General Timeline:
•509 BC -- Traditional date of founding of Roman Republic
•460 - 429 BC -- Periclean Age in Athens
•356-323 BC -- Life of Alexander the Great
•246-221 BC -- Rome beats Carthage in the First Punic War
•201 -- Rome acquires Spain
•2nd Century BC -- Rome dominates Asia Minor and Egypt
•50 BC -- Julius Caesar establishes Roman oppidum near Amiens -- Samarobriva
•49-44 BC -- Julius Caesar dictator of Rome
•27 BC - 14 AD -- Emperor Augustus
•Ca. 30 AD -- Crucifixion of Jesus
•1st century AD -- Spread of Christianity in Greece and Asia Minor
•250-302 AD -- Persecution of the Christians in Roman Empire
•313 AD -- Edict of Milan by Constantine legalizes Christian practice
•Ca. 350 AD -- St. Firmin of Spain converts Amiens, later killed by Viking raiders
•410 AD -- Rome sacked by Visigoths
•455 AD - Rome sacked by Vandals
•476 AD -- Western Roman Empire ends
•742 or 747 AD - 814 -- Rule of Charlemagne -- first Roman Emperor
to rule in Western Europe since Romans; protector of church
•Ca. 1000 AD -- Viking raids cease when they become Christians – hence, beginnings
of large building programs -- “birth of the Gothic.”
Post and Lintel…
Vs. Arch
Arch of Titus, ca. 81 AD
Santa Sabina, Rome
422-32
Basilica plan
Arches on free-standing
columns (arcade)
Arcade: A series of arches
supported by columns,
piers, or pillars, either
freestanding or attached
to a wall to form a gallery.
Sant’Apollinare - Ravenna, Italy
Consecrated 549
Aachen, Palace chapel of Charlemagne
Completed 805
Durham Cathedral, Durham, England
(Romanesque style)
Amiens Cathedral, as seen from the air
Cruciform plan
Notre
Dame
cathedra
l
Paris
Batalha Monastery, Portugal
Amiens
cathedra
l
Amiens,
France
Wells Cathedral,
England
France, Important Gothic Sites,
ca. 1130’s-1230’s
Amiens, Cathedral of NotreDame, begun ca. 1220, architects:
Robert De Luzarches, Thomas De
Cormont, Renaud De Cormont
Bird’s eye view of the cathedral in the city;
view from the Somme River
What does a Gothic cathedral need to do?
--Serve as an administrative center
--A space for the liturgy and performance of Catholic offices
--Place to put relics and a path to structure the viewing for pilgrims
--A way to channel the movement of congregation and processions
--Palace of the Queen of Heaven (the Virgin Mary)
Cathedra – literal seat of the
Bishop, but also signifies the
Cathedral is the Bishop’s
church
Pilgrimage site:
Head of John
the Baptist,
brought back by
crusaders from
Constantinople, 1206
What is “Gothic”?
Elevation of a
Gothic church or
cathedral
What is “Gothic”?
•Pointed arches (why important?)
•Flying buttresses – mean thinner walls
•Rib vaults – high ceilings and use of a
module plan
•Elaborate decoration
Apse /
4
3
1
2
Why Gothic?
View looking across to south flank of nave
How to build the Gothic?
Interior of Henry VII chapel,
Westminster Abbey
Ca. 1500
Fan vaults
50 local feet
30 feet
Height of nave to capitals of
vaulting shafts: 110 local feet. Total
height of nave: 144 feet.