Construction Styles During the Middle Ages

Gothic vs. Romanesque Architecture

The Romanesque and Gothic styles of architecture are key to the artistic development of the Middle Ages. They are they result not only of an aesthetical development, a natural consequence of improving socioeconomic conditions and a growing interest of individuals and groups to showcase their wealth and power with churches and other constructions, but also a result of technological developments. Indeed, many of the components of these styles came about as architectural necessities: to support the new constructions, technical innovations needed to be implemented and this sometimes translated into stylistic expressions.

This paper will investigate each architectural style in part, focusing both on a separate, relevant description of the main elements and on a comparison between the Romanesque and Gothic styles. To the degree to which this is possible, the paper will aim to showcase the description and the comparison with concrete examples from the civic and religious architecture.

As Toman (1997) points out, the character of Romanesque architecture was universal, in the sense that it was not limited to a particular type of building. Although it is primarily specific to churches and other ecclesiastical constructions, examples of Romanesque townhouses, castles or civic works abound. However, he is also the one showcasing that the Romanesque architecture is particularly common in churches.

Gardner (2004) points out that the first elements of Proto-Romanesque are noticeable from the 11th century, with the Church of St. Michael, in Hildesheim, Germany. In Germany, during this period of time, the architectural style is also referred to as Ottonian, from the name of the German Emperors. Some of the main elements resembling a beginning of Romanesque architecture, elements that will be further discussed below, include a regular plan, with the tower in the center of a square plan; and an apse at both ends of the church.

As previously shown, some of the characteristics of Romanesque architecture are influenced both by the scope of the building (usually a defense scope or to showcase one's power) and by architectural necessities (the need to support the rest of the construction). As such, as Bannister (2001) explains, Romanesque architecture is often characterized by solid, massive walls to sustain the building.

Romanesque architecture appears to borrow some of the elements from Roman architecture, particularly using arches and arcades for supportive or separating reasons, dividing the churches and other buildings into different sections. Among structural elements, one should also mention piers and columns, both with a support role and with little additional decorations.

The use of vaults is an important characteristic of Romanesque architecture, taking on both a supportive and decorative role. The simplest form of interior vault is the barrel vault, which represented a single arch extending sideways from one end of the church to the other. This type of vaults, however, created an important architectural challenge, namely the capacity of the walls to support such a structure. As a consequence, groin vaults appeared, which linked two barrel vaults in a right angle, as well as ribbed vaults, in the 12th century.

Interestingly enough, one of the quintessential characteristic of the Gothic architecture, the pointed arched vault, first appeared during the Romanesque period and was its use was subsequently consolidated during the Gothic period.

Internally, the preference was generally for a Latin Cross plan, although there were occasional variations starting from the Latin Cross and depending on regional particularities and preferences. The church usually has three main sections (nave and two aisles) with each of the aisle being separated by the nave by a row of arches or arcades. One of the very interesting particularities of the Romanesque style is that the Eastern-end of the church is often semi-circular.

In terms of decorations, externally, these are varied and include portals, usually a single one in the center of the facade, and arcades. A lot of Romanesque churches have towers as a distinctive feature, in various forms. Internally, decorations varied, with the roof usually made of wood and with the walls painted, including by the use of polychromic stone.

The first important observation that needs to be made about the Gothic style is that it builds on the Romanesque style and comes as a continuation of the Romanesque architecture. As this paper will discuss below, many of the elements of the Romanesque style, including the arches and vaults, were taken over by the Gothic style and successfully adapted to the new architectural requirements. Pevsner (1964) argues that many of the elements from Gothic architecture had already been present and Gothic architecture develops them in more complex ways.

At the same time, as Banister (2001) shows the main characteristic of the Gothic style is the pointed arch, which is also the fundamental differential element between the Gothic and the Romanesque styles. The advantage of the pointed arch, as developed by the Gothic style, was that it allowed the translation from the Romanesque construction approach (heavy, solid walls and small openings) to the Gothic approach (larger openings, including large windows; a greater focus on light).

The pointed arch, along with the other traditional Gothic elements (buttresses, vaults etc.), also allowed the vertical development of buildings, particularly of churches: Gothic churches are significantly taller, and this is because the style developed all the necessary instruments to support this new type of more complicated construction. As Banister shows, the pointed arch splits the weight of the construction onto the columns and it does so at a steep angle. This type of weight distribution allows, as mentioned, a much taller construction than during the Romanesque period.

The height of the construction is, as such, one of the essential characteristics of Gothic architecture. The Cathedral of Munster has a spire that stands at 160 meters, the tallest in the world. The internal vault of the Cathedral of Beauvais has 48 meters height, also the highest in the world. These are just two of the examples that emphasize the importance of height in Gothic architecture.

There are several ways in which this emphasis on height is undertaken, both internally and externally. The paper has already discussed the pointed arch, but there are a series of external decorations employed. These include spires, towers (of different sizes) and pinnacles (Swaan, 1988). The shapes themselves are often pointed, to create an additional impression of space and height.

Light is another important element of Gothic architecture. As previously discussed, the new technological developments (both the pointed arches and vaults and the flying buttresses, which support the construction from the exterior) created the premises for larger windows and the Gothic style made full use of that. The windows now become a particular element of focus, many of these Gothic windows being richly decorated with stained glass. All of these elements (light, height, rich decorations) transform the church into a symbol of the glory of God.