184 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOE. 



from the original ground-plan 

 arose, another and more charac- 

 teristic design being adopted. 

 The form of the basilica fre- 

 quently gave place to that 

 which was the accepted symbol 

 of the Christian religion, and 

 instead of the plain parallelo- 

 gram, the figure of the cross 

 gradually became used, in one 

 or other of its variations. Nor 

 did this involve a very great 

 alteration of the custom pre- 

 viously in vogue. The basilicce 

 frequently had entrances at the 

 side, and merely by the throw- 

 ing out of these entrances to 

 the right and to the left, the 

 Christian symbol was at once 

 developed. The plan was avail- 

 able, and probably sometimes 

 adopted, with regard to buildings 

 already in existence, as it made 

 them suitably distinctive in 

 character and removed them 

 from heathen associations. But 

 it also commended itself at once 

 for future adoption ; and from 

 the early times of which we are 

 speaking down to the present 

 day, it has continued to prevail 

 as one great characteristic of 

 the architecture of the Christian 

 Church. 



We come, then, here to the second stage in its early history, 

 when one or other of the forms known as the Latin and the 

 Greek cross whichever might be most convenient in planning 



SAXON TOWER AT EARI/S BARTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 



the Byzantine style. In this 

 style we still find as a chief 

 feature the Roman arch applied 

 in a variety of ways, the dome- 

 itself being simply this arch, 

 in a perfect form, used as the 

 crowning work of the structure. 

 Where it was used, the church 

 itself generally took the form 

 of the Greek cross, which was 

 better calculated to support the 

 weight of the cupola. On the 

 other hand, in the architecture 

 of the West, where the flat 

 square tower, afterwards deve- 

 loped into the steeple, prevailed 

 as the finishing-point, the ori- 

 ginal form of the Latin cross 

 was retained, and this is there- 

 fore the general characteristic- 

 of the ground-plan of the 

 churches of Western Europe. 



The nations of the West gra- 

 dually departed from the Ro- 

 manesque style of architecture, 

 and struck out for themselves a 

 manner and style of their own, 

 which, although it still con- 

 tained some of the Romanesque 

 features, was nevertheless dif- 

 ferent in character, and gra- 

 dually became more and more 

 so. In this way the great style 

 known as the Gothic developed 



itself between the sixth century and the twelfth, when it became 

 well defined and generally adopted. Whilst it was attaining its 

 full development, there arose those magnificent cathedrals, min- 



a particular edifice was usually employed in a building de- sters, and abbeys, of which our own land, as well as France and 



signed for Christian 

 worship. We shall 

 find these forms 

 in the most elabo- 

 rate structures 

 of which Christian 

 architecture can 

 boast. 



As time wore on, 

 the exterior of these 

 cruciform churches 

 became adornedwith 

 a dome, a tower, or 

 a steeple, at the 

 point where th e lines 

 of the cross inter- 

 sect each other. The 

 dome, however, was 

 the characteristic of 

 the architecture of 

 Eastern Europe, 

 which acquired the 

 name Byzantine 

 from its having been 

 carried to great per- 

 fection in Byzan- 

 tium (or Constanti- 

 nople), the capital 

 of the Eastern Em- 

 pire. The church of 

 St. Sophia, which 

 was built in its pre- 

 sent form early in 

 the sixth century, 

 and converted into 

 a mosque after the 

 capture of Constan- 

 tinople by the Turks, 

 was and is the most 

 perfect example of 



NORMAN DOORWAY, HAILES CHURCH, NORFOLK. 



Germany, possesses- 

 so many noble ex- 

 amples. The wealth- 

 lavished on their 

 construction, the 

 grandeur of their 

 design, with the pa- 

 tient skill bestowed. 

 on all parts of the 

 workmanship, as 

 well as its enduring 

 character, are strik- 

 ing proofs of the 

 spirit of reverential 

 piety which existed; 

 in what is now con- 

 sidered a compa- 

 ratively barbarous- 

 age. 



The term Gothic, 

 as applied to the 

 architecture of the 

 Middle Ages, was 

 first used as one of 

 reproach or con- 

 tempt, synonymous: 

 with barbarous, by 

 the architects who,, 

 in the sixteenth 

 century, commenced' 

 a revival (known as 

 the Renaissance) of 

 the classical styles, 

 and their adapta- 

 tion to modern uses. 

 But it has long lost 

 this signification, 

 a more discriminat- 

 ing criticism having 

 produced a better 



