Until then churches and cathedrals had been built with the round arch. This style, in imitation of Roman architecture and its round arches, is known as Romanesque.
Gothic architecture wasn't just a single style.
It had hundreds of versions, some strange and some beautiful, in different places and at different times.
So here is a journey through the world of Gothic architecture...
Until then churches and cathedrals had been built with the round arch. This style, in imitation of Roman architecture and its round arches, is known as Romanesque.
Whereas structural concerns had once dictated how cathedrals looked, aesthetics soon took centre stage.
An architectural revolution swept the continent...
Windows remained slim and the overall design fairly simple, as embodied by Salisbury Cathedral. The tower, added later and more complex, contrasts with the simplicity of the older parts.
The Bishop's Eye rose window in Lincoln Cathedral and the crossing of Ely Cathedral capture this spirit, permitted by more advanced construction methods.
It replaced the curving forms of the Decorated Style with more austere vertical lines, exemplified by the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey.
Elaborate, geometric fan vaulting was another common Perpendicular feature.
There, too, the Early French Style was fairly plain in appearance - perhaps because of structural and technical limitations.
The result was a sturdy, unadorned monumentality.
It seems to mix the delicacy and elaborate ornamentation of later styles with the monumentality of what came before, a harmonious middle ground.