The rise of the Gothic form began in the mid 12thcentury. Gothic cathedrals, often taking decades to construct, began to appear in cities and towns throughout Europe, although French cathedrals likeAmiens and Notre Dame inParisare some of the finest and most spectacular of these great houses of worship. Gothic cathedrals served many purposes beyond their chief function as seats of local bishops and archbishops. Gothic cathedrals were the visual representation of God’s kingdom and, as such, provided spiritual education to the illiterate masses. They also functioned as the hub of town commerce and characterized civic pride. Gothic cathedrals are still used as active churches today, allowing Christians to worship and celebrate their faith amidst the supreme expression of Medieval piety.
Gothic architecture changed during the three phases:
early Gothic (late 12th and early 13th centuries in France (Notre-Dame in Paris and the Carthes Cathedral),
classical Gothic peak around 1220 (Reims Cathedral and Cathedral in Amiens)
late Gothic (14th and 1st decades of 15th century throughout Europe).
Gothic architectureor style(lat: Gothicus: belonging to Goths) was originally concealed by the name Giorgio Vasari who wanted to say that, from the point of view of the Italian Renaissance, that style was barbaric.
During the Middle Ages, most Europeans were illiterate peasants. Their daily lives revolved around the Church, from when they arose in the morning until sunset. Life on earth was merely a brief sojourn in the overall working of God’s plan. This message was constantly reinforced by the sculptures, stained glass windows, relics, and other adornments found in Gothic cathedrals.
Depictions of the saints and Apostles, Old and New Testament stories, and Church doctrine like the final judgment comprised the images on the stained glass windows as well as outdoor and indoor sculptures and carvings. Alfons Dierick, in his book on the windows at Chartres Cathedral, states that “the faithful ‘read’ the stained glass windows.”
Additionally, the cathedral as a total structure was a microcosm of God’s universal kingdom and the cosmology of Medieval theology. Dierick comments that the Gothic cathedral was an “image of light, strength and repose, symbolic of the faith of the Middle Ages.” In most cases, cathedrals were dedicated to “our lady,” the Virgin Mary depicted as both the Queen of Heaven as well as the most exalted of females, chosen to be the mother of Christ.
Still today European cathedrals serve as market areas, their squares frequently filled with vendors. This is most evident in November and December when Christmas markets appear in many cities and towns under the shadows of cathedral spires. The cathedral was tied to town and city revenue in many ways during the Middle Ages.
All great cathedrals displayed holy relics. Because pilgrimage was a key element of Medieval religious practices, churches that held important relics became key destinations, bringing in thousands of pilgrims that spent money in the town. In 1087, merchants from the Italian city ofBariforcibly stole the remains of St. Nicholas of Myra inAsia Minor. This action increased the popularity and prosperity ofBari.
Cathedral chapters, charged with the cathedral revenues, often held financial stakes in local merchant enterprises. This was true atAmiensandCologneas well as a number of other cathedral towns.
Other Benefits of Gothic Cathedrals
Basilica of St Denis. Photo credited by Michael Streich
The draw of Gothic cathedrals came from their immensity as well as their interior beauty, enhanced by the myriad of stained glass windows, an art that can be traced to St. Denis inParisin 1146 and the brilliant planning and facilitation of the Abbot Suger. Beyond the spiritual education of peasants and towns folk, cathedrals, like Notre Dame de Paris, became associated with some of the earliest universities.
Cathedral “schools” had been around as early as Charlemagne, who established a school run by English Benedictines at the Aachen Cathedral,Germany’s first cathedral. But in the High Middle Ages, early universities often began as an extension of cathedral ministries, such as the University atParis.
Gothic cathedrals played a significant role in the urban, social, and economic development of European towns and cities. They still stand today and function as active churches.
Sources:
Rosalind and Christopher Brooke,Popular Religion in the Middle Ages:Western Europe1000-1300(Thames and Hudson, 1984)
It is characterized by vertical proportions, pointed arches, external buttressing, and asymmetry. At great gothic cathedrals like Chartres in France and Salisbury in England, pointed arches allowed for heavy stone ceiling vaults despite the fact that the walls were pierced for huge stained-glass windows.
Gothic cathedrals were usually very tall. They featured a number of key elements, such as flying buttresses, complex ribbed vaults, pointed arches, large glass windows, window tracery, and other ornamentation, rose windows, stained glass, spiers, and towers.
Gothic churches could achieve new heights with a lightness and a gracefulness often absent from sturdy Romanesque structures. Some of the key architectural components integral to the Gothic form are pointed arches, flying buttresses, tri-portal west façades, rib vaults, and of course, rose windows.
The increased height of Gothic cathedrals was possible because of technical innovations in the construction of the pointed arch which distributed weight more evenly.
To create all of these beautiful characteristics, Gothic architecture relied on three features: pointed arches, rib vaults, and flying buttresses. None of them were completely new innovations, but they had never before been regularly used together and developed to their full potential.
In doing so, a new architectural style emerged that emphasized verticality and 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.
Gothic originally meant "having to do with the Goths or their language," but its meaning eventually came to encompass all the qualities associated with Germanic culture, especially the Germanic culture dominant during the medieval period after the fall of Rome.
In the 12th–13th century, feats of engineering permitted increasingly gigantic buildings. The rib vault, flying buttress, and pointed (Gothic) arch were used as solutions to the problem of building a very tall structure while preserving as much natural light as possible.
Abbeys were the churches attached to monasteries. Many smaller parish churches were also built in the Gothic style. The appearance of the great cathedrals in the 12th century was a response to the dramatic increase of population and wealth in some parts of Europe and the need for larger and more imposing buildings.
Gothic literature is a genre of fiction that combines romance and dark elements to produce mystery, suspense, terror, horror and the supernatural. According to David H. Richter, settings were framed to take place at "...ruinous castles, gloomy churchyards, claustrophobic monasteries, and lonely mountain roads".
A dark, sometimes morbid, fashion and style of dress, typical gothic fashion includes black dyed hair and black clothes. Both male and female goths can wear dark eyeliner, dark nail polish and lipstick (most often black), and dramatic makeup. Styles are often borrowed from the Elizabethans and Victorians.
Expert-Verified Answer. Gothic-style Cathedral architecture includes distinctive features such as pointed arches, ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, and extensive use of stained-glass windows.
They were particularly important in the High Gothic cathedrals, most famously in Chartres Cathedral. Their function was to fill the interior with a mystical colored light, representing the Holy Spirit, and also to illustrate the stories of the Bible for the large majority of the congregation who could not read.
The names of the master masons of Early Gothic architecture are sometimes unknown, but later master masons, such as Godwin Gretysd, builder of Westminster Abbey for King Edward the Confessor, and Pierre de Montreuil, who worked on Notre-Dame de Paris and the Abbey of Saint-Denis, became very prominent.
The most fundamental element of the Gothic style of architecture is the pointed arch, which was likely borrowed from Islamic architecture that would have been seen in Spain at this time. The pointed arch relieved some of the thrust, and therefore, the stress on other structural elements.
Gothic architecture, on the other hand, focused on height and light—despite being constructed from heavy stone, Gothic cathedrals seem to defy the laws of gravity. Common traits include pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses, all of which enabled the structures to be built taller and stronger.
An Atmosphere of Mystery and Suspense: The characters typically are plagued by a threatening feeling, a fear enhanced by the unknown. Often the plot itself is built around a mystery, such as unknown parentage, a disappearance, or some other inexplicable event.
Introduction: My name is Kareem Mueller DO, I am a vivacious, super, thoughtful, excited, handsome, beautiful, combative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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Basilica of St Denis. Photo credited by Michael Streich