Spains Golden Age Essay, Research Paper

3

NOTE: The information on this site is painfully incomplete and not

well-referenced. If you are looking for a good informational site, I strongly recommend you look elsewhere. This site was never really meant for general consumption, hence the poor attention to detail and research. It was an incomplete project which somehow got picked up by the search engines.

Please, please, please consider looking at other sites, at least until I revise this site so that it does justice to gothic architecture.

It’s funny that Gothicism in architecture ended up being named as being representative of things that it actually despised, like Christianity and the common medieval outlook on life.

Based in the work of Abbot Sugar’s cathedral at Saint-Denis, gothic architecture depended on the lighting and the height of the cathedrals. Conventional design was used to large, dark rooms which provided little light for people to bask in inside. Gothic cathedrals added many windows, tall and narrow, gigantic even. The glass in the windows was stained to further modify the light and let only the most soothing colors flow happily into the warm cathedral. Interestingly, the sun stood as the original sender, which passed through the religious figures shown in the windows, to fall upon the observers of God. The sun was, whether it was done so consciously or subconsciously,

Likened to the love of God himself and his warmth for his followers. The other emphasis was on height, reaching up towards our aspirations and towards God. Tall, tall towers with pointed spires were erected on the already large cathedrals. Piers and high, thin columns lined the relatively thin outer walls of gothic cathedrals, making the buildings appear to shoot straight up without anything stopping it. There was a certain confidence in this design, saying that nothing could keep these men down if their cathedrals could succeed so effortlessly. If there was one pure motivation for the gothic style, it was to show love to the Virgin Mary, whom in fact had a cathedral named after her at Notre Dame (”ourLady”, in French). Many gothic style churches were left incomplete because of lack of funds and resources, or because the interest simply died out. This is symptomatic of the

Gothic genre as a whole — it was a burdensome style to maintain and it quickly died out in favor of more practical, solid styles, which came later.

A History of the Gothic

The architectural style of the gothic was just one aspect of this phenomenon.

Gothic architecture was part of a whole movement of inspiration which spreadthrough the literary, social, political, and religious communities.

Quite obviously and unoriginal, the term “gothic” takes its roots from the

Goths, a wild, barbaric, Germanic people who inhabited what is now all of Europe around the third to the fifth centuries AD. Fierce, nomadic, and numerous, the Goths frightened civilizations all over. Even the mighty Romans, Bello Gallico, were worried about the as we know from Julius Caesar’s De tribes and relatives of the Goths, even though as a civilization, the Romans were flourishing and expanding all over the Mediterranean, Britain, and Africa.

The origin of the term “gothic” is confused almost as frequently, and as outrageously, as all of its offshoots and later influences, which are still showing today. While “gothic” is derived from the Germanic Goths, none of the styles or influences came about because of anything the Goths did. To be “gothic” came to mean the opposition of the classical Greek and Roman styles. The Greeks and Romans were known for embracing reason and intelligence and

Sophistication and this philosophy controlled supreme throughout the medieval period. Constantly did figures like Augustine and the European rulers refer back to the ideas of Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and lesser-known philosophers for inspiration. The Greeks and Romans considered themselves to be the best race

in the whole world, far above the nomadic clans who ravaged the land and

Made life difficult for peoples who hated lack of civility and barbarism. The Germanic tribes were known for being warlike and aggressive and ruthless when it came to acquiring new territory for them to inhabit until all resources were depleted. The law of the Germanic tribes was that of the family clan loyalty as opposed to a formal law system, which the classics, Rome in particular, had. It is understandable that the Greeks and Romans developed a derision and condescension for the Germanic tribes who made life more annoying than it

should have been to them. The tribes seemed to have no order in their chaotic, wandering lives, and they believed in multiple gods, a concept which grew

foreign to the new monotheistic religions developing in Europe at the time.

“Gothic” became synonymous with “foreign,” “Medieval,” and “primitive.” The

disparity between “gothic” and the classical philosophy only grew as time

progressed, directly related to the rise in power of social hierarchy, which saw

classicists as the aristocracy and the less sophisticated as peasants.

How fitting that it was the persistence and harassment by the Germanic tribes

which helped topple the mighty Roman empire.

Although the gothic period of architecture was painfully short and strangely

incomplete, it can be broken down into three distinct phases in its development

as influence spread throughout Europe.

EARLY GOTHIC (about 1137-1144AD to 1200AD)

Early gothic architecture was highly experimental. Although architects wished to build gigantic cathedrals with large, epic, awe-inspiring open spaces inside, the stones used for the roof were just too much for the stone walls to maintain, and the result was that buildings would collapse from having no support.

Architects found ways to evenly distribute the weight of the huge stone

cathedrals as generations of churches were born and passed away. Ribbed

vaults, flying buttresses, piers, and pointed arches, all of which are described in

more depth on the techniques page, helped make gothic cathedrals in

particular more stable and more sturdy.

It is interesting to see how the early gothic style of architecture developed in

different areas of Europe. Although the basic ideas were passed along, starting

with Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis’s rebuilding of the Carolingian church at

Saint-Denis, England and France radically diverged from each other in style.

From the beginning, French early gothic churches and cathedrals paid

attention to intricacies and detail. Of course, the French have always been

known for adding a flourish. Complexity reigned, with two towers tending to

overlook the many stained-glass windows, pointed arches, and flying

buttresses. Extra columns and piers were added to make the buildings look

more alive and passionate and less repetitive and boring. While the structure

was very thorough and exact, it was covered up somewhat by creative

additions.

Contrast this with English churches, which were at first very conservative and

to some degree, more classical in design. Detail and emotion was less of a

concern as windows were used more scarcely, as were flying buttresses and

columns which would have given life to the skeleton-like cathedrals. The walls

and ceilings were more thick with stone, weighing the buildings down, making

them sluggish with feeling.

HIGH GOTHIC (1200AD to 1280AD)

The high period of gothic architecture to the French was a time for even more

elaborate designs and additions to the religious centers of the cities. Pinnacles

were placed wherever they could be to make the cathedrals even higher so that

they reached up into the heavens. Rose-shaped stained-glass windows were

introduced, their geometric designs symbolically praising the Virgin Mary, for

she is often holding baby Jesus in the middle of the rose window, while French

history and kings radiate out from her.

The stone pillars and vaults were made even thinner to give more elegance

and weightlessness to the mammoth buildings. Less parts of the cathedrals

were covered up in darkness, so the lighter pigments of the ink on the

stained-glass let more gentle and vibrant shades of colors shine onto the floors

and walls.

In England, tracery was the main influence during this period. Stone designs

were placed into the cathedrals’ windows, which had grown in size considerably

from the initial stage of their development.

LATE GOTHIC (1280-1500)

Both English and French styles continued their paths of development, as the

more orderly, conservative English developed the perpendicular style and the

French passed into the Flamboyant style.

The perpendicular style gave windows, which were even larger now, vertical

lines to complement the horizontal lines of the cathedral against the level ground

and other perpendicular angles. In France, the Flamboyant style heightened

elaboration in design, with star patterns and flame-like tracery in the

ever-expanding windows. The walls were minimized while the decoration of the

said walls increased. Beauty was given to the underlying structure to make the

cathedrals divine.

Interestingly, not much of the gothic style was passed into other buildings,

except for the Flamboyant style. Political and social centers of the cities began to

look like the French cathedrals’ insides, being not nearly so large, of course.

After that, the gothic style of architecture burned out and passed the flame to

later styles which would further influence Europe, and soon, the Americas.

But the gothic style as a whole would continue to influence later periods.

Gothic literature, such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Edgar Allen Poe’s

masterpieces, dominated literature fiercely. Tales of exotic animals and freaks of

human nature crept into horror stories and films, drama novels, and so on.

Even now, television shows like the X-Files are thought of as having gothic

connotations or gothic lighting. Daytime talk shows feature fans of vampires and

werewolves and other beasts of the night. Gothicism is by no means dead. In

some respects, it’s thriving.

But because of the shortage of resources like stone and manpower, gothic

architecture has become infeasible for building a large church with, particularly

since land is becoming less and less available. Only through radical artistic

impressions can artists bring back suitable renditions of how the gothic style was

incorporated into architecture.

into, instead of sticking inside, a wall. It reinforces

the wall where the wall needs the help most.

pier

Another Roman tool, piers became common in the gothic style of architecture.

Piers were often attached to flying buttresses or the outside wall, reaching up to

the top of a spire and giving the structure a sense of grandness by extending to

the skies.

ribbed groin vaults

Ribbed groin vaults were one of the earliest ways of removing stress from the

walls and buttresses. The earlier barrel vault put all the pressure along the

whole vault, while ribbed groin vaults concentrates pressure only where the four

corners of the barrel vaults meet. After this, walls were much less burdened and

vaults could be made of far less heavy materials.

rose windows

One of the most obvious, yet beautiful

features of the French cathedrals was the

rose window. Circular in shape, the

window has a center, usually filled with the

Virgin Mary or another prominent Christian

figure. French lineage in stained glass

radiates from the center, hence the rose

analogy.

stained glass

Stained glass was extremely important to the gothic cathedral.

Holy figures were immortalized in the tall, narrow stained glass

windows which lined the walls of all sorts of cathedrals.

What was important was the lighting that these windows created.

Plenty of light was already flooding in through the windows, but this

light could be manipulated to set a mood inside the building.

Instead of using gold windows, which would be the most likely

choice, blues and reds were used to create a subtle, subdued feel

in the cathedral.

tracery

Tracery was developed mainly in British cathedrals. What it was was stone

designs placed inside window frames to ensure more attention was given to the

windows of the building than the conservatively designed interior walls. Tracery

in its later uses made S-shaped ogees which made windows look flame-like

and passionate.

e-mail | credits

NOTE: The information on this site is painfully incomplete and not

well-referenced. If you are looking for a good informational site, I strongly

recommend you look elsewhere. This site was never really meant for general

consumption, hence the poor attention to detail and research. It was an

incomplete project which somehow got picked up by the search engines.

Please please please consider looking at other sites, at least until I revise this

site so that it does justice to gothic architecture.

Examples of Gothic Churches and Cathedrals

Many churches sprang up in the short time the gothic style of architecture was

popular. Most churches were in England or France as they were the countries

that could afford to build such inefficient yet gorgeous buildings.

Canterbury Cathedral

Monday, Mar. 20, 2000

ENCYCLOP?DIA BRITANNICA

Gothic art

the painting, sculpture, architecture, and music characteristic of the second of two great international eras that flourished in western and central Europe during the Middle Ages. Gothic art evolved from Romanesque art and lasted from the mid-12th century to as late as the end of the 16th century in some areas. The term Gothic was coined by classifying Italian writers of the Renaissance, who attributed the invention (and what to them was the nonclassical ugliness) of medieval architecture to the barbarian Gothic tribes that had destroyed the Roman Empire and its classical culture in the 5th century Ad. The term retained its derogatory overtones until the

19th century, at which time a positive critical revaluation of Gothic architecture took place. Although modern scholars have long realized that Gothic art has nothing in truth to do with the Goths, the term Gothic remains a standard one in the study of art history.Architecture was the most important and original art form during the Gothic period. The principal structural characteristics of Gothic architecture arose out of medieval masons’ efforts to solve the problems associated with supporting heavy masonry ceiling vaults over wide spans.

The problem was that the heavy stonework of the traditional arched barrel vault and the groin vault exerted a tremendous downward and outward pressure that tended to push the walls upon which the vault rested outward, thus collapsing them. A building’s vertical supporting walls thus had to be made extremely thick and heavy in order to contain the barrels vaults outward thrust. Medieval masons solved this difficult problem about 1120 with a number of brilliant innovations

First and foremost they developed a ribbed vault, in which arching and intersecting stone ribs support a vaulted ceiling surface that is composed of mere thin stone panels. This greatly reduced the weight (and thus the outward thrust) of the ceiling vault, and since the vault’s weight was now carried at discrete points (the ribs) rather than along a continuous wall edge, separate widely spaced vertical piers to support the ribs could replace the continuous thick walls. The round arches of the barrel vault were replaced by pointed (Gothic) arches, which distributed thrust in more directions downward from the topmost point of the arch. Since the combination of ribs and piers relieved the intervening vertical wall spaces of their supportive function, these walls could be built thinner and could even be opened up with large windows or other glazing. A crucial point was that the outward thrust of the ribbed ceiling vaults was carried across the outside walls of the nave, first to an attached outer buttress and then to a freestanding pier by means of a half arch known as a flying buttress. The flying buttress leaned against the upper exterior of the nave (thus counteracting the vault’s outward thrust), crossed over the low side aisles of the nave, and terminated in the freestanding buttress pier, which ultimately absorbed the ceiling vault’s thrust.

These elements enabled Gothic masons to build much larger and taller buildings than their Romanesque predecessors and to give their structures more complicated ground plans. The skillful use of flying buttresses made it possible to build extremely tall, thin-walled buildings whose interior structural system of columnar piers and ribs reinforced an impression of soaring adaptability.

Three successive phases of Gothic architecture can be distinguished, respectively called Early

High and Late Gothic eras.

Early Gothic.

This first phase lasted from the Gothic style’s beginning in 1120-50 to about 1200. The combination of all the abovementioned structural elements into a coherent style first occurred in the region around Paris where prosperous urban populations had sufficient wealth to build the great cathedrals that signify the Gothic style. The earliest surviving Gothic building was the abbey of Saint-Denis in Paris, begun in about 1140.

Structures with similarly precise vaulting and chains of windows along the perimeter were soon begun with Notre-Dame de Paris (begun 1163) and Laon Cathedral (begun 1165). By this time it had become fashionable to treat the interior columns and ribs as if each was composed of a bunch of more slender parallel members. A series of four discrete horizontal levels or stories in the cathedral’s interior were evolved, beginning with a ground-level arcade, over which ran one or two galleries (tribune, triforium), over which in turn ran an upper, windowed story called a clerestory. The columns and arches used to support these different elevations contributed to the severe and powerfully repetitive geometry of the interior. Window tracery (decorative rib work subdividing a window opening) was also gradually evolved, along with the use of stained (colored) glass in the windows. The typical French early Gothic cathedral terminated at its eastern end in a semicircular projection called an apse. The western end was much more impressive, being a wide facade articulated by numerous windows and pointed arches, having monumental doorways, and being topped by two huge towers. The long sides of the cathedral’s exterior presented a baffling and tangled array of piers and flying buttresses. The basic form of Gothic architecture eventually spread throughout Europe to Germany, Italy, England, the Low Countries, Spain, and Portugal.

In England the early Gothic phase had its own particular character (epitomized by Salisbury

Cathedral) that is known as the early English Gothic style (c. 1200-1300 AD). The first mature

example of the style was the nave and choir of Lincoln Cathedral (begun in 1192).

Early English Gothic churches differed in several respects from their French counterparts. They

Had thicker, heavier walls that were not much changed from Romanesque proportions;

Accentuated, repeated moldings on the edges of interior arches; a sparing use of tall, slender,

Pointed lancet windows; and nave piers consisting of a central column of light-colored stone

Surrounded by a number of slimmer attached columns made of black purbeck marble.

Early English churches also established other stylistic features that were to distinguish all of

English Gothic: great length and little attention to height; a nearly equal emphasis on horizontal

and vertical lines in the stringcourses and elevations of the interior; a square termination of the

building’s eastern end rather than a semicircular eastern projection; scant use of flying

buttresses; and a piecemeal, asymmetrical conception of the ground plan of the church. Other

outstanding examples of the early English style are the nave and west front of Wells Cathedral

(c. 1180-c. 1245) and the choirs and transept of Rochester Cathedral.

High Gothic. The second phase of Gothic architecture began with a subdivision of the style

known as Rayonnant (1200-1280 AD) on the Continent and as the Decorated Gothic (1300-75

AD) style in England. This style was characterized by the application of increasingly elaborate

geometrical decoration to the structural forms that had been established during the preceding

century.

During the period of the Rayonnant style a significant change took place in Gothic architecture.

Until about 1250, Gothic architects concentrated on the harmonious distribution of masses of

Masonry and, particularly in France, on the technical problems of achieving great height; after

That date, they became more concerned with the creation of rich visual effects through

Decoration. This decoration took such forms as pinnacles (upright members, often spired, that

Capped piers, buttresses, or other exterior elements), moldings, and, especially, window

Tracery. The most characteristic and finest achievement of the Rayonnant style is the great

circular rose window adorning the west facades of large French cathedrals; the typically radial

patterns of the tracery inspired the designation Rayonnant for the new style. Another typical

feature of Rayonnant architecture is the thinning of vertical supporting members, the

enlargement of windows, and the combination of the triforium gallery and the clerestory until

walls are largely undifferentiated screens of tracery, mullions (vertical bars of tracery dividing

windows into sections), and glass. Stained glass–formerly deeply colored–became lighter in

Color to increase the visibility of tracery silhouettes and to let more light into the interior. The

Most notable examples of the Rayonnant style are the cathedrals of Reims, Amiens, Bourges,

Chartres, and Beauvais.

The parallel Decorated Gothic style came into being in England with the general use of

elaborate stone window tracery. Supplanting the small, slender, pointed lancet windows of the

early English Gothic style were windows of great width and height, divided by mullions into two

to eight brightly coloured main subdivisions, each of which was further divided by tracery. At

first, this tracery was based on the trefoil and quatrefoil, the arch, and the circle, all of which

were combined to form netlike patterns. Later, tracery was based on the ogee, or S-shaped

curve, which creates flowing, flame like forms. Some of the most outstanding monuments of the

Decorated Gothic style are sections of the cloister (c. 1245-69) of Westminster Abbey; the east

end, or Angel Choir, of Lincoln Cathedral (begun 1256); and the nave and west front of York

Minster (c. 1260-1320).

Late Gothic. In France the Rayonnant style evolved about 1280 into an even more decorative

phase called the Flamboyant style, which lasted until about 1500. In England a development

known as the Perpendicular style lasted from about 1375 to 1500. The most conspicuous

feature of the Flamboyant Gothic style is the dominance in stone window tracery of a flamelike

S-shaped curve.

In the Flamboyant style wall space was reduced to the minimum of supporting vertical shafts to

allow an almost continuous expanse of glass and tracery. Structural logic was obscured by the

virtual covering of the exteriors of buildings with tracery, which often decorated masonry as

well as windows. A profusion of pinnacles, gables, and other details such as subsidiary ribs in

the vaults to form star patterns further complicated the total effect.

By the late Gothic period greater attention was being given to secular buildings. Thus,

Flamboyant Gothic features can be seen in many town halls, guild halls, and even residences.

There were few churches built completely in the Flamboyant style, attractive exceptions being

Notre-Dame d’?pine near Ch?lons-sur-Marne and Saint-Maclou in Rouen. Other important

examples of the style are the Tour de Beurre of Rouen Cathedral and the north spire of

Chartres. Flamboyant Gothic, which eventually became overly ornate, refined, and complicated,

gave way in France to Renaissance forms in the 16th century.

In England the parallel Perpendicular Gothic style was characterized by a predominance of

vertical lines in the stone tracery of windows, an enlargement of windows to great proportions,

and the conversion of the interior stories into a single unified vertical expanse. The typical

Gothic pointed vaults were replaced by fan vaults (fan-shaped clusters of tracery-like ribs

springing from slender columns or from pendant knobs at the centre of the ceiling). Among the

finest examples of the Perpendicular Gothic style are Gloucester Cathedral (14th-15th

centuries) and King’s College Chapel, Cambridge (1446-1515).

e-mail | credits

NOTE: The information on this site is painfully incomplete and not

well-referenced. If you are looking for a good informational site, I strongly

recommend you look elsewhere. This site was never really meant for general

consumption, hence the poor attention to detail and research. It was an

incomplete project which somehow got picked up by the search engines.

Please please please consider looking at other sites, at least until I revise this

site so that it does justice to gothic architecture.

Techniques

There are several distinct techniques, which have been employed in the gothic

Period of architecture although they may not be original to the gothic architects,

The unique combination of all these techniques has made the gothic what it is

Today.

Flying buttress

Although the Romans had been working on

Using buttresses to free up window space, gothic

Architects were the ones who started using flying

Buttresses to relieve walls of the downward and

Outward force of the elaborate stone roofs.

The flying buttress looks like a rib, which sticks

Into, instead of sticking inside, a wall It reinforces

The wall where the wall needs the help most.

Pier

Another Roman tool, piers became common in the gothic style of architecture.

Piers were often attached to flying buttresses or the outside wall, reaching up to

the top of a spire and giving the structure a sense of grandness by extending to

the skies.

Ribbed groin vaults

Ribbed groin vaults were one of the earliest ways of removing stress from the

walls and buttresses. The earlier barrel vault put all the pressure along the

whole vault, while ribbed groin vaults concentrates pressure only where the four

corners of the barrel vaults meet. After this, walls were much less burdened and

vaults could be made of far less heavy materials.

Rose windows

One of the most obvious, yet beautiful

features of the French cathedrals was the

rose window. Circular in shape, the

window has a center, usually filled with the

Virgin Mary or another prominent Christian

figure. French lineage in stained glass

radiates from the center, hence the rose

analogy.

Stained Glass

Stained glass was extremely important to the gothic cathedral.

Holy figures were immortalized in the tall, narrow stained glass

windows which lined the walls of all sorts of cathedrals.

What was important was the lighting that these windows created.

Plenty of light was already flooding in through the windows, but this

light could be manipulated to set a mood story of inside the building.

Instead of using gold windows, which would be the most likely

choice, blues and reds were used to create a subtle, subdued feel

in the cathedral.

Tracery

Tracery was developed mainly in British cathedrals. What it was, was stone

Designs placed inside window frames to ensure more attention was given to the

Windows of the building than the conservatively designed interior walls Tracery

in its later uses made S-shaped ogees which made windows look flame-like

and passionate.

IV THE CENTRAL MIDDLE AGES: AN AGE OF GROWTH

From the 11th century through the 13th century, Europeans remade their world. They revived old cities and built new ones, created universities, reformed the church, waged aggressive wars, and made and unmade powerful kings and emperors. Although still weaker and less prosperous than the Islamic world and less sophisticated than the Byzantine Empire, the West became an important world power.

A Agriculture and the Growth of Towns A1 Changes in Agriculture

From the 10th century through the 12th century, as the invasions of Europe by outside forces ended and the population began to grow, the European countryside was transformed by peasant labor. Farmers made new lands available for cultivation by draining marshes and cutting down forests. Such newly cleared lands were called assarts. The peasants who did this backbreaking labor often gained favorable terms for themselves from their lords in exchange. Many peasants adopted a new, heavy plow that dug deeper furrows and increased crop production. At first these plows were pulled by oxen. Later, with the invention of the horse collar, peasants were able to make use of horses, which were more efficient than oxen. In the course of the 12th century, peasants began to use metal tools and to reinforce their wooden tools and plowshares w

Bibliography

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