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Gothic
Gothic Gothic For nearly four hundred years Gothic style dominated the architecture of Western Europe. It originated in northern France in the twelfth century, and spread rapidly across England and the Continent, invading the old Viking empire of Scandinavia. It confronted the Byzantine provinces of Central Europe and even made appearances in the near East and the Americas. Gothic architects designed town halls, royal palaces, courthouses, and hospitals. They fortified cities and castles to defend lands against invasion. But it was in the service of the church, the most prolific builder of the Middle Ages, that the Gothic style got its most meaningful expression, providing the widest scope for the development of architectural ideas.1 Although by 1400 Gothic had become the universal style of building in the Western world, its creative heartland was in northern France in an area stretching from the royal domain around Paris, including Saint-Denis and Chartres, to the region of the Champagne in the east and southward to Bourges. Within this restricted area, in the series of cathedrals built in the course of the 12th and 13th centuries, the major innovations of Gothic architecture took place.2 The supernatural character of medieval religious architecture was given a special form in the Gothic church. "Medieval man considered himself but an imperfect refraction of Divine Light of God, Whose Temple stood on earth, according to the text of the dedication ritual, stood for the Heavenly City of Jerusalem."3 The Gothic interpretation of this point of view was a cathedral so grand that seems to belittle the man who enters it, for space, light, structure and the plastic effects of the stonework are made to produce a visionary scale. The result of the Gothic style is distortion as there is no fixed set of proportions in the parts. Such architecture did not only express the physical and spiritual needs of the Church, but also the general attitude of the people of that time. Gothic was not dark, massive, and contained like the older Romanesque style, but light, open, and aerial, and its appearance in all parts of Europe had an enduring effect on the outlook of succeeding generations.4 Gothic architecture evolved at a time of profound social and economic change in Western Europe. In the late eleventh and twelfth centuries trade and industry were revived, particularly in northern Italy and Flanders, and a lively commerce brought about better communications, not only between neighboring towns but also between far-distant regions. Politically, the twelfth century was also the time of the expansion and consolidation of the State. Along with political and economic developments, a powerful new intellectual movement arose that was stimulated by the translation of ancient authors from Greek and Arabic into Latin, and a new literature came into being. Gothic architecture both contributed to these changes and was affected by them.5 The Gothic style was essentially urban. The cathedrals of course were all situated in towns, and most monasteries, had by the twelfth century become centers of communities which possessed many of the functions of civic life. The cathedral or abbey church was the building in which the people congregated on major feast days. It saw the start and the end of splendid and colorful ceremonies, and it held the earliest dramatic performances. The abbey traditionally comprised at least a cloister, a dormitory and a refectory for the monks. But the cathedral also was around a complex of buildings, the bishop's palace, a cloister and the house of canons, a school, a prison, and a hospital. However the cathedral dominated them all, rising high above the town like a marker to be seen from afar.6 The architect...This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now! Get This Full Article After Registration
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