Chapter XVIII: Act 1898: the official principal of the archbishop is required to (7)

The plans of the larger churches show greater development in the
length of choir, transept and nave than was usual in Normandy. Many
follow the type of choir plan generally represented in the
contemporary churches of Normandy which have survived--a central apse,
flanked by an apse terminating each aisle, but the two bays usual in
the Norman churches frequently became four in England. The Confessor's
church of Westminster seems to have had an ambulatory with radiating
chapels, a plan which, although rare in the surviving churches of
Normandy, was adopted in several of the more important English
churches (St Augustine's, Canterbury; Winchester; Worcester;
Gloucester; Bury St Edmunds; Norwich; Tewkesbury). Some of these have
great vaulted crypts extending under the choir and its aisles. The
transept, generally of considerable length, has one or more apsidal
chapels on the east side of each arm, or an eastern aisle, or even (as
at Winchester and Ely) both eastern and western aisles. The
lantern-tower over the crossing was a characteristic feature in
England, as in Normandy. Frequently the nave was of great length,
extending to twelve bays at Winchester, thirteen at Ely, and fourteen
at Norwich. Some churches, as Ely, Bury St Edmunds, and later
Peterborough (Plate VIII., fig. 81), show a western transept, with
corresponding development of the west front. Two western towers are
most usual, but Ely (Plate II., fig. 67), and originally Winchester,
had the single western tower, a survival from pre-Conquest times,
which is found also in numberless parish churches. In their general
design, the Norman churches show great skill in composition, and in
the logical expression of structure, and sure grasp of the problems to
be solved. The subordination of arches (arches built in rings, or
orders, recessed one within the other) was carried further than in
other Romanesque schools, and with this went the subordination of the
pier, planned with a shaft to receive each order of the semicircular
arch. Sometimes the shafted piers of the great arcades alternate with
cylindrical (or later with octagonal) pillars; sometimes, as at
Gloucester and Tewkesbury, all the pillars are cylindrical. The
triforium usually has a single wide semicircular arched opening,
enclosing two or more minor semicircular arches springing from
detached shafts. Usually the aisle wall is carried up to form a
complete triforium storey, unvaulted, and lighted by windows in the
outer wall. The clerestory has a single window in each bay, with a
wall passage between the window and an internal arcade, usually of
three semicircular arches on shafts, the central arch being wider than
the side arches. Most frequently naves and transepts were unvaulted,
and finished with wood ceilings, while the aisles were covered with
groined vaults of rubble, on transverse arches. The general design of
the greater churches indicates, however, that the Norman builders were
aiming at a completely vaulted structure. The half-barrel vault over
the triforium of Gloucester, and the transverse arches over the
triforium of Chichester, seem to be constructed to afford the
necessary abutment to vaults over the choir, such indeed as still
exist over some choirs in Normandy built before the end of the 11th
century. The problem was only successfully solved by the introduction
of the diagonal rib, which completed the structural membering of the
vault. Durham, begun in 1093 (fig. 42), is the earliest example in
England of this important innovation, and it precedes by some quarter
of a century the earliest ribbed vaults of the Ile-de-France. The
abutting arches under the roof of its triforium are actually
rudimentary flying-buttresses, and we have here all the essential
elements of Gothic architecture, except the pointed arch, which is
only systematically used in English vaulted construction from about
the middle of the 12th century. The decorative forms of the earlier
buildings of the Norman school are severely simple. Arches, which at
first were usually unmoulded, soon received effective mouldings of
rolls and hollows, continuing a tradition of the latest pre-Conquest
architecture. Two types of capitals are found in the earlier buildings
after the Conquest; the volute capital, descended from the Corinthian,
which was the normal type in Normandy; and the cubic or cushion
capital, formed by the penetration of a segment of a sphere, or
segments of cones, with a cube, a type which, appearing earlier in
England than in Normandy, was doubtless derived from pre-Conquest
models, and in the 12th century developed into the scalloped capital.
The decoration of wall-surfaces by arcades, frequently of intersecting
semicircular arches, is characteristic of the Norman school. Windows
are splayed in the interior, and in the more important buildings are
enriched with shafts and moulded arches. Ornamentation is frequently
concentrated on the doorways, which are often of many orders, with a
shaft under each order. Based chiefly on geometric forms, such as the
chevron or zigzag, star, fret and cable, the decoration becomes richer
and more refined as the 12th century advances, though in sculpture the
Norman was less advanced than some other Romanesque schools.

From Rickman's _Styles of Architecture_, by permission of Parker &
Co.]

The foregoing generalization applies more particularly to the greater
churches, but numberless parish churches present similar
characteristics. Chancels are sometimes apsidal, but by far the most
prevalent type of plan is the aisleless oblong nave and square-ended
chancel, with or without a western tower. Other types of aisleless
plans are the cruciform church with central tower, or simply nave and
chancel with central tower. Even where subsequent alterations and
rebuildings have destroyed almost everything, the influence of these
plans on the later work is the key to a right understanding of the
history of the greater number of English medieval churches.

_12th Century (second half)._--The second half of the 12th century is the period of transition _par excellence_--of transition from Romanesque to Gothic. The school of the Ile-de-France, which up to c. 1120 was one of the most backward of the Romanesque schools, had made enormous progress when the ambulatory of Suger's church of Saint-Denis was built (1140-1144), and thenceforth it continued to lead the way. There is no doubt that, from the middle of the 12th century, English architecture was continuously influenced by the Ile-de-France, for the most part through Normandy, but it must be considered to be a development on parallel lines, with strongly marked characteristics of its own, and not merely as an importation of forms already developed elsewhere. At the same time, the influence of the Cistercian revival was considerable, not so much in the introduction of foreign forms as in the direction of simplicity and severity, which acted as a valuable check to the prevalent tendency to exaggerate the importance of surface decoration.

The substitution of the square east-end for the apse in the plans of
the greater churches, already effected at Romsey, was furthered by the
simple plans of the Cistercian churches. The altar spaces provided by
the radiating chapels of the French chevet were in England obtained by
returning the aisles across the square east-end of the choir, or by an
eastern transept. The latter occurs first here in "the glorious choir
of Conrad" of the beginning of the 12th century at Canterbury which
affords also the first example of the eastward extension of the choir
which became so characteristic a feature of English planning. The
reconstruction of Conrad's choir after the fire of 1174 led to a
further extension eastward with the eastern chapel which was adopted
in many of the greater churches, either in the form of a lower
building, sometimes of three spans eastward of the east gable or of an
extension of the choir itself to its full height. The work of William
of Sens at Canterbury (1175-1178) was naturally more French in
character than other contemporary works in England, but the work of
his successor, William the Englishman (1179-1184) shows the beginnings
of what became the characteristically English manner of the 13th
century.

The second half of the 12th century was a period of rapid development
of architectural forms in the direction of increased elegance and
refinement. The pointed arch employed at first for the arches of
construction entirely superseded the semicircular arch in doorways,
windows and arcades by the end of the century and its adoption finally
solved the problem of vaulted construction. The abutting arches under
the triforium roofs of the earlier churches were developed into flying
buttresses above the roofs springing from buttresses of increased
projection and weighted by pinnacles. Mouldings became more graceful
and subtle in their profiles. Capitals reverted to the volute type,
transformed and refined. The massive Romanesque pier was gradually
developed into the lighter Gothic pier in which detached shafts were
extensively adopted. The use of Purbeck marble for these shafts must
be considered in relation to the painted decoration of the wall
surfaces which although now almost entirely lost was an important
factor in the internal effect.

_13th Century_ (_first half_).--The last decade of the 12th century marks the achievement of a fully developed Gothic style, with strongly marked national individuality. During the 13th century, English Gothic follows the same general course of evolution as that of northern France, but the parallelism is less close than in the preceding century.

St Hugh's choir at Lincoln (begun 1192) had indeed an apse, with ambulatory and radiating chapels though its plan does not appear to have been controlled by the vaulting as in the French chevets and what there is of French influence seems to have come rather through Canterbury than by a more direct route. This choir has the eastern transept which characterizes several of the greater churches of the first half of the 13th century--Salisbury (fig 43), Beverley, Worcester, Rochester, Southwell. The square eastern termination, the less ambitious height, and the comparatively simple buttress-system combine to give the English Gothic cathedral an air of greater repose than is found in the magnificent triumphs of French Gothic art. In its structural system, too, English Gothic retained something of the Romanesque treatment of wall surface, the suppression of the wall and the concentration of the masonry in the pier was never carried so far as in the complete Gothic of France. The general tendency during the 13th century, as in the 12th, was in the direction of increased lightness and elegance. The employment of detached shafts and the extensive use of marble (generally Purbeck) for these shafts is a distinguishing feature of the first half of the century. The vaulting system is fully developed, the most usual form is the simple quadripartite but the tendency to introduce additional ribs (tiercerons) and ridge ribs already makes its appearance in the nave of Lincoln and the presbytery of Ely (Plate VIII., fig. 82) to be yet further developed in the second half of the century. Capitals are either simply moulded an elaboration of the plain bell capitals of the latter part of the 12th century, or finely sculptured, with conventional or stiff leaved, foliage of the crocket type. The use of the circular abacus begun in the preceding century entirely supersedes the square abacus which was retained in France. Mouldings are profiled with great refinement, the alternation of rounds and hollows producing effective contrasts of light and shade, and the far more complicated profiles of arch mouldings provide another feature which distinguishes English work of this period from French. Windows of single pointed lights the so called "lancet," though frequently by no means sharply pointed are the prevalent type, grouped in pairs triplets &c. and arranged in tiers in the large gables or sometimes with only a single group of tall lights, like the "five sisters" of the north transept of York. Few works are more admirably designed than some of the towers of this period. Probably the greatest excellence ever attained in English art of the 13th century was reached in the great Yorkshire abbeys, for purity of general design excellence of construction, and beauty of detail, they are unsurpassed by the work of any other period.

_13th Century_ (_second half_).--The grouping together of "lancet" windows, the piercing of the wall above them with foiled circles, and the combination of the whole under an enclosing arch, soon led to the introduction of tracery, for which the design of earlier triforium arcades had also afforded a suggestion.

Bar-tracery appears just before the middle of the 13th century, and
the great tracery window filling the whole width of a bay, or the
entire gable end, soon becomes a most characteristic feature. The
earlier tracery windows show only simple geometrical forms, foiled
arches to the heads of the lights and foiled circles above, of which
the abbey church and the chapter houses of Westminster and Salisbury
afford most beautiful examples. In some particulars, such as its
chevet plan and its comparatively great height, Westminster approaches
more nearly to the French type than other English churches of the 13th
century, but its details are characteristically English and of great
beauty. In the last quarter of the century, pointed trefoils or
quatrefoils are largely used in tracery, and the foliations frequently
form the lines of the tracery, without enclosing circles. Contemporary
with this change is the gradual absorption of the triforium into the
clerestory, of which Southwell and Pershore are precocious examples.
Contemporary also was the adoption of an excessively naturalistic type
of foliage. The art of masonry and stone cutting was rapidly
developed. The detached shaft, always structurally weak, was abandoned
for the pier with engaged shafts separated by mouldings. The mouldings
of arches become less deeply undercut, and the greater use of the
fillet tends to give a more liney effect. The whole practice of art
was growing more scholarly, perhaps but at the same time it was more
conscious, and the cleverness of the mason was almost as often
suggested as the noble character of his work.

_14th Century_ (_first half_).--The juxtaposition of the foliations without enclosing circles in tracery windows produced curves of contraflexure, which led insensibly to the complete substitution of flowing lines for geometrical forms in tracery.

Flowing tracery makes its appearance in England about 1310, and lasts
some fifty years. Up to the end of the 13th century, window tracery
had developed in France and England on parallel lines though the
English work was always slightly behind France in point of date. All
this is changed with the adoption of flowing tracery in England its
development was purely national, and owed nothing to France. Indeed,
the French flamboyant only makes its appearance at the time when
flowing tracery was being abandoned in England. Not only window
traceries, but mouldings, carvings and other details are changed in
character. The ogee form is used in arches in wall arcades of great
beauty and elaboration, as in the Lady chapel at Ely, and in the
canopies of tombs, such as the magnificent Percy tomb at Beverley.
Niches and arcades are richly ornamented, and small decorative
buttresses are used in the jambs of doorways, windows and niches. The
moulded capital is still used, along with the capital with a
continuous convex band of wavy foliage. Many of the most beautiful
English towers and spires date from this period, the work of which is
perhaps seen at its best in the parish churches of south Lincolnshire.

_From Middle of 14th Century._--The over-elaboration of flowing tracery inevitably led to a reaction. The beauty of the lines of the tracery had controlled everything, and the resulting forms of the openings, which presented serious difficulties for the glass painter, had been a secondary consideration. Hence an endeavour to return to a simpler and more dignified, if more mechanical, style of building. The splendid exuberance of the earlier 14th century style gave way to the introduction of vigorous, straight, vertical and horizontal lines.

The beginnings of the new manner are to be seen in the south transept
of Gloucester before 1337. After the great interruption of building
works caused by the Black Death of 1349 and its recurrence in
following years, the so-called "Perpendicular" style became general
all over the country. The preference for straight in place of flowing
lines became more and more developed. Doorways and arches were
enclosed within well-defined square outlines; walls were decorated by
panelling in rectangular divisions; vertical lines were emphasized by
the addition of pinnacles, and buttresses were used as mere
decorations, while horizontal lines were multiplied in string-courses,
parapets and window transoms. Capitals were frequently omitted, and
the mouldings of arches were continued down the piers. The use of the
depressed "four-centred" arch became common. Vaulting, which had
already been enriched by the multiplication of ribs, was further
complicated by cross-ribs (liernes), subdividing the simple spaces
naturally produced by the intersection of necessary ribs into panels;
these, again, were filled with tracery. The fan-vault was developed by
giving to all the ribs the same curvature; the outline of the fan is
bounded by a horizontal circular rib, and its effect is that of a
solid of revolution upon whose surface panels are sunk. The cloister
of Gloucester presents the earliest and perhaps the most beautiful
example. Finally, the builders displayed their mechanical skill by
introducing pendants, as in Henry VII.'s chapel at Westminster. This
latest period of English Gothic was a purely national development of
which it has been too much the fashion to speak disparagingly; for it
is futile to call such works as the nave of Winchester or the choir
and Lady-chapel of Gloucester "debased." Perhaps the worst that can be
said of this period is that there was too great a love of display, and
too much mechanical repetition, but it is none the less true that it
is to the 15th century that a very large number of English parish
churches owe their fine effect. East Anglia and Somersetshire possess
some of the choicest examples, and few things can be more beautiful
than the central towers of Gloucester and Canterbury, and the towers
of the Somersetshire churches. The open timber roofs, as, for
instance, those of the East Anglian churches, are superb, while many
of the churches of this period are still full of interesting furniture
and decoration. Finally, a word must be said of the wealth of
interesting examples of domestic architecture, which yet count among
the ornaments of the country.

After the middle of the 16th century the practice of Gothic
architecture virtually died out, though traces of its influence,
especially in rural districts, were hardly lost until the end of the
17th century. Good, sound, solid and simple forms, well constructed by
men who respected themselves and their work, and did not build only
for the passing hour, were still popular and general, so that the
vernacular architecture to a late period was often good and never
absolutely uninteresting.

_Scotland._--A few words will suffice for Scottish and Irish
architecture, since the development in these countries followed much
the same course of change as in England.

The earliest ecclesiastical structures which still survive in Scotland
follow the same general type as those of Ireland. The monastic
foundations of Queen Margaret and her sons introduced into Scotland
the Norman manner then universal in England. The best examples, such
as the nave of Dunfermline, which is an obvious inspiration from
Durham, Kelso of the later 12th century, and the parish churches of
Dalmeny and Leuchars, present the same characteristics as are found in
English churches of somewhat earlier dates than the buildings in
question, and some Romanesque forms survive to a later period than in
England. In the 13th century, too, the style of the Scottish churches
corresponds very closely with that of England, though the details are
generally simpler, and the structures are smaller. It is naturally
allied most closely with the north of England, where Cistercian
influence in the direction of simplicity and severity had been
exercised with the best results. The transept of Dryburgh, the choir
and crypt of Glasgow cathedral, the nave of Dunblane, the choir of
Brechin, and later Elgin cathedral, exhibit the style at its purest
and best. The disturbed condition of the country during the 14th
century was unfavourable to architecture, and when building revived at
the beginning of the 15th century its style became more national.
During the first half of the 15th century, it shows a certain
borrowing from English architecture of the flowing-tracery period.
Later, many features are borrowed both from England and France, and
architecture develops in picturesque and interesting fashion. Melrose
is one of the most characteristic, as it certainly is one of the most
charming of Scottish buildings; its earlier parts bear a close
resemblance to the earlier 14th-century work at York, while its later
parts show more similarity to English "Perpendicular" than is common
in Scotland. One of the most characteristic features of Scottish
architecture in the 15th century is the pointed barrel vault, which
directly supports the stone flagged roof. French influence is seen in
the employment of the polygonal apse for the termination of choirs,
and in some approaches to Flamboyant tracery. The details of the later
Gothic churches have but slight connexion either with France or
England, and show a curious revival of earlier motives. The
semicircular arch is in frequent use, and the "nail-head" and
"dog-tooth" ornament, as well as the use of detached shafts, are
revived. One of the most remarkable buildings of the 15th century in
Scotland is the collegiate church of Roslin, which has a pointed
barrel vault over its choir, with transverse barrel vaults over the
aisles, and is distinguished by the extreme richness of its
decoration.

The domestic remains in Scotland are full of picturesque beauty and
magnificence. They are a distinctly national class of buildings of
great solidity, and much was sacrificed by their builders to the
genius of the picturesque. They can only be classed with the latest
Gothic buildings of other countries, but the mode of design shown in
them lasted much later than the late Gothic style did in England. The
vast height to which their walls were carried, the picturesque use
made of circular towers, the freedom with which buildings were planned
at various angles of contact to each other, and the general simplicity
of the ordinary wall, are their most distinct characteristics.

_Ireland._--The chief interest of the medieval architecture of Ireland
belongs to the buildings which were erected before the English
conquest of the 12th century. The early monastic settlements seem to
have resembled the primitive Celtic fortresses, and consisted of a
series of huts or cells, surrounded by an enclosing wall. The
so-called "bee-hive" cell, which goes back to pre-Christian times, was
built of rough stone rubble without mortar, and roofed in the same
manner by corbelling over the courses of masonry. Some of these were
certainly dwellings, but others were oratories. The largest of those
in Skellig Michael is four-sided, and from this type the stone-roofed
church of oblong plan was developed. The later type, with oblong nave
and small square-ended chancel, retained much of the character of
these primitive structures, and their barrel vaults were sometimes
independent of the stone roof-covering, a system which lasted into the
12th and 13th centuries. A certain megalithic character, and the
inclined jambs of doorway openings, are marked features of these early
churches. The round towers so frequently associated with them are
believed to be not earlier than the 9th century. Before the
introduction of Norman forms, Ireland possessed a Romanesque style of
her own, characterized by the survival of horizontal forms and their
incorporation into the round-arched style, the retention of the
inclined jambs of doorways, rich surface decoration, and the use of
certain ornamental motives of earlier Celtic origin. King Cormac's
chapel at Cashel is one of the best examples of the imported Norman
manner of the 12th century, and here we find much of the influence of
the earlier native style. The English conquest may be said to have
been the introduction to Ireland of Gothic art, and it was the local
variety of western England and south Wales which the conquerors
introduced. Among the buildings erected by the English in Ireland,
Kilkenny cathedral and the two 13th-century cathedrals of
Dublin--Christ Church and St Patrick's--are the most remarkable, but
there are many others. Their style is most plainly that of the English
conqueror, with no concession to, or consideration of, earlier Irish
forms of art. The result of the conquest was that the native style of
construction was never applied to large buildings, though it did not
at once disappear, as is witnessed by the church St Doulough near
Malahide, which appears to be a 14th-century building. The
characteristic features of later medieval Irish buildings, such as the
stepped battlements, the retention of flowing lines in the tracery,
and the peculiar treatment of crockets, are matters of no great
importance in the history of architecture, and indeed it is hardly to
be expected that a country with so stormy a history could have given
rise to any systematic developments. Of the monastic remains those of
the friaries are the most numerous, Ireland having many more friars'
churches to show than England, but such peculiarities as they possess
belong rather to the order than to any local influences. (J. Bn.)

ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN GERMANY

With the exception of the church built at Treves (Trier) by the
empress Helena, of which small portions can still be traced in the
cathedral, there are no remains of earlier date than the tomb-house
built by Charlemagne at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), which, though much
restored in the 19th century, is still in good preservation. It
consists (fig. 44) of an octagonal domed hall surrounded by aisles in
two storeys, both vaulted; externally the structure is a polygon of
sixteen sides, about 105 ft. in diameter, and it was preceded by a
porch flanked by turrets. It is thought to have been copied from S.
Vitale at Ravenna, but there are many essential differences. The same
design was repeated at Ottmarsheim and Essen, and a simpler version
exists at Nijmwegen in the Netherlands, also built by Charlemagne.
Although no remains exist of the monastery of St Gall in Switzerland
(see ABBEY), built in the beginning of the 9th century, a valuable
manuscript plan was found in the 17th century, in its library, which
would seem to have been a design for a complete monastery. It
contains features which are peculiar to the early German churches and
are rarely found elsewhere, and is therefore of considerable interest,
suggesting that some of the accessories of a monastery, supposed to
have been the result of subsequent development, were all clearly set
forth at this early period. The plan shows an eastern apse with a
crypt, and a choir in front; a western apse, nave and aisles, with a
series of altars down the latter; and on the west side, but detached
from the apse, two circular towers with staircases in them.
Unfortunately there are no churches remaining of the same date from
which we might judge how far these arrangements were followed; but
there are three early churches in the island of Reichenau on the Lake
of Constance, in one of which, Mittelzell, is a western apse with
staircases (here built up into a central tower), nave, and aisles with
altars at the side between every window. The eastern portion has been
rebuilt. At Oberzell, at the south end of the island, is a vaulted
crypt, which dates from the end of the 10th century. In the third and
much smaller church, Unterzell, there was no crypt, but three eastern
apses and a western apse, which was destroyed when the present nave
was built. At Gernrode in the Harz is a church with western and
eastern apses with vaulted crypts underneath (one of which dates from
960 when the church was founded), and circular towers with staircases
in them on either side of the western apse. The church was completed
about a century later. In the arcade between the nave and aisles piers
alternate with the columns. Alternating piers are found also in
Quedlinburg (the crypt of which dates from 936 and the church above
about 1030) and many other early churches. Western apses exist at
Drubeck, Ilbenstadt, Treves, Huyseberg, St Michael and St Godehard at
Hildesheim, Mainz, the Obermunster at Regensburg, Laach, Worms, and at
a later date at Naumbergand Bamberg, showing that it was a feature
generally accepted in early and late periods. It has, however, one
great defect, that of depriving the west end of the church of those
magnificent porches which are the glory of the churches of France, the
cathedral of Spires (Speyer), the church at Limburg near Durkheim, the
cathedrals of Erfurt and Regensburg, being the few examples where a
dignified entrance is given; and further, that on entering the church
from the side, one is distracted by the rivalry of the two apses, and
it is only when turning the back on one or the other that one is able
to judge of the monumental effect of the interior.

The greater number of the churches above mentioned were covered over
with open timber roofs or flat ceilings; but the problem to be solved
in Germany, as well as in Italy, was that of vaulting over the nave,
and the cathedrals of Spires, Worms and Mainz (fig. 45) are the three
most important churches in which this was accomplished. The dates of
their vaults have never been quite settled; that of Spires would seem
to have been the earliest built, probably after 1162, when the church
was seriously damaged by a conflagration, and the vault is groined
only. In Worms (fig. 46) and Mainz there are diagonal moulded ribs,
which suggest a later date. Although of great height and width, the
absence of a triforium gallery in these cathedrals is a serious
defect, as it deprives the interior of that scale which the smaller
arcades in such a gallery give to the nave arcade below and the
clerestory above, and of those horizontal lines given by string
courses which are entirely wanting in these churches. Seeing that in
some of the earlier churches, as at Gernrode, St Ursula (Cologne), and
Nieder-Lahnstem, the triforium had already been introduced, and that
it was repeated in the later examples at Limburg on the Lahn,
Bacharach, Andernach, Bonn, Sinzig, and St Gereon (Cologne), it is
difficult to understand why, in the three great typical German
Romanesque churches, they should have been omitted. Externally the
design is extremely fine, owing to the grouping of the many towers at
the west and on either side of the transept or choir. In this respect
the cathedral of Mainz is the most superb structure in Germany, and to
the cathedral of Spires with its fine entrance porch (fig. 47) must be
given the second place.

One of the most perfect examples of the Rhenish-Romanesque styles is
the church of the abbey of Laach, completed shortly after the middle
of the 12th century. The eastern part of the church resembles the
ordinary type, but at the west end there is a narrow transept flanked
by circular towers, and a western apse enclosed in an atrium with
cloisters round, which forms the entrance to the church. The
sculptures in the capitals of the atrium are of the finest description
and represent the perfected type of the German Romanesque style. In
addition to the two circular towers flanking the west transept, a
square tower rises in the centre of the west front, two square towers
flank the choir and a crystal lantern crowns the crossing of the main
transept, and the grouping of all these features is very fine and
picturesque in effect. A small church at Rosheim in Alsace is quite
Lombardic in its exterior design, the pilaster strips and arched
corbel tables being almost identical. The same applies to the church
at Marmoutier, but the towers flanking the main front and the square
tower on the crossing of the western transept produce a composition
which one looks for in vain in the greater number of the churches in
Italy.

In describing the Lombardic churches of North Italy, reference has
been made to the probable origin of the eaves-gallery, best
represented in the eastern apse of Santa Maria Maggiore, Bergamo. This
feature was largely adopted throughout the Rhine churches, and in the
Apostles' church and St Martin's at Cologne receives its fullest
development, being in addition to the eastern apse carried round the
apses of the north and south transepts, which in these two churches
and in St-Mary-in-the-Capitol, also in Cologne, constitute a special
treatment. In the Apostles' church, where round towers are built at
the junction of the three apses, the effect is extremely pleasing. In
the church at Bonn, the single apse is flanked by two lofty towers
which give great importance to the east front.

The steeples of the same period have a character of their own. They
are either square or octangular in plan, arcaded or pierced with
windows, and roofed with gables or with spires rising out of the
gables.

One peculiarity found in some of the German churches, and specially
those in the north-east, is that the nave and aisles are of the same
height. To these the term _Hallenkirchen_ is given. This type of
design is very grand internally, owing to the vast height of the piers
and arches. It also dispenses with the necessity for flying
buttresses, as the aisles, which are only half the width of the nave,
carry the thrust of the vault direct to the external buttresses. The
nave, however, is not so well lighted, though the aisle windows are
sometimes of stupendous height. The principal examples are those of
the church of St Stephen, Vienna, where both nave and aisles are
carried over with one vast root; at Munster, the _Wiesenkirche_ at
Soest; St Lawrence, Nuremberg; St Martin's, Landshut; Munich
cathedral, and others.

St Gereon (1200-1227) and St Cunibert (1205-1248), in Cologne, besides
churches at Naumburg, Limburg and Gelnhausen, in which the pointed
arch is employed, are almost the only transitional examples in
Germany, and respond to work of a century earlier in France. Toward
the end of the 13th century the Romanesque style was supplanted by a
style which in no way grew out of it, but was rather an imitation of
a foreign style, the earliest examples being in the _Liebfrauenkirche_
at Treves (1227-1243), and the churches at Marburg (1235-1283) and
Altenberg (1255-1301). In the latter church is a French chevet with
seven apsidal chapels. This brings us to the great typical cathedral
of Germany at Cologne (fig. 48), which had the advantages of having
been designed at the best age and completed on the original design, so
that with small exceptions a uniformity of style reigns throughout it.
It was begun in 1270 and apparently based on the plan of Amiens, the
transepts however having an additional bay each, and the two first
bays of the nave having thicker piers so as to carry the enormous
towers and spires which flank the chief facade. The principal defect
of the building is its relative shortness, owing to its
disproportionate height. This has always been felt in the interior,
and now that the lofty buildings all round have been taken down,
isolating the cathedral on all sides, it has the appearance of an
overgrown monster. The length of the cathedral is 468 ft., 17 ft. less
than the cathedral at Ulm, the longest in Germany. The height of the
nave vault is 155 ft., and as the width is only 41.6 (about one in
four) the proportion is very unpleasing. There is also a certain
mechanical finish throughout the design, which renders it far less
poetical than the great French cathedrals. Where, however, it excels
is in the extraordinary vigour of its execution, the depth of the
mouldings, and the projection given to the leading architectural
features; and in this respect, when compared with St Ouen at Rouen,
about fifty years later, the latter (which is even more mechanical in
its setting out) looks wire-drawn and poor. The twin spires of the
facade rise to the height of 510 ft.; they were completed only in the
latter part of the 19th century, and would have gained in breadth of
effect if there had been some plain surfaces left. In this respect the
spire of Freiburg cathedral, which is simple in outline and detail, is
finer, and gains in contrast on account of the simpler masonry of the
lower part of the tower. The spire at Ulm cathedral, only recently
terminated, rises to the height of 530 ft. In both these cases the
single tower is preferable to the double towers of Cologne, when
elaborated to the same extent, as they are in all these examples; and
perhaps that is one of the reasons why the spires of Strassburg and
Antwerp cathedrals are more satisfactory, as the twin towers were
never built. The front of Strassburg cathedral (1277-1318), by Erwin
von Steinbach, is too much cut up by vertical lines of masonry, owing
to the _tours-de-force_ in tracery of which the German mason was so
fond. On the whole the most beautiful of German spires is that of St
Stephen's at Vienna, and one of its advantages would seem to be that
its transition from the square base to the octagon is so well marked
in the design that it is difficult to say where the tower ends and the
spire begins. The strong horizontal courses under the spires of
Strassburg or Freiburg are defects from this point of view.

In domestic architecture nothing remains of the palace at
Aix-la-Chapelle, but at Lorsch near Mannheim is the entrance gateway
of the convent which was dedicated by Charlemagne in 774. It is in two
storeys, in the lower one three semicircular arches flanked by columns
with extremely classic capitals. The upper storey is decorated with
what might have been described as a blind arcade, except that instead
of arches are triangular spaces similar to some windows found in Saxon
architecture; the whole gateway being crowned with a classic cornice.
The palaces at Goslar (1050) and Dankwarderode in Brunswick
(1150-1170) still preserve their great halls, and in the palace built
(1130-1150) by the emperor Frederick I. at Gelnhausen there remain
portions extremely fine and vigorous in style, and showing a strong
Byzantine influence. The largest and most important castle is that of
the Wartburg at Eisenach, which is in complete preservation.

To sum up, the German Complete Gothic is essentially national in its
complete character. It has many and obvious defects. From the first
there is conspicuous in it that love of lines, and that desire to play
with geometrical figures, which in time degenerated into work more
full of conceit and triviality than that of any school of medieval
artists. These conceits are worked out most elaborately in the
traceries of windows and panelling. The finest early examples are in
the cathedral at Minden; a little later, perhaps, the best series is
in the cloister of Constance cathedral; and of the latest description
the examples are innumerable. But it is worth observing that they
rarely at any time have any ogee lines. They are severely geometrical
and regular in their form, and quite unlike our own late Middle
Pointed, or the French Flamboyant. In sculpture the Germans did not
shine. They, like the English, did not introduce it with profusion,
though they were very prone to the representations of effigies of the
deceased as monuments.

In one or two respects, however, Germany is still possessed of a
wealth of medieval examples, such as is hardly to be paralleled in
Europe. The vast collection of brick buildings, for instance, is
unequalled. If a line be drawn due east and west, and passing through
Berlin, the whole of the plain lying to the north, and extending from
Russia to Holland, is destitute of stone, and the medieval architects,
who always availed themselves of the material which was most natural
in the district, built all over this vast extent of country almost
entirely in brick. The examples of their works in this humble material
are not at all confined to ecclesiastical works; houses, castles,
town-halls, town walls and gateways, are so plentiful and so
invariably picturesque and striking in their character, that it is
impossible to pass a harsh verdict on the architects who left behind
them such extraordinary examples of their skill and fertility of
resource.

This development is largely due to the fact that all these countries
in north-east Germany were connected and very much influenced by the
confederation of the Hanse towns, and hence the similarity in the
design of all their buildings. Although some of the earliest buildings
date from the 12th century, the chief development took place in the
14th and 15th centuries, and in the 16th century formed the basis of
the transitional works of the Renaissance. The principal Hanse towns
are Hamburg, Lubeck and Danzig. The chief buildings in Hamburg were
destroyed by the fire in 1842, and it is in Lubeck that the most
important churches are to be found. The church of St Mary
(Marienkirche), 1304, is the most striking on account of its
dimensions, 346 ft. in length, the nave being 123 ft. high, with two
western towers 407 ft. high. Great scale is given to the building in
consequence of the small material (brick) used, and some of the
windows in this or other churches are nearly 100 ft. in height, with
lofty mullions, all in moulded brick. The _Dom_ or cathedral of
Lubeck, though slightly larger, is not so good in design, but has a
remarkable north porch in richly moulded brick, with marble shafts and
carved capitals. In the church of St Catherine the choir is raised
above a lofty vaulted crypt, similar to examples in some of the
Italian churches. The _Marienkirche_ at Danzig (1345-1503), built by a
grand master of the Teutonic knights, to whom the chief development of
the architecture of north-east Germany is largely due, is one of those
examples already mentioned as _Hallenkircken_. The nave, aisles, side
chapels, transept and aisles, and choir with square east end, are all
of the same height; as the church is 280 ft. long and 125 ft. wide,
with a transept 200 ft. long, the effect is that of one stupendous
hall, but as the light is only obtained through the windows of the
side chapels, the interior, though impressive, is somewhat gloomy. The
same is found in the choir of the Franciscan church at Salzburg, where
five slender piers, 70 ft. in height and 4 ft. in diameter, carry the
vault over an area 160 ft. long by 66 ft. wide. Right up in the north
of Germany, in Pomerania, are many fine examples in brick and
sometimes of great size, such as those at Stralsund, Stettin,
Stargard, Pasewalk, and in the island of Rugen. The _Marienkirche_ at
Stralsund, owing to its massive construction and picturesque grouping,
is an interesting example. Its western transept or narthex with tower
in centre is a common type of the churches in Pomerania, and though
very inferior in design is a version of those which in England are
seen in Ely and Peterborough cathedrals.

In the entrance gateways to the towns and in domestic architecture
north Germany is very rich; the palace of the grand master of the
Teutonic Order at Marienburg is a vast and imposing structure in brick
(1276-1335), in which the chapter house of the grand master, with its
fan-vaulted roof, resting on a single pillar of granite in the centre,
and the entrance porch of the church richly carved in brick, are among
the finest examples executed in that material. (R. P. S.)

ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC IN BELGIUM AND HOLLAND

Of early Romanesque work neither Belgium nor Holland retains any
examples; for with the exception of the small building at Nijmwegen
built by Charlemagne, there are no churches prior to the 11th century,
and at first the influence in Belgium would seem to have come from
Lombardy, through the Rhine Provinces. As all her large churches are
built in the centres of her most important towns, it is probable that
the older examples were pulled down to make way for others more in
accordance with the increasing wealth and population. In the 13th
century they came under the influence of the great Gothic movement in
France, and two or three of their cathedrals compare favourably with
the French cathedrals. The finest example of earlier date is that of
the cathedral of Tournai (fig. 49), the nave of which was built in the
second half of the 11th century, to which a transept with north and
south apses and aisles round them was added about the middle of the
12th century. These latter features are contemporaneous with similar
examples at Cologne, and the idea of the plan may have been taken from
them; externally, however, they differ so widely that the design may
be looked upon as an original conception, though the nave arcades,
triforium storey, and clerestory resemble the contemporaneous work in
Normandy. The original choir was pulled down in the 14th century, and
a magnificent _chevet_ of the French type erected in its place. The
grouping of the towers which flank the transept, with the central
lantern, the apses, and lofty choir, is extremely fine (fig. 50). The
sculptures on the west front, dating from the 12th to the 16th
century, protected by a portico of the late 15th century, are of
remarkable interest and in good preservation. They are in three tiers,
the two lowest consisting of bas-reliefs, the upper tier with
life-size figures in niches, resting on corbels. The Romanesque tower
of the church of St Jacques in the same town, with angle turrets, is a
picturesque and well-designed structure.

Other early examples are those of St Bartholomew at Liege (A.D. 1015)
and the churches at Roermonde and St Servais at Maastricht, both
belonging to Holland. The latter is an extremely fine example, which
recalls the work at Cologne, and in its great western narthex follows
on the lines of the German churches at Gernrode, Corvey and Brunswick.

Among other churches of later date are St Gudule at Brussels, with
Gothic 13th century choir and a 14th century nave with great circular
pillars, the west front of later date, approached by a lofty flight of
steps, having a very fine effect; Ste Croix at Liege, with a western
apse; St Martin at Ypres and St Bavon at Ghent, both with 13th-century
choir and 14th-century nave; Tongres, 13th century with great circular
pillars and an early Romanesque cloister; Notre Dame de Pamele at
Oudenarde; and Notre Dame at Bruges, 14th century. Of 15th and 16th
century work (for the Gothic style lasted without any trace of the
Renaissance till the middle of the 16th century) are St Gommaire at
Lierre (1425-1557); St Martin, Alost (1498), St Jacques, Antwerp; and
St Martin and St Jacques, both at Liege. The largest in area, and in
that sense the most important church in Belgium, is Notre Dame at
Antwerp (misnamed the cathedral). It was begun in 1352, but not
completed till the 16th century, so that it possesses many
transitional features. It is one of the few churches with three aisles
on each side of the nave, the outer aisle being nearly as wide as the
nave, which is too narrow to have a fine effect. Only one of the two
spires of the west front is built, perhaps to its advantage; the upper
portion presents in its pierced stone spires one of those remarkable
_tours-de-force_ of which masons are so proud, and having a simple
substructure it gains by contrast with and is much superior to the
spires of Cologne, Vienna and Ulm.

Among the most remarkable features in these Belgian churches are the
rood screens, the earliest of which is in the church of St Peter at
Louvain, dating from 1400, in rich Flamboyant Gothic, retaining all
its statues. In the church at Dixmuiden, St Gommaire at Lierre (1534),
and in Notre Dame, Walcourt (1531), are other examples all in perfect
preservation; the last is said to have been given by the emperor
Charles V., and in the same church is a lofty tabernacle in Flamboyant
Gothic.

Owing to the comparatively late date of many of the Belgian churches,
they are all more or less unfinished, as the religious fervour of the
citizens who built them would seem to have changed in favour of their
town halls and civic buildings immediately connected with trade. The
Cloth Hall at Ypres (1200-1334) with a frontage of 460 ft., three
storeys high with a lofty central tower and a hall on the upper storey
435 ft. long, one of the finest buildings of the period in Europe; Les
Halles at Bruges, originally built as a cloth hall, also with a lofty
central tower; and a simple example at Malines, are the earliest
buildings of this type.

There follow a series of magnificent town halls, of which that at
Brussels is the largest, but the tower not being quite in the centre
of its facade gives it a lopsided appearance. There is no tower to the
town hall at Louvain (1448-1469), but this is compensated for by the
angle turrets, and the design is far bolder. In both these examples
the vertical lines are too strongly accentuated, and seeing that they
are in two or three storeys, the latter should have been maintained in
the design of the facades. In this respect the town hall of Oudenarde
(1527-1535) is more truthful, and as a result is far superior to them;
the tower also is in the centre of the principal front, which at all
events is better than at Brussels, though as a matter of composition
it would have been more effective and picturesque if it had been
placed at one end of the facade. In the town hall at Mons there is no
tower, but a fine upper storey with ten windows filled with good
tracery. Of the town hall at Ghent only one half is Gothic
(1480-1482), as it was not completed till a century later, and though
overladen with Flamboyant ornament it has fine qualities in its
design. Although but few examples still exist of the Gothic structures
belonging to the various gilds, owing to their having been rebuilt in
the Renaissance style, those of the Bateliers at Ghent (1531), and of
the Fishmongers at Malines (1519), bear witness in the rich decoration
to the wealth of these corporations.

Holland is extremely poor in church architecture, but there are two
examples which should be noted, at Utrecht and Bois-le-Duc ('s
Hertogenbosch). Of the former only the choir exists. It is of great
height (115 ft.), and belongs to the finest period of Gothic
architecture (1251-1267). The nave was destroyed by a hurricane in
1674, and so seriously damaged that it was all taken down (a wall
being built to enclose the choir) and an open square left between it
and the lofty west tower. The cathedral of St John at Bois-le-Duc,
though founded in 1300, was rebuilt in the Flamboyant period
(1419-1497). It is of great length (400 ft.) with a fine _chevet_, and
possessed originally a magnificent rood screen in the early
Renaissance style (1625); this seemed to the burghers to be out of
keeping with the Gothic church, so it was taken down and sold to the
South Kensington Museum, being replaced by a very poor example in
Modern Gothic.

There is only one Gothic town hall of importance in Holland, that at
Middleburg (1468), a fine example, and quite equal to those in
Belgium. The ground and upper floors are kept distinct, and as the
wall surface of these lower storeys is in plain masonry, the traceried
windows and the canopied niches (all of which retain their statues)
gain by the contrast. There is a small picturesque specimen at Gouda,
and at Leeuwarden in the house of correction (Kanselary) a rich
example in brick and stone, with a remarkable stepped gable in the
centre having statues on its steps.

Both in Belgium and Holland there are numerous examples of domestic
architecture in brick with quoins and tracery in stone, in both cases
alternating with brick courses and arch voussoirs and with infinite
variety of design. (R. P. S.)

THE RENAISSANCE STYLE: INTRODUCTION