Gothic cathedrals and churches


Gothic cathedrals and churches are religious buildings constructed in Europe in Gothic style between the mid-12th century and the beginning of the 16th century. The cathedrals are notable particularly for their great height and their extensive use of stained glass to fill the interiors with light. They were the tallest and largest buildings of their time and the most prominent examples of Gothic architecture. The appearance of the Gothic cathedral was not only a revolution in architecture; it also introduced new forms in decoration,
sculpture, and art.
Cathedrals were by definition churches where a bishop presided. 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 represented a response to the dramatic increase of population and wealth in some parts of Europe and the need for larger and more imposing buildings for worship. Technical advances, such as innovative uses of the pointed arch, rib vault and flying buttress, allowed the churches and cathedrals to become much taller and stronger, with larger windows and more light.
The Gothic style first appeared in France at the Abbey of Saint Denis, near Paris, with the rebuilding of the ambulatory and west façade of the abbey church by the Abbot Suger. The first Gothic cathedral in France, Sens Cathedral, was begun between 1135 and 1140 and consecrated in 1164.
The first cathedral built outside France in Gothic style, in 1167, is the Ávila Cathedral in Spain, a country where the style spread very quickly, with other early examples such as the Cuenca Cathedral in 1182 and some of the best examples of the style worldwide, such as the Toledo Cathedral, the most beautifully decorated, or Seville Cathedral, the largest ever erected.
The style also appeared in England, where it was initially called simply "the French style". After fire destroyed the choir of Canterbury Cathedral, a French master builder from Sens, William of Sens, rebuilt it between 1174 and 1184. Other elements of the style were imported from Caen in Normandy by French Norman architects, who also brought finely-cut stones from Normandy for their constructions.
Notre Dame Cathedral was begun in 1163 and consecrated in 1177. The later part of the 12th century and beginning of the 13th century saw a more refined style, High Gothic, characterised by Chartres Cathedral, Reims Cathedral, and Amiens Cathedral. A third period, called Rayonnante in France, was more highly decorated, as characterised by Sainte Chapelle and Amiens Cathedral in France. The fourth and final Gothic period, called Flamboyant, appeared in the second half of the 14th century, and took its name from the flame-like motifs of decoration. Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes, with its walls of stained glass, offers a good example.
Renaissance cathedrals and churches gradually replaced Gothic cathedrals, and the original cathedrals, such as Notre Dame, experienced many modifications or fell into ruin. However, in the mid-19th century, in large part due to the 1831 novel Notre Dame de Paris, better known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, by Victor Hugo, there was a new wave of interest in the Gothic cathedral. Many Gothic cathedrals and churches were restored, with greater or lesser accuracy.

Terminology

The term "cathedral" came from the Greek cathedra, or "seat", since it was the official seat of the Bishop, and the principal church of a diocese. His title came from the Greek term Episkopos, meaning "overseer." As the leader of the diocese, the Bishop was considered the direct descendant of the Apostles or disciples of Christ, and had three missions: to direct the affairs of the church within the diocese, to administer the sacraments, and teach the Gospel of Christ, as found in the Bible, and confessed by the Church. The Bishop of a cathedral was assisted by the Canons, or Chanoines in French, who formed a council called the Chapter.
The word church stems from the word chirche from Middle English. This word in turn appears to derive from the Greek word kuriakon. ''Kuriakon comes from another word kuriakos which means "of, or belonging to, a lord, master".
At its time, Gothic architecture was called the opus Francigenum''. The term "Gothic" was a negative term invented in the late Renaissance by its critics, including the art historian and architect Giorgio Vasari. They considered the style barbaric, the opposite of the new Renaissance style, which they favored.

Early Gothic – France (mid-12th century)

Abbot Suger and St Denis Basilica

The Gothic style first appeared in France in the mid-12th century in an Abbey, St Denis Basilica, built by Abbot Suger. The old Basilica was the traditional burial place of Saint Denis, and of the Kings of France, and was also a very popular pilgrimage destination, so much so that pilgrims were sometimes crushed by the crowds. Suger became the abbot of Saint Denis in 1122. He became the friend and confidant of two French Kings Louis VI and Louis VII, and he served as regent for Louis VII during the absence of the King for the Second Crusade.
Suger, with the full support of the King, decided to enlarge the church and reconstruct it on a new model. His first modification was a new west façade, inspired in part by new churches in Normandy, with two towers and three deep portals. Each of the portals had a tympanum of sculpture, telling a Biblical or inspiring story. The tympana installed by Sugar depicted the Last Judgement over the main door and the martyrdom of Saint Denis over the other door. The tympana over the east portals became a characteristic feature of later Gothic cathedrals. When the new façade was complete, Suger turned his attention to the choir and the ambulatory in the west of the church.
Suger was also a scholar of the philosophy of Plato, and he believed that light was a way through which the faithful could be elevated from the material to the immaterial and the divine. The ambulatory of the old church was very dark, since Romanesque architecture, with barrel vaults, required thick walls and supporting walls between the small chapels. Suger decided to use a new form of vault, the rib vault, with pointed arches, which was higher and stronger. This allowed him to remove the walls between the chapels, and opened the space for seventy stained glass windows in the choir, filling the church with light.
The new structure was finished and dedicated on 11 June 1144, in the presence of the King. The choir and west front of the Abbey of Saint-Denis both became the prototypes for other buildings in the royal domain of northern France and in the Duchy of Normandy. Through the rule of the Angevin dynasty, the new style was introduced to England and spread throughout France, the Low Countries, Germany, Spain, northern Italy and Sicily. The combination of innovations made Saint-Denis the first important example of Gothic architecture; The church was heavily modified over the following centuries, but the ambulatory and some other original elements remain.
The new features of Saint-Denis were quickly adapted in the construction of new cathedrals in the Ile-de-France. These included Noyon cathedral, Senlis Cathedral begun ; Sens Cathedral ; and Laon Cathedral. Two were built by Suger's personal friends, the bishops of Noyon and Senlis. The spread of the style was not limited to cathedrals; it also soon appeared in Abbey churches, at St. Leu d'Esserent in Braine, and, in the province of Champagne, at St. Remy in Rheims and Notre-Dame in Chalons-sur-Marne. It also appeared in simple churches, such as the Gothic church of Saint Quiriace in Provins Though each church employed the new style, each had a distinctly different appearance and personality.
  • Noyon Cathedral replaced a Romanesque cathedral which burned in 1131. The Bishop of Noyon, Baudouin, used the choir of Saint Denis as his direct model. He used the same masons as Suger, and much of the ornamentation is identical with Saint-Denis. Like many early Gothic churches, the interior has both round and pointed arches, and it has some peculiar Germanic features, such as transepts with rounded ends.
  • Sens Cathedral, begun in 1133, had a special place among cathedrals in France as the primate of Gaul, ranking higher than Paris, a title it held through the 16th century. It attracted important medieval religious figures, including Saint Bernard, Abelard and Thomas Becket, who came there in 1164 to appeal to the Pope for support against Henry II of England. It was begun as a Romanesque cathedral, but as the walls were rising, the design was changed to Gothic and the proposed groin vaults replaced by rib vaults. It was completed soon after Saint Denis, and is considered the first Gothic Cathedral in France.
  • Senlis Cathedral begun in 1152, was another very early Gothic cathedral built on the model of Saint-Denis by Bishop Thibaut, who had been at the deathbed of Suger. One distinctive feature is the sculpture in the central western portal, which depicts the Death of the Virgin Mary and her Assumption on the lintel, and her Coronation in the tympanum. This arrangement became a common Gothic feature, found at both the north portal of Chartres Cathedral and the northwest tower of Notre Dame de Paris. A major fire in 1504 destroyed the upper vaulting of the original cathedral, and now only the apse, the west façade, and the tower have their original appearance; The exterior is now distinctly flamboyant Gothic.
  • Laon Cathedral was begun in about 1160. Like many early Gothic cathedrals, it retained some romanesque features, including tribunes over the side aisles, use of both round and pointed arches, and a two-story chapel on each arm of the transept. Like most early Gothic churches, it was not exceptionally high, but it was exceptionally long, with eleven bays in the nave, and ten in the choir. Because it was not high, it was possible to build a square tower over the crossing of the transept, in addition to four shorter towers on the corners, each with long lancet openings. One curious feature is the sixteen life-sized sculpted oxen on towers, each under its own canopy, symbolizing the animals which hauled the stones to the site.
  • Notre Dame de Paris begun in 1163 by the archbishop Maurice de Sully, was the largest and highest of the new French cathedrals. The nave was 122 meters long and the vaulted ceiling was 35 meters high, twelve meters higher than Laon Cathedral. It used the older six-part rib vault in the ceiling, but replaced the alternating pillars and columns of earlier cathedrals with a single type of pillar, creating greater harmony. It made innovative use of flying buttress to counterbalance the weight of the higher vaults, so the walls could be thinner and have more windows. It had four levels, like the earlier cathedrals, but the old triforium was replaced by small rose windows. Unlike Laon Cathedral, the façade of Notre Dame, with its two towers, expressed a remarkable calm and harmony. Notre-Dame was modified in the later Gothic period, with the addition of the rose windows in the transepts and double flying buttresses.