Origins of Gothic Architecture

Name: Origins of Gothic Architecture
Start: 1121
End: 1130

Type Event Region France Time 1121–1130

In the 1120s Western European church architecture developed pointed arches, rib vaults, flying buttresses, and large stained-glass windows, transitio…

Timeline

1121–1126Normandy · NormandyCraftsmen in Normandy and the Île-de-France systematically employed pointed arches and rib vaults in abbey and cathedral projects, allowing vault loads to be transmitted along clearly defined ribs and creating conditions for thinning walls and enlarging windows.
1125–1130Saint-Denis · Île-de-FranceThe rebuilding of the Abbey of Saint-Denis combined structural innovation with a theology of light; large stained-glass windows and soaring spaces became the model direction for later Gothic churches, marking the key turning point from Romanesque to Gothic.

Sources

Gothic Architecture — Paul Frankl (2000)
The Gothic Cathedral: Origins of Gothic Architecture and the Medieval Concept of Order — Otto von Simson (1988)