Basilicae, Cathedrals, Abbeys - Large Scale Ecclesiastic Architecture




A.) Ecclestiastic Architecture in the 9th to 10th century

Among the churches of Catholic christianity, CATHEDRALS stand out. A cathedral is the chief church od a diocese, a church, where the bishop celebrates the holy mass. At cathedrals, CATHEDRAL CHAPTERS were established, which, in case of the death of the bishop, were to elect his successor. Other churches of exceptional importance were CORONATION CHURCHES, dynastic BURIAL CHURCHES and churches of important monasteries.





B.) The Cathedral Construction Boom - 11th to 13th Century

In 1063 construction was begun on the CATHEDRAL OF CHARTRES (-1260) - not the first cathedral at Chartres, but a new type of a cathedral, considerably larger and higher than previous models. People approacjing the city of Chartres could see it from a great distance; the acoustic of the building was much better than before; GREGORIAN CHANTS sounded more impressive. The Cathedral of Chartres and the monastery church of CLUNY (Cluny III, 1089-1092) became the envy of bishops and kings, and in the 12th century northern France was grasped by a cathedral construction boom which in the 13th century swept across the border into Aragon, Castile, Leon, England, Germany.
Cathedrals turned out to be permanent construction sites. While the dates for the beginning of construction are usually undisputed, those for the end of construction usually are; the cathedral of Cologne was completed only in 1880. CATHEDRAL SCHOOLS educated the next generation of church architects (which was expected to continue to work on the cathedral); cathedral schools were among the leading educational facilities of their times. Only when cathedral construction declined, were they outshadowed by the universities.


Coronation Churches
Kingdom

France
Italy
Germany

Castile
Leon
England 		Church

Reims Cathedral
Milan Cathedral
Aachen Cathedral

Burgos Cathedral
Leon Cathedral
Westminster Abbey 		begun

1211 construction of a gothic style cathedral begun

792-805 constructed under Charlemagne; not really a cathedral as Aachen was not seat of a bishop.
1221
1255
1245



C.) Styles : Gothic and Romanesque

Architecturally, cathedrals are derived from the Roman BASILICA, a large hall construction first documented for the 2nd century A.D. In christianity, certain important churches (enjoying certain privileges) are referred to as Basilicas. The cathedral is distinguished from a simple parish church by a larger nave, a higher ceiling, supported by pillars and buttresses, and by having two steeples in place of one, and those being the highest in the diocese. Another stylistic elements were GARGOYLES, stone figures (animals or monsters) sitting on the edge of the roof, when it rained, they 'spit' water.
Two major cathedral styles are distinguished : ROMANESQUE (i.e. round arches) and 'GOTHIC' (i.e. tipped arches). The expressions have been created during the Renaissance; Renaissance artists regarded 'Gothic' style as barbaric and named it after the Ostrogoths, who ruled Italy 493-553. Yet the so-called 'Gothic style' is Franco-Norman and emerged in the 11th century.
The main problem of church architecture was how to create larger and larger, higher and higher church halls, with a better and better acoustic. In order to achieve that, the ceiling was supported by pillars, and ceiling segments were supported by BUTTRESSES. At certain segments of the roof edge .


European Cathedrals
City / Cathedral

Chartres
Laon
Paris - Notre Dame
Nidaros/Trondhjem, Norway
Reims
Burgos
Cologne 		Begun

1063
1160
1163
1180
1211
1221
1248 		Ended

1260
1225
1250
c.1350
1260
1567
c.1530/1880 		Style

gothic
romanesque
gothic/romanesque
gothic
gothic
gothic
romanesque





EXTERNAL
FILES 		Article : Romanesque Architecture, from infoplease
Article : Gothic Architecture, from Catholic Encyclopedia 1912 edition
Article : Ecclesiastical Architecture, from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912 edition
Article : Basilica, from Catholic Encyclopedia 1912 edition
Article : Congregation of Cluny, from Catholic Encyclopedia 1912 edition
Notre Dame : a bit of history, from Paris.org
Nidaros (Trondhjem, Norway) Cathedral : construction history, from Nidaros Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral : History & Building, from Canterbury Cathedral
Koelner Dom : Geschichte, from Koelner Dom (Cologne Cathedral; in German
Chartres Cathedral, Notre Dame, Aachen Cathedral, Westminster Abbey from Great Buildings Online
Romanesque Architecture Online Database, by Yasuyuki Ogura, covers only German sites
Spanish Romanesque Architecture, from Iglesia y Arte - Arquitectura
The Abbey of Cluny, from Romanesque Art
DOCUMENTS Images of Cluny III, from Images of Ancient and Medieval Art, Dept. of Art History, Univ. of Wisconsin
Image collections on Romanesque architecture, from AICT, from Great Buildings Online, from A Digital Archive of Architecture (only France)
Image collections on Gothic architecture, from AICT (only French), from A Digital Archive of Architecture (almost exclusively France)
Sketch of Monastery St. Gallen, c. 830, from Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen
Images of the Cathedral of Reims, from columbia.edu
Images of Milan Cathedral, from bluffton.edu
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
Last revised on September 17th 2001