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Ribbed Vault
A core Gothic stone-building technique using stone ribs to divide and reinforce vault structures, transferring loads along defined ridges to piers an…
Timeline
- c. 1100–1140France and German lands · Western EuropeRomanesque churches already made extensive use of ribbed barrel and sexpartite vaults, with ribs mainly serving division and construction positioning, while lateral thrust was still absorbed by thick walls and buttresses.
- 1190Paris and Laon · FranceBuilding sites such as Notre-Dame de Paris and Laon Cathedral integrated quadripartite ribbed vaults with pointed arches and buttress systems, making ribs structural elements with clear load paths and allowing vault shells to be relatively thinned.
- c. 1195–1230England and Iberia · EuropeRibbed vault forms spread via masons' guilds to Canterbury, Salisbury, and northern Spain, producing regional variants with sexpartite and quadripartite vaults coexisting, supporting height competitions in local Gothic facades.
Sources
- The Gothic Cathedral: Origins of Gothic Architecture and the Medieval Concept of Order — Otto von Simson (1988)
- The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals: A Study of Medieval Vault Erection — John Fitchen (1981)