GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 



wefe generally enclofed within fquare architraves, the chief arch, which grew into fafliion about the latl-mentioned pe- 

 ornamentg of which were feen in the fpandrels. All this, riod, and lafkd to the downfal of pointed architecture itft-lf 

 Kov. ever, is to be undcrftood with fome exceptions. For in the middle of the fixtecnth century. The fniell Ipeciiriens^ 

 example, bifliop Oliver King erected his cliurch at Batli, ot this, doubtlels, are the above-mentioned roy;il chapel;, 

 about the V'~ar ( joo, in a very finiplc fafhion of pointed ar- With refpedt to the proper denomination of this ftylc, fotnt- 

 titedture, and biibop Fox repaired thepreihytery and cluin- of the learned, as well as the vulgar in general, ilill cfill it. 

 eel of Winclu-llcr catliedral with a challe and talleiul the Gothic, others tlie Saraceniu-, a third clalV, the Norman, 

 elegance. a fourth, the Fnglini, and a fitdi, the pointed. From the 



But the downfal of pointed architeclure in this kingdom wliole ot what has been faid above, it will be readily coir- 

 iiecame inevitable from various caufc.s, chieily, how ever, cl»ided, that the prefent writer conceives the lalt of tlielc 

 from the lofs of its charafters of majefty and awfulnefs, terms to be the beil adapted to the ilyle, as being the molt 

 the neceifary tonfequenec of the deprefTion of its fublime llrittly defcriptive of its characlcrilliciil quality. 

 :ind graceful arch. The deftrnftion of it was complete This article is the abridgment of a much longtr trcatif; 

 at the b.-ginning of the reign of Edivard VI., from which on pointed arcliilecliure, which is Hiortly expeaed to appear 

 period, till the introduftion of the pure Grecian llyle in the f^m the prefo of Mr. Tavlor's Architectural Lilirarv ; m 

 reign of Charles I., a real Gothic, ';r at leait a truly barba- ,vhich treatife manv hillori'cal documents in fupr.ort of t!ie 

 ric llyle took place, conlilling of a confufed medley of all prefent fyltem, and certain plates to illui>rate*it, will brj 



feen. M. 



Gothic BiMe. See Bible, and Akgen-teis Cocfex. 



Gothic CharaSer^ or IVr'iUn^, is a charailer or manner 

 writing, which, in the main, is the fame with the Roman, 



of 



only that it is very full of angles, turns, and bendings, efpe 

 cially at the beginning and ending of each letter. 



The manufcripts in Gothic characters are not very ancient- 

 Ulpiiilas, bhhop of the Goths, was the firft. inventor of the 

 Gothic charafters, or the tiril who compofed the Gothic 

 alphabet, in imitation of the Greek, and the tirll that tranf- 



ihe known itvlcs and orders of llvles, intermixed with globe 

 triangles, pyramids, obeliiks, frets, and other wliimilcal and 

 ugly devices, as may lUU be feen in the fepulchral and other 

 monuments of the period in queftion. 



From what has been faid, it appears that the term 

 Gothic architecture is an improper one, as applied to any 

 fpecies of archltedlure whatfoever ; that the mode of build- 

 ing which prevailed amnngll our ancellors before the con- 

 <juell, called the Saxon ilyle, confifting of round pillars with 

 rude capitals and bafes, and of circular arches, was llriftly 



Roman, beinoi copied, even to its minute ornaments, from '"P"'" , , ^ , . 



, ■ • 1 f T) J 1 • 1 J- n. . u. 1 J^.ted the bible mto the Gothic tonffue. 



coeval origma4s at Rome, and having been nrit taught and r,,, , vj v. j, 



praftifed m tins iiland by Roman mailers ; that this ftyle ^ ^^ W^Xtvi. ufed in the Gothic gofpels are twenty-five ia 



was fucceedtd, before the' middle of the twelfth century, by ""mD>^7, and formed, with flight venations, from the capi- 



a llyle of archltedure perfeftly new, the elfentlal charafter "^'"^ *'* ^"e Greek and Latin alphabet. 



of which is the pointed arch, from which, by a natural pro- As thefe charafters, in which the CaJex Argfxtecs, or 



cefs, the flender duller colum.n, the afpiring cornice or pedi- Gothic verlion of the bible, was \\Titten by Ulphilas, their 



mcnt, the crocketed pinnacle and lofty fpire-, with the other inventor, were derived partly from the Greek and partly 



ornaments mentioned above, aftually grew ; that this ftyle fiom the Latin, Michaelis (Introd, to the N. T.) thinks IC 



was not borrowed from Northern Goths, nor Eallern Sara- natural to afcribe the laid verfion not to the Franks or Ger- 



cens, nor Weftern Moors, nor Southern Italians (for in this mans, but to the Goths, who lived on the borders of the 



ftyle the Italians themfelves were but novices, and not very F):niube ; or in Wallachia, where they at that time refided, 



apt ones), but that it was difcovered in this climate, moll the Latin was ipoken, and their ncarell neighbours were the 



probably by the Englilli Normans, the grcateil people of Greeks. A mixed alphabet, fuch as tliat which is found ia 



the 12th age, and the fondeil of eceleiiailical architecture the Codex Argenteus, is fuch as might reafonably be ex- 



that ever exifled ; that the ftyle was improved by the ioint peeled. Some of the words in this verlion are ftill ufed in the 



efforts of the Normans, Englilh, and French, at a time when Lefier Tartary, the ancient feat of the Goths ; t- ^. fiv'ihan, 



our kings were mailers of the fairell provinces of France, " to die,'' from j-valt, " death,'' a ward that is qeoted by 



and brouglit to its perfeftlon, chiefly by the ingenuity and Buibeck, from the language of the Crlm Tartars. In this 



indullry of the Englilh, during a period in wliicli Englai d verlion, many words are adopted immediately from the 



was in prolperity by her conquells, and France in defola- 

 tion from her defeats ; that there are three dhtliict orders in 

 this ilyle, ll:e members and proportions of which can be dlf- 

 tinclly pointed out by profeffional men, (fuch as the author 

 of the " Ancient Architecl.ure of England") with almoil as 



Greek; i>/-s. o.~-y, aita, father; ams, iyy-, the {houlder, 

 where even the j is retained from the Greek termination, &c. 

 Hence it is inferred, that the dialeft, in which fuch word.o. 

 occur, was that of a nation that lived in the neighbourhood 

 of the Greeks. This verlion has alfo Sclavonlan word'?, fuch 



much accuracy as thofe of tiie nve Grecian orders ; on which as_/i;n, a mafter, which prove it to have been written in the 

 itibiccl it may be obferved, that thefe Grecian orders were dialedl of a nation that bordered on Sarmatia. The fame 

 praftifed long before tlseir members and proportions were ac- niay be faid of many Latin words : Inch as anacumhjan, ac- 

 curately laiddov.-n, that the charatleriltic of the firft order is cumbere, to fit at table, mililondans, mllltantes, foldiers, agha, 

 the acute arch, and that the period. of its duration may, in water, &c. This argument is the more decifive, v.'ht n we 

 ■A general way, be faid to have lafted from the middle of the confider, that the Goths, in the time of Ulphilas (fee his 

 twelfth to tlie end of the thirteenth century : of this order, biographical article,) lived in Wallachia, a country in which 



Lincoln, Beverley, and Sallibury churches are examples ; 

 that the chief characterlftic of the fecond order, is the per- 

 fecl cr equilateral aich, the reign of which was from the 

 *nd of the thirteenth, till after the middle of the fifteenth 

 ^ntur)-, to which order York Mlnller, and the naves of 

 Winciieiler and Canterbury cathedrals belong ; and that 

 •ftaallf, the eharailerjllic of the third order is tlie obtufe 



2 



Roman colonies had been planted, and where a corrupt Latin 

 is fpoken at this very day. Ulphilas himfelf lived in Wal- 

 lachia, and had it in his power at leall to make ufe of Latin 

 letters, as well as thofe of the Greeks, with whom he had 

 continual intercourfe. See Gothic Language. 



The Runic charadlers are alfo frequently called Gothic 

 characlers. See Mabillon, De Re Diplomat, lib. i. cap. 2. 



Bui 



