ARCHITECTURE. 



that it gradually became applied to all the 

 arches. 



The history of all the other parts of the Gothic 



Fig. 24. 



style is similar ; each is a growth from structural 

 requirement. Thus, the ribs of the vaulting were 

 used in order to carry the weight of the vaults to 



Fig. 25. 



the points prepared to receive it ; the nave piers 

 from the simple column became gradually sub- 

 divided into parts, each shaft bearing on a 

 separate cap a separate portion of the vaulting ; 

 the buttresses were enlarged and developed as 

 they were required to resist the thrust of the groin 

 ribs concentrated on points ; and pinnacles were 

 adopted, to add weight to the buttresses. 



These principles were acted upon in different 

 ways in the different countries of Europe. In 

 Lombardy and the Rhenish provinces, the round 

 arch was retained long after the pointed arch was 

 used in France. 



The full development of Gothic pointed vaulting 

 was first carried out in the royal domain in 

 France about the middle of the twelfth century. 

 The old churches were found unworthy, and new 

 and great designs were formed. The kings, 

 bishops, and people were all united in a general 

 impulse, under which architecture made a great 

 stride, and the pointed style became fully de- 

 veloped. Of this style, the Cathedral of St 

 Denis, founded 1144, is the earliest example. 

 That of Notre-Dame at Paris soon followed; and 

 contemporary with it arose the magnificent cathe- 

 drals of Chartres, Rheims, Amiens, Beauvais, 

 Bourges, and a host pf others. The introduction 

 of painted glass also produced a powerful influence 

 on the architecture of this period, by leading to 

 the enlargement and increase of the windows. 

 This process went on till the whole wall-space of j 

 each bay became absorbed into the window, and 

 the whole clerestory became a splendid wall of ] 



glass. The annexed illustrations (fig. 26 from 

 Notre-Dame, and fig. 27 from Tournay Cathe- 

 dral) explain this progress. We here see the 



Fig. 26. 



Fig. 27. 



early single-arched window of Notre-Dame con- 

 verted, as the style progressed, into the larger 

 traceried windows ; while in the Tournay example 

 nearly the whole wall is cut away, to make room 

 for traceried openings glowing with the richest 

 stained glass. 



The further history of Gothic architecture in 

 France is simply the following out to their 

 furthest limit the principles above indicated. So 

 long as the Gothic architects adhered to these 

 principles, they advanced and improved. When, 

 however, the style had become fully developed 

 and matured (about 1300 A.D.), the spirit of pro- 

 gress died, and before long a process of degeneracy 

 set in. No new features were developed, and in 

 handling the old traditional forms, the architects 

 lost sight of their meaning and use, and indulged 

 in extravagance and caprice, destructive of the 

 original simplicity and repose of the designs. In 

 short, the art became lost in mere cleverness of 

 design and dexterity of execution, and the archi- 

 tect's place was usurped by the freemason. 



It is in the cathedrals of the twelfth and 

 thirteenth centuries above referred to that we find 

 the noblest development of the Gothic style. 



Not only did this style rapidly spread over 

 the whole of France, but it equally rapidly ex- 

 tended to other countries, and took root in some 

 of them, and thus gave rise to many remarkable 

 varieties and beauties of design. In Spain, 

 Belgium, and Germany, Gothic attained great 

 development, giving rise in the last to the great 

 Cathedral of Cologne, the completes! of the Gothic 

 cathedrals of the continent. But in no country 

 of Europe did Gothic take deeper root than in 

 England ; and the development of the style in 

 this country, although not so early or marvellously 

 energetic as in France, was complete in some 

 respects, and was much more marked by origin- 

 ality than in Germany or Spain. 



In 1066, the Normans introduced their round 

 arched style into England ; of this many fine 

 specimens remain, as St Cross, Hants ; Durham 



