The Early Gothic Cathedral: A Response to Widespread Cultural Change

Abstract

This thesis covers an immense territory of religious thought and architectural history. Its intent is to explain the emergence of the Early Gothic cathedral: this remarkable construction type first appeared at the St-Denis abbey church, and also at Sens Cathedral, near Paris, in the middle of the twelfth century. Early Gothic is defined as the phase up to Chartres Cathedral, the first High Gothic cathedral. This first chapter will introduce the central propositions of the thesis, and will explain several working definitions. It also commences an investigation into the function of the cathedral as well as the derivation of the term “Gothic”. An overview of the main cultural changes that marked the pathway to Gothic is provided, and suggested reasons for the emergence of this architectural style are introduced. In Chapter Two the political history of the period is sketched, and in the third chapter the Christianity of the tenth and eleventh century is analysed. Chapter Four is concerned specifically with the twelfth century; it will include an examination of the theory of the emergence of the so-called “individual,” and the place of this concept in what was termed by many scholars the “twelfth century renaissance.” In Chapter Five the church buildings of the era before the twelfth century will be considered, and, in particular, key sculptural elements of Romanesque cathedrals will be studied. In Chapter Six the methods and materials employed in the construction of Gothic buildings are the focus. Following that, in Chapter Seven, St-Denis (1144) the Gothic prototype will be investigated, then in Chapters Eight and Nine, five cathedrals, including Chartres (1225) will be examined. In the final two chapters, three important twentieth century books on the Gothic cathedral will be critically assessed.