ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE; THE CATHEDRALS
TWO ARCHITECTURAL STYLES
The genius of the Middle Ages found its highest
expression, not in books, but in buildings. For several hundred years after the
barbarian invasions architecture had made little progress in western Europe,
outside of Italy, which was subject to Byzantine influence, and Spain,
which was a center of Mohammedan culture. Beginning about 800 A.D. came a
revival, and the adoption of an architectural style called Romanesque, because
it went back to Roman principles of construction. Romanesque architecture arose
in northern Italy and southern France and gradually spread to other European
countries. It was followed about 1100 A D. by the Gothic style of architecture,
which prevailed during the next four centuries.
THE ROMANESQUE CHURCH
The church of the early Christians seems to have been
modeled upon the Roman basilica, with its arrangement of nave and aisles, its
circular arched recess (apse) at one end, and its flat, wooden ceiling
supported by columns. The Romanesque church departed from the basilican
plan by the introduction of transepts, thus giving the building the form of a
Latin cross. A dome, which might be covered by a pointed roof, was generally
raised over the junction of the nave and transepts. At the same time the apse
was enlarged so as to form the choir, a place reserved for the clergy.
