Gothic Period: Culture, Science, Economy, and Architecture

Cultural Environment of the Gothic Period

Historians generally define the periodization of Western European history during the Middle Ages into three eras: the Early Middle Ages (5th–11th centuries AD); the High Middle Ages (1000–1300 AD); and the Late Middle Ages (1300–1500). Construction of the great Gothic cathedrals began during the High Middle Ages, an era that experienced a "dramatic re-emergence of urban life and an increasing sophistication in secular culture" (Singman xi). Major events of the High Middle Ages include the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the conflict between popes and emperors for political control of Europe, and the Crusades. Indeed, the very idea of Europe during the Middle Ages was grounded in conflict between Christendom and Islam, although no unity existed between the Latin Christians of the West and the Greek Orthodox Christians of the East (Delanty 17).

In the Late Middle Ages, the Little Ice Age, the Great Famine, and the Black Death wiped out 40–50% of the population — and perhaps more in some areas. The invention of gunpowder and firearms reduced the influence of knights and the code of chivalry, while social, religious, and political crises such as the peasant revolts, the Great Schism, and the Babylonian Captivity challenged the power of the nobility and the Catholic Church. Historians have studied the Late Middle Ages far more thoroughly than earlier periods, partly because more sources are available, though no overall paradigm exists that "integrates the multiple facets of culture and society of western Europe" (Cantor 563). By 1500, the Reformation, the printing press, and the beginning of colonization in Asia, Africa, and the Americas ushered in the end of the Middle Ages.

Medieval society was characterized by the absence of a centralized state and by the political and economic power of the landed aristocracy, which also controlled the military. This feudal system rested on "personal relationships like kingship and patronage" rather than abstract institutions such as bureaucracies and corporations (Singman 1). High nobles in 13th-century England with an income of £5,000 per year earned five hundred times more than the poor, and even though landless knights existed, there remained a tremendous gulf between commoners and the elite. Aristocrats comprised roughly 1% of the population in Western Europe, "but their power and influence were far greater than their actual numbers" (Singman 4). Wealthy capitalists and the bourgeoisie began to emerge in the Late Middle Ages, and the labor shortage caused by the Black Death undermined serfdom, creating a class of wealthy peasant farmers, gentry, and lower bourgeoisie. In spite of this — and despite the peasant and artisan rebellions of the 14th and 15th centuries — the aristocracy remained in control. Even during the Italian Renaissance, "the great merchant families modelled the political behaviour of the northern grandees" (Cantor 564).

Gothic art and architecture evolved out of the Romanesque style in the early thirteenth century. This development began in France and spread throughout Europe, centering on Northern and Western Europe. Many European cathedrals and abbeys are Gothic, but the architectural approach is also evident in universities, castles, guild halls, town halls, and palaces. Gothic provided a natural stylistic transition from the Romanesque to the Renaissance, and its popularity lasted into the fifteenth century (Charles).

Relationship to Previous Periods and Contributions to Western Civilization

The transition from Romanesque to Gothic was not marked by an unambiguous event or sudden change; rather, it was a gradual progression. Gothic figures slowly became more animated and precise in their relationship to backgrounds or scenery. As with the Romanesque, Gothic art maintained the predominance of religious subject matter in its sculptural, painted, and glass expressions. In architecture, the Gothic style continued the Romanesque challenge of building ever larger cathedrals (Gothic Art). Its emphasis, however, was different. The Gothic period was typified by "vast space and lots of light to create an impression of reverence" (Branner 327–33), in deliberate contrast to the dark, bulky, and gloomy Romanesque churches.

The Gothic style correlated with broader social and cultural changes throughout Europe. Its foundations lay in Christianity, and monumental Gothic art and sculpture served an educational function, narrating biblical stories. Yet it arose — as the Romanesque had — in a European environment of increased urbanization, the proliferation of the university system, and the facilitation of trade both within Europe and beyond. Europe was moving toward a capital-based economy, and increased literacy along with the establishment of a middle class that could afford to patronize art propelled Gothic into the mainstream (Cahill). Craftsmen and artists experienced a new level of public exposure.

The Gothic style shaped human perception in ways that are still felt today. It offered a different way of viewing the human condition. As Punter observes, in painting and sculpture — just as in literature and poetry — figures became more animated and lifelike, more realistically aligned to their backgrounds, and free from the exaggerations of previous ages. The use of light and shadow to define subjects in art, and the use of subtlety of character in literature, gave the Gothic artist a more humanistic palette — a legacy that helped ease the transition from an overt focus on religiosity toward a more secular approach to human culture (Punter). Beyond this, the notion that an average household could use art such as woodcuts to decorate its home represented an important movement away from feudal drudgery and toward a more humanistic appreciation of life (Lilley).