Paris, (1135-1144). The style soon spread from the Paris region to other parts of France, and then to England. Notable examples of early English Gothic include the Trinity Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral , built under the supervision of William of Sens , who had worked on Sens Cathedral , an early example of early French Gothic architecture. Early Gothic architecture
14664-481: The late 11th and 12th centuries. In 1098 Lessay Abbey was given an early version of the pointed rib vault in the choir. The church of Saint-Pierre de Lisieux , begun in the 1170s, featured the more modern four-part rib vaults and flying buttresses. Other experiments with Gothic rib vaults and other features took place in Caen , in the churches of the two large royal abbeys churches, the Abbey of Saint-Étienne, Caen and
14820-421: The lighter four-part vaults, the upper walls had to resist greater outward thrust, and the flying buttresses had to be more effective. The Bourges buttresses used a unique design with a particularly acute angle, which gave it the necessary force, but it was also reinforced by thicker and stronger walls than Chartres. The predominant sensation at Bourges is not only great height, but great length and interior space;
14976-517: The living tradition of Gothic workmanship had faded and their designs rarely resembled medieval Gothic buildings. Only when the Gothic Revival movement of the late 18th and 19th centuries began, was the architectural language of medieval Gothic relearned through the scholarly efforts of early 19th-century art historians like Rickman and Matthew Bloxam , whose Principles of Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture first appeared in 1829. Alongside
15132-544: The most noticeable example being the pointed arch and flying buttress. The most notable example is the capitals, which are forerunners of the Gothic style and deviated from the Classical standards of ancient Greece and Rome with serpentine lines and naturalistic forms. Architecture "became a leading form of artistic expression during the late Middle Ages". Gothic architecture began in the earlier 12th century in northwest France and England and spread throughout Latin Europe in
15288-583: The most visible symbol of the unity of the French church and state. During the reign of Louis VI of France (1081–1137), Paris was the principal residence of the Kings of France. During the Carolingian era Reims Cathedral was the place of coronation, and the Abbey of Saint-Denis became the ceremonial royal burial place. The King and his successors lavishly supported the construction and enlargement of abbeys and cathedrals. The Abbot of Saint-Denis, Suger ,
15444-447: The nave was divided into by regular bays, each covered by a quadripartite rib vaults. Other characteristics of the High Gothic were the development of rose windows of greater size, using bar-tracery, higher and longer flying buttresses, which could reach up to the highest windows, and walls of sculpture illustrating biblical stories filling the façade and the fronts of the transept. Reims Cathedral had two thousand three hundred statues on
15600-521: The nave, over the top of the tribunes, and pressed directly against the upper walls of the nave, countering the outward thrust from the ceiling vaults. This made possible thinner walls and the installation of larger windows in the upper walls of the nave Chartres Cathedral was the site of four annual trade fairs on the Feast Days of the Virgin Mary and a popular pilgrimage site that displayed
15756-473: The nave. Laon Cathedral was begun in 1155, in the Early Gothic or Primary Gothic style. In about 1180, the (first) choir, crossing and transept and the eastern five bays of the nave were finished. The western part of the nave and the façade followed until 1200. Therefore, the façade is already an example of Classic Gothic ; Villard de Honnecourt praised the innovative upper parts of the towers. But
15912-573: The new Gothic building work of the 19th century, many of England's existing Gothic buildings were extensively repaired, restored, remodelled, and rebuilt by architects seeking to improve the buildings according to the Romantic , high church aesthetic of the Oxford Movement and to replace many of the medieval features lost in the iconoclastic phases of the Reformation , the Dissolution of
16068-442: The new Gothic style. Sens Cathedral was influential in its strongly vertical appearance and in its three-part elevation, typical of subsequent Gothic buildings, with a clerestory at the top supported by a triforium , all carried on high arcades of pointed arches. In the following decades flying buttresses began to be used, allowing the construction of lighter, higher walls. French Gothic churches were heavily influenced both by
16224-412: The new Italian style, because of the military campaign of Charles VIII to Naples and Milan (1494), and especially the campaigns of Louis XII and Francis I (1500–1505) to restore French control over Milan and Genoa. They brought back Italian paintings, sculpture and building plans, and, more importantly, Italian craftsmen and artists. The Cardinal Georges d'Amboise , chief minister of Louis XII, built
16380-536: The new palace begun by Emperor Charles V in Granada, within the Alhambra (1485–1550), inspired by Bramante and Raphael, but it was never completed. The first major Renaissance work in Spain was El Escorial , the monastery-palace built by Philip II of Spain . Under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I , England was largely isolated from architectural developments on the continent. The first classical building in England
16536-438: The new six-part rib vault in the nave, giving the church exceptional width and height. Because the six-part vaults distributed the weight unevenly, the vaults were supported by alternating massive square piers and more slender round columns. It had a wide impact on the Gothic style not only in France, but also in England, because its master builder, William of Sens , was invited to England and introduced Early Gothic features to
16692-490: The new style were Burghley House (1550s–1580s) and Longleat , built by associates of Somerset. With those buildings, a new age of architecture began in England. Gothic architecture, usually churches or university buildings, continued to be built. Ireland was an island of Gothic architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries, with the construction of Derry Cathedral (completed 1633), Sligo Cathedral ( c. 1730 ), and Down Cathedral (1790–1818) are other examples. In
16848-407: The north and west ranges of the front quadrangle, dated to 1431; notably in the medieval hall on the west side, (now the "new library") and the "old library" on the first floor, north side. The architecture at Balliol was often derived from castle architecture, with battlements, rather than from church models. King's College Chapel, Cambridge also used another distinctive Perpendicular Gothic feature,
17004-425: The old Romanesque church with the rib vault in order to remove walls and to make more space for windows. He described the new ambulatory as "a circular ring of chapels, by virtue of which the whole church would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty." To support the vaults he also introduced columns with capitals of carved vegetal designs, modelled upon
17160-501: The old mediaeval style, which they termed Gothic, as synonymous with every thing that was barbarous and rude, it may be sufficient to refer to the celebrated Treatise of Sir Henry Wotton , entitled The Elements of Architecture , ... printed in London so early as 1624. ... But it was a strange misapplication of the term to use it for the pointed style, in contradistinction to the circular, formerly called Saxon, now Norman, Romanesque, &c. These latter styles, like Lombardic , Italian, and
17316-404: The original choir began to decay and in 1205–1220 was replaced by the actual one. Following English examples, it has no apse, but a rectangular east end. Laon was built upon a hilltop one hundred metres high, making it visible from a great distance. The hilltop imposed a special burden for the builders; all the stones had to be carried to the top of the hill in carts drawn by oxen. The oxen who did
17472-597: The others, continued to use six-part rib vaults); and Beauvais Cathedral (1225–). In central Europe, the High Gothic style appeared in the Holy Roman Empire , first at Toul (1220–), whose Romanesque cathedral was rebuilt in the style of Reims Cathedral; then Trier 's Liebfrauenkirche parish church (1228–), and then throughout the Reich , beginning with the Elisabethkirche at Marburg (1235–) and
17628-634: The period of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy: There can be no doubt that the term 'Gothic' as applied to pointed styles of ecclesiastical architecture was used at first contemptuously, and in derision, by those who were ambitious to imitate and revive the Grecian orders of architecture, after the revival of classical literature. But, without citing many authorities, such as Christopher Wren , and others, who lent their aid in depreciating
17784-523: The predominant motifs of the designs. The first, the Geometric style, lasted from about 1245 or 50 until 1315 or 1360, where ornament tended to be based on straight lines, cubes and circles, followed by the Curvilinear style (from about 1290 or 1315 until 1350 or 1360) which used gracefully curving lines. Additions in the Decorated style were often added to earlier cathedrals. One striking example
17940-456: The principal rafters are connected with the tie beam by the head of the truss. The King-Point truss has a vertical beam with connects the centre of the rafter to the ridge of the roof, supported by diagonal struts, while a Queen-Post truss has a wooden collar below the pointed arch which united the posts and was supported by struts and cross-braces. A Queen-Post truss could span a width of forty feet. Both of these forms created greater stability, but
18096-472: The problem of the earlier Romanesque style; masonry ceilings which were too heavy for the traditional arched barrel vault . The solution to the problem came in the form of the Gothic rib vault , where thin stone ribs spread the weight of the ceiling outward and downwards to flying buttresses. Another important innovation of the High Gothic was a change in the interior elevations. As thinner walls were made possible by buttresses, intermediate levels, such as
18252-433: The reconstructed choir of Canterbury Cathedral . In the following centuries, all clerestories were remodelled, and the transept is Flamboyant . < Senlis Cathedral was built between 1153 and 1191. Its length was limited by modest budget and by the placement of the building against the city wall. Like Sens cathedral, it was composed of a nave without a transept, flanked by a single collateral. The radiating chapels of
18408-579: The reconstruction of Angers Cathedral begun by bishop Normand de Doué, 1148–1152, the first Angevin vault were constructed. Poitiers Cathedral , erected since 1166 is known as the first Gothic hall church . Its eastern parts are Early Gothic with some Romanesque elements; its western parts have High Gothic tracery. Some notable examples of Classic Gothic and High Gothic cathedrals, such as Chartres Cathedral (see above) and Bourges Cathedral also have elements of Early Gothic architecture. Experiments with Gothic features were also underway in Normandy in
18564-515: The reputed tunic that Mary wore when giving birth to Christ. A series of earlier cathedrals in Chartres beginning in the fourth century, were destroyed by fire. The cathedral immediately previous to the present church burned in 1194, leaving only the crypt, towers, and the recently built west front. Rebuilding began the same year, with support from the Pope, the King, and the wealthy nobility and merchants of
18720-453: The ruins of the Baths of Diocletian and elsewhere in Rome. He described the finished work as "a circular string of chapels, by virtue of which the whole church would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty." Suger was an admirer of the doctrines of the early Christian philosopher John Scotus Eriugena (c. 810–87) and Dionysus, or
18876-437: The second quarter of the 19th century, neo-Gothic began to become promoted by influential establishment figures as the preferred style for ecclesiastical, civic and institutional architecture. The appeal of this Gothic revival (which after 1837, in Britain, is sometimes termed Victorian Gothic ), gradually widened to encompass "low church" as well as "high church" clients. This period of more universal appeal, spanning 1855–1885,
19032-403: The six-part rib vaults. The church underwent considerable rebuilding in the 13th and 16th century, including a new tower and new interior decorations. Many of the early Gothic features are overladen with Flamboyant and later decoration. In the 16th century, the triforia disappeared, whereas the tribunes kept their Primary Gothic layout until today. Noyon Cathedral , begun between 1150 and 1155,
19188-711: The square courtyard of the Louvre Palace designed by Pierre Lescot . Nonetheless, new Gothic buildings, particularly churches, continued to be built. New Gothic churches built in Paris in this period included Saint-Merri (1520–1552) and Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois . The first signs of classicism in Paris churches did not appear until 1540, at Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais . The largest new church, Saint-Eustache (1532–1560), rivalled Notre-Dame in size, 105 m (344 ft) long, 44 m (144 ft) wide, and 35 m (115 ft) high. As construction of this church continued, elements of Renaissance decoration, including
19344-418: The story of the Virgin Mary but also, in a small corner of each window, illustrating the crafts of the guilds who donated those windows. The model of Chartres was followed by a series of new cathedrals of unprecedented height and size. These were Reims Cathedral (begun 1211), where coronations of the kings of France took place; Amiens Cathedral (1220–1226); Bourges Cathedral (1195–1230) (which, unlike
19500-504: The structure. A pitched roof was a common feature of all the Gothic periods. During the Norman period, the roofs normally were pitched forty-five degrees, with the apex forming a right angle, which harmonised with the rounded arches of the gables. With the arrival of the pointed rib vault , the roofs became steeper, up to sixty degrees. In the late perpendicular period, the angle declined to twenty degrees or even less. The roofs were usually made of boards overlaid with tiles or sheet-lead, which
19656-563: The style of "additions and rebuilding" in the later 16th and earlier 17th centuries "often much debased". Architect and art historian Edmund Sharpe , in The Seven Periods of English Architecture (1851), identified a pre-Gothic Transitional Period (1145–90), following the Norman period, in which pointed arches and round arches were employed together. Focusing on the windows, Sharpe dubbed Rickman's Gothic styles as follows: In
19812-682: The system of classical orders of columns, were added to the design, making it a Gothic-Renaissance hybrid. In Germany, some Italian elements were introduced at the Fugger Chapel of St. Anne's Church, Augsburg , (1510–1512) combined with Gothic vaults; and others appeared in the Church of St. Michael in Munich, but in Germany Renaissance elements were used primarily for decoration. Some Renaissance elements also appeared in Spain, in
19968-412: The term "barbarous German style" in his Lives of the Artists to describe what is now considered the Gothic style, and in the introduction to the Lives he attributes various architectural features to the Goths , whom he held responsible for destroying the ancient buildings after they conquered Rome, and erecting new ones in this style. When Vasari wrote, Italy had experienced a century of building in
20124-401: The three classical orders of architecture, and created massive walls for their buildings, with thin pilaster-like buttresses. The transition from Norman to Gothic lasted from about 1145 until 1190. In the reigns of King Stephen and Richard I , the style changed from the more massive severe Norman style to the more delicate and refined Gothic. Early English was particularly influenced by what
20280-586: The transept crossing, most likely inspired by the Norman Gothic abbey churches in Caen . Laon Cathedral was the model for the first Gothic project in Germany, the rebuilding of Limburg Cathedral , begun in the 1180s. Notre Dame de Paris was the largest of the Early Gothic cathedrals, and marked the summit of the Early Gothic in France. It was begun in 1163 by the Bishop Maurice de Sully with
20436-567: The vertical mullions . Many churches were built with magnificent towers including York Minster , Gloucester Cathedral , Worcester Cathedral , and St Botolph's Church, Boston , St Giles' Church, Wrexham , St Mary Magdalene, Taunton . Another outstanding example of Perpendicular is King's College Chapel, Cambridge . The interiors of Perpendicular churches were filled with lavish ornamental woodwork, including misericords (choir stalls with lifting seats), under which were grotesque carvings; stylized "poppy heads", or carved figures in foliage on
20592-441: The walls connected by arches to the upper walls. The buttresses counterbalanced the outward thrust from the rib vaults. This allowed the builders to construct higher, thinner walls and larger windows. Following the destruction by fire of the choir of Canterbury Cathedral in 1174, a group of master builders was invited to propose plans for the reconstruction. The master-builder William of Sens , who had worked on Sens Cathedral, won
20748-406: The walls to another innovation, the flying buttress . Gothic appeared in the Île-de-France region of France, around Paris, and spread quickly to other regions, and to England and Germany. It combined several existing technologies, notably the rib vault , pointed arch , flying buttress , to build much higher and thinner walls, which allowed more space for stained glass windows and more light in
20904-498: The walls which supports them, allowing thinner and high walls between the buttresses, and larger windows. The buttresses were often topped by ornamental stone pinnacles to give them greater weight. The Perpendicular Gothic (or simply Perpendicular) is the third and final style of medieval Gothic architecture in England. It is characterised by an emphasis on vertical lines, and is sometimes called rectilinear. The Perpendicular style began to emerge in about 1330. The earliest example
21060-638: The walls, and carry the weight downward and outwards, to the walls and buttresses, without obstructing the view. The oldest existing roof of this kind is found in Winchester Cathedral . The most famous example of the Hammerbeam roof is the roof of Westminster Hall (1395), the largest timber roof of its time, built for royal ceremonies such as the banquets following the coronation of the King. Other notable wooden roofs included those of Christ Church, Oxford , Trinity College, Cambridge , and Crosby Hall, London . A similar system, with arched trusses,
21216-454: The weight of the vaults fell unevenly upon the nave, and required, like Early Gothic cathedrals, alternating strong and weak pillars. This was artfully hidden by the use of large cylindrical piers, each surrounded by eight engaged colonettes. The piers of the arcade are particularly imposing; each is 21 m (69 ft) tall. Choir and chapels of Bourges cathedral still have semicircular ends. Since Bourges used six-part rib vaults instead of
21372-436: The weight outwards. The new pointed rib vaults were installed over the south transept and nave beginning in 1130. The new vaults were not successful; the thin panels between the ribs were made of plastered rubble, and were too heavy and cracked, and in 1235 they had to be replaced. Newer and lighter versions of the rib vault, using small pieces of cut stone in the panels, rather than plastered rubble, were developed in Normandy and
21528-454: The work were honoured by statues on the tower of the finished cathedral. Laon was also unusual because of its five towers; two on the west front, two on the transepts, and an octagonal lantern on crossing. Laon, like most early Gothic cathedrals, had four interior levels. Laon also had alternating octagonal and square piers supporting the nave, but these rested upon massive pillars made of dreamlike sections of stone, giving it greater harmony and
21684-407: Was also influenced by the necessity of many churches, such as Chartres Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral , to accommodate growing numbers of pilgrims. It adapted features from earlier styles. According to Charles Texier (French historian, architect, and archaeologist) and Josef Strzygowski (Polish-Austrian art historian), after lengthy research and study of cathedrals in the medieval city of Ani ,
21840-429: Was called in English "The French style". The style was imported from Caen in Normandy by French Norman architects, who also imported cut stones from Normandy for their construction. It was also influenced by the architecture of the Ile-de-France , where Sens Cathedral had been constructed, the first Gothic cathedral in France. The chancel of Canterbury Cathedral , one of the first Early English structures in England,
21996-448: Was characterised by the multiplication of the ribs of the vaults, with new purely decorative ribs, called tiercons and liernes, and additional diagonal ribs. One common ornament of flamboyant in France is the arc-en-accolade , an arch over a window topped by a pinnacle, which was itself topped with fleuron , and flanked by other pinnacles. Examples of French flamboyant building include the west façade of Rouen Cathedral , and especially
22152-430: Was commonly used on low-pitched roofs. The simpler Gothic roofs were supported by long rafters of light wood, resting on wooden trusses set into the walls. The rafters were supported by more solid beams, called purlins , which were carried at their ends by the roof trusses . The tie-beam is the chief beam of the truss. Later, the roof was supported by structures called a King-point-truss and Queen-post truss, where
22308-444: Was decided that the interior was too dark, and the upright windows were enlarged downward into the area of the small roses. Around the transept, the original design was reconstructed during the restoration by Viollet-le-Duc . The flying buttress made its first appearance in Paris in the early 13th century, either at Notre Dame, or perhaps earlier in the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres . The buttresses reached from heavy towers outside
22464-433: Was influenced by the French style, particularly in the new choir of Canterbury Cathedral , but soon developed its own particular characteristics, particularly an emphasis for length over height, and more complex and asymmetric floor plans, square rather than rounded east ends, and polychrome decoration, using Purbeck marble . Major examples are the nave and west front of Wells Cathedral , the choir of Lincoln Cathedral , and
22620-466: Was not only a prominent religious figure but also first minister to Louis VI and Louis VII. He oversaw the royal administration when the King was absent on the Crusades. He commissioned the reconstruction of the Basilica of Saint-Denis , making it the first and most influential example of the new style in France. Early Gothic architecture was the solution that the first Gothic builders found to resolve
22776-615: Was not owed to the Goths but to the Islamic Golden Age . He wrote: This we now call the Gothic manner of architecture (so the Italians called what was not after the Roman style) though the Goths were rather destroyers than builders; I think it should with more reason be called the Saracen style, for these people wanted neither arts nor learning: and after we in the west lost both, we borrowed again from them, out of their Arabic books, what they with great diligence had translated from
22932-451: Was rebuilt in the new style by a French architect, William of Sens . The Early English style particularly featured more strongly-constructed walls with stone vaulted roofs, to resist fire. The weight of these vaults was carried downwards and outwards by arched ribs. This feature, the early rib vault , was used at Durham Cathedral , the first time it was used this way in Europe. Another important innovation introduced in this early period
23088-438: Was succeeded by Renaissance architecture . It originated in the Île-de-France and Picardy regions of northern France . The style at the time was sometimes known as opus Francigenum ( lit. ' French work ' ); the term Gothic was first applied contemptuously during the later Renaissance , by those ambitious to revive the architecture of classical antiquity . The defining design element of Gothic architecture
23244-456: Was swiftly rebuilt in the new style, with contributions from King Philip II of France , Pope Celestine III , local gentry, merchants, craftsmen, and Richard the Lionheart , king of England. The builders simplified the elevation used at Notre Dame, eliminated the tribune galleries, and used flying buttresses to support the upper walls. The walls were filled with stained glass, mainly depicting
23400-523: Was the Old Somerset House in London (1547–1552) (since demolished), built by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset , who was regent as Lord Protector for Edward VI until the young king came of age in 1547. Somerset's successor, John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland , sent the architectural scholar John Shute to Italy to study the style. Shute published the first book in English on classical architecture in 1570. The first English houses in
23556-431: Was the buttress , a stone column outside the structure that reinforced the walls against the weight pressing outward and downward from the vaults. This evolved into the flying buttress , which carried the thrust from the wall of the nave over the roof of the aisle. The buttress was given further support by a heavy stone pinnacle. Buttresses were an early feature of the chapter house of Lichfield Cathedral . Early English
23712-424: Was the bishop of Paris, and its construction in several ways followed Notre-Dame de Paris and not Chartres. Like Chartres, the builders simplified the vertical plan to three levels; grand arcades, triforium, and high windows. The triforium was simplified a long horizontal band, the entire length of the church. However, unlike Paris, Bourges continued to use the older six-part rib vault used in Paris. This meant that
23868-481: Was the first of a series of famous Cathedrals to appear in Picardy , the prosperous region north of Paris. The city has an important connection with French history, as the coronation site of Charlemagne and of the early French King Hugh Capet . The new cathedral still had many Romanesque features, including prominent transepts with rounded ends and deep galleries, but it introduced several Gothic innovations, including
24024-466: Was the result of the emergence in the 12th century of a powerful French state centered in the Île-de-France . King Louis VI of France (1081–1137), had succeeded, after a long struggle, in bringing the barons of northern France under his control, and successfully defended his domain against attacks by the English King, Henry I of England (1100–1135). Under Louis and his successors, cathedrals were
24180-495: Was used in the roof of Wrexham Cathedral. The Gothic style was adopted in the late 13th to 15th centuries in early English university buildings, due in part to the close connection between the universities and the church. The oldest existing example of University Gothic in England is probably the Mob Quad of Merton College, Oxford , constructed between 1288 and 1378. Balliol College, Oxford has examples of Gothic work in
24336-412: Was widespread and proved difficult to defeat. Vasari was echoed in the 16th century by François Rabelais , who referred to Goths and Ostrogoths ( Gotz and Ostrogotz ). The polymath architect Christopher Wren disapproved of the name Gothic for pointed architecture. He compared it to Islamic architecture , which he called the ' Saracen style', pointing out that the pointed arch's sophistication
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