Editing Gothic architecture (section)

== History ==
[[File:Sens, Cathédrale Saint-Ètienne, 1135-1534 (31).jpg|thumb|''Early Gothic'' triple elevation{{Break}}Sens Cathedral (1135–1164)]]

=== Early Gothic ===
{{See also|Early Gothic architecture}}Norman architecture on either side of the [[English Channel]] developed in parallel towards ''Early Gothic''.<ref name=":1" /> Gothic features, such as the [[rib vault]], had appeared in England, Sicily and Normandy in the 11th century.<ref name=":1" /> Rib-vaults were employed in some parts of the cathedral at [[Durham, England|Durham]] (1093–)<ref name=":1" /> and in [[Lessay Abbey]] in Normandy (1098).<ref name="Gothique">{{Cite book|url=https://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/divers/gothique/55987|title=Gothique|website=Encyclopédie Larousse|edition=online|language=fr|access-date=2020-05-15|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507153053/https://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/divers/gothique/55987|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the first buildings to be considered fully Gothic are the royal funerary abbey of the French kings, the [[Abbey of Saint Denis|Abbey of Saint-Denis]] (1135–1144), and the archiepiscopal cathedral at [[Sens]] (1135–1164). They were the first buildings to systematically combine rib vaulting, buttresses, and pointed arches.<ref name=":1" /> Most of the characteristics of later ''Early English'' were already present in the lower ''[[chevet]]'' of Saint-Denis.<ref name=":04"/>

The [[Duchy of Normandy]], part of the [[Angevin Empire]] until the 13th century, developed its own version of Gothic. One of these was the Norman [[chevet]], a small apse or chapel attached to the choir at the east end of the church, which typically had a half-dome. The [[lantern tower]] was another common feature in Norman Gothic.<ref name="Gothique"/> One example of early Norman Gothic is [[Bayeux Cathedral]] (1060–1070) where the Romanesque cathedral nave and choir were rebuilt into the Gothic style. [[Lisieux Cathedral]] was begun in 1170.{{sfn|Mignon|2015|p=30}} [[Rouen Cathedral]] (begun 1185) was rebuilt from Romanesque to Gothic with distinct Norman features, including a lantern tower, deeply moulded decoration, and high pointed arcades.{{sfn|Mignon|2015|pp=30-31}} [[Coutances Cathedral]] was remade into Gothic beginning about 1220. Its most distinctive feature is the octagonal lantern on the crossing of the transept, decorated with ornamental ribs, and surrounded by sixteen bays and sixteen [[lancet windows]].{{sfn|Mignon|2015|p=30}}

Saint-Denis was the work of the Abbot [[Suger]], a close adviser of Kings [[Louis VI of France|Louis VI]] and [[Louis VII of France|Louis VII]]. Suger reconstructed portions of the old Romanesque church with the [[rib vault]] in order to remove walls and to make more space for windows. He described the new ambulatory as "a circular ring of chapels, by virtue of which the whole church would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty."{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=127}} To support the vaults he also introduced columns with capitals of carved vegetal designs, modelled upon the classical columns he had seen in Rome. In addition, he installed a circular rose window over the portal on the façade.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=127}} These also became a common feature of Gothic cathedrals.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=127}}<ref name=EBGA>{{Britannica |239728 |Gothic architecture}}</ref>

Some elements of Gothic style appeared very early in England. [[Durham Cathedral]] was the first cathedral to employ a rib vault, built between 1093 and 1104.{{sfn|Mignon|2015|p=10}} The first cathedral built entirely in the new style was [[Sens Cathedral]], begun between 1135 and 1140 and consecrated in 1160.{{sfn|Mignon|2015|pp=10–11}}<ref>''Le Guide du Patrimoine de France'' (2002), p. 53</ref> Sens Cathedral features a Gothic choir, and six-part rib vaults over the nave and collateral aisles, alternating pillars and doubled columns to support the vaults, and buttresses to offset the outward thrust from the vaults. One of the builders who is believed to have worked on Sens Cathedral, [[William of Sens]], later travelled to England and became the architect who, between 1175 and 1180, reconstructed the choir of [[Canterbury Cathedral]] in the new Gothic style.{{sfn|Mignon|2015|pp=10–11}}

[[Sens Cathedral]] was influential in its strongly vertical appearance and in its three-part elevation, typical of subsequent Gothic buildings, with a clerestory at the top supported by a [[triforium]], all carried on high arcades of pointed arches.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|last=Schurr|first=Marc Carel|title=art and architecture: Gothic|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662624.001.0001/acref-9780198662624-e-0540|work=The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages|year=2010|editor-last=Bjork|editor-first=Robert E.|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662624.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866262-4|access-date=2020-04-09|archive-date=10 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410194851/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662624.001.0001/acref-9780198662624-e-0540|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In the following decades flying buttresses began to be used, allowing the construction of lighter, higher walls.<ref name=":1" /> [[French Gothic architecture|French Gothic]] churches were heavily influenced both by the ambulatory and side-chapels around the choir at Saint-Denis, and by the paired towers and triple doors on the western façade.<ref name=":1" />

Sens was quickly followed by [[Senlis Cathedral]] (begun 1160), and [[Notre-Dame de Paris]] (begun 1160). Their builders abandoned the traditional plans and introduced the new Gothic elements from Saint-Denis. The builders of [[Notre-Dame de Paris|Notre-Dame]] went further by introducing the flying buttress, heavy columns of support outside the walls connected by arches to the upper walls. The buttresses counterbalanced the outward thrust from the rib vaults. This allowed the builders to construct higher, thinner walls and larger windows.{{sfn|Renault|Lazé|2006|p=36}}[[File:25-Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Metz.jpg|thumb|''High Gothic'' flying buttresses{{Break}}Metz Cathedral (1220–)]]
[[File:Facade de Notre Dame de Reims.png|thumb|''High Gothic'' west front, [[Reims Cathedral]] (1211–)]]

===''Early English'' and ''High Gothic''===
{{See also|High Gothic|Early Gothic architecture}}

Following the destruction by fire of the choir of [[Canterbury Cathedral]] in 1174, a group of master builders was invited to propose plans for the reconstruction. The master-builder [[William of Sens]], who had worked on Sens Cathedral, won the competition.<ref name=":1" /> Work began that same year, but in 1178 William was badly injured by falling from the scaffolding, and returned to France, where he died.<ref name=":02">{{Citation|title=Sens, William of|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-4225|work=A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture|year=2015|editor-last=Curl|editor-first=James Stevens|edition=3rd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-967498-5|access-date=2020-04-10|editor2-last=Wilson|editor2-first=Susan|archive-date=11 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411100100/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-4225|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="EBWoS">{{Britannica |644278 |William of Sens}}</ref> His work was continued by [[William the Englishman]] who replaced his French namesake in 1178. The resulting structure of the choir of [[Canterbury Cathedral]] is considered the first work of ''Early English Gothic''.<ref name=":1" /> The cathedral churches of [[Worcester Cathedral|Worcester]] (1175–), [[Wells Cathedral|Wells]] (''c''.1180–), [[Lincoln Cathedral|Lincoln]] (1192–), and [[Salisbury Cathedral|Salisbury]] (1220–) are all, with Canterbury, major examples.<ref name=":1" /> ''Tiercerons'' – decorative vaulting ribs – seem first to have been used in vaulting at Lincoln Cathedral, installed ''c''.1200.<ref name=":1" /> Instead of a triforium, ''Early English'' churches usually retained a gallery.<ref name=":1" />

[[High Gothic]] ({{circa|1194}}–1250) was a brief but very productive period, which produced some of the great landmarks of Gothic art. The first building in the High Gothic ({{Langx|fr|Classique|links=no}}) was [[Chartres Cathedral]], an important pilgrimage church south of Paris. The Romanesque cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1194, but was swiftly rebuilt in the new style, with contributions from King [[Philip II of France]], [[Pope Celestine III]], local gentry, merchants, craftsmen, and [[Richard the Lionheart]], king of England. The builders simplified the elevation used at Notre Dame, eliminated the tribune galleries, and used flying buttresses to support the upper walls. The walls were filled with stained glass, mainly depicting the story of the [[Virgin Mary]] but also, in a small corner of each window, illustrating the crafts of the guilds who donated those windows.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=131}}

The model of Chartres was followed by a series of new cathedrals of unprecedented height and size. These were [[Reims Cathedral]] (begun 1211), where [[coronations of the kings of France]] took place; [[Amiens Cathedral]] (1220–1226); [[Bourges Cathedral]] (1195–1230) (which, unlike the others, continued to use six-part rib vaults); and [[Beauvais Cathedral]] (1225–).<ref name=":1" />{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|pp=129–132}}

In central Europe, the High Gothic style appeared in the [[Holy Roman Empire]], first at [[Toul]] (1220–), whose Romanesque cathedral was rebuilt in the style of Reims Cathedral; then [[Trier]]'s [[Liebfrauenkirche, Trier|Liebfrauenkirche]] parish church (1228–), and then throughout the ''Reich'', beginning with the [[St. Elizabeth's Church, Marburg|Elisabethkirche]] at [[Marburg]] (1235–) and the cathedral at [[Metz]] (''c''.1235–).<ref name=":1" />

In High Gothic, the whole surface of the clerestory was given over to windows. At Chartres Cathedral, [[plate tracery]] was used for the rose window, but at Reims the bar-tracery was free-standing.<ref name=":1" /> Lancet windows were supplanted by multiple lights separated by ''geometrical'' bar-tracery.<ref name=":04"/> Tracery of this kind distinguishes ''Middle Pointed'' style from the simpler ''First Pointed''.<ref name=":04"/> Inside, the nave was divided into by regular bays, each covered by a quadripartite rib vaults.<ref name=":1" />

Other characteristics of the High Gothic were the development of rose windows of greater size, using bar-tracery, higher and longer flying buttresses, which could reach up to the highest windows, and walls of sculpture illustrating biblical stories filling the façade and the fronts of the transept. Reims Cathedral had two thousand three hundred statues on the front and back side of the façade.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|pp=129–132}}

The new High Gothic churches competed to be the tallest, with increasingly ambitious structures lifting the vault yet higher. Chartres Cathedral's height of {{cvt|38|m|ft}} was exceeded by Beauvais Cathedral's {{cvt|48|m|ft}}, but on account of the latter's collapse in 1248, no further attempt was made to build higher.<ref name=":1" /> Attention turned from achieving greater height to creating more awe-inspiring decoration.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|pp=129–132}}

[[File:Strasbourg Cathedral Exterior - Diliff.jpg|thumb|''Rayonnant Gothic'' west front{{Break}}Strasbourg Cathedral (1276–)]]

=== ''Rayonnant Gothic'' and ''Decorated Style'' ===
{{See also|Rayonnant|Decorated Gothic}}
''[[Rayonnant]] Gothic'' maximized the coverage of stained glass windows such that the walls are effectively entirely glazed; examples are the nave of Saint-Denis (1231–) and the royal chapel of [[Louis IX of France]] on the [[Île de la Cité]] in the [[Seine]] – the [[Sainte-Chapelle]] (''c''.1241–1248).<ref name=":1" /> The high and thin walls of French ''Rayonnant Gothic'' allowed by the flying buttresses enabled increasingly ambitious expanses of glass and decorated tracery, reinforced with ironwork.<ref name=":1" /> Shortly after Saint-Denis, in the 1250s, Louis IX commissioned the rebuilt transepts and enormous rose windows of [[Notre-Dame de Paris]] (1250s for the north transept, 1258 for the beginning of south transept).{{Sfn|Martindale|1993|p=89}} This first 'international style' was also used in the clerestory of [[Metz Cathedral]] (''c''. 1245–), then in the choir of [[Cologne]]'s cathedral (''c''. 1250–), and again in the nave of the cathedral at [[Strasbourg]] (''c''. 1250–).<ref name=":1" /> Masons elaborated a series of tracery patterns for windows – from the basic ''geometrical'' to the ''reticulated'' and the ''curvilinear –'' which had superseded the lancet window.<ref name=":04"/> Bar-tracery of the ''curvilinear, flowing'', and ''reticulated'' types distinguish ''Second Pointed'' style.<ref name=":04"/>

''Decorated Gothic'' similarly sought to emphasize the windows, but excelled in the ornamentation of their tracery. Churches with features of this style include Westminster Abbey (1245–), the cathedrals at [[Lichfield]] (after 1257–) and [[Exeter]] (1275–), [[Bath Abbey]] (1298–), and the retro choir at [[Wells Cathedral]] (''c''.1320–).<ref name=":1" />

The ''Rayonnant'' developed its second 'international style' with increasingly autonomous and sharp-edged tracery mouldings apparent in the cathedral at [[Clermont-Ferrand]] (1248–), the papal collegiate church at [[Troyes]], [[Basilique Saint-Urbain de Troyes|Saint-Urbain]] (1262–), and the west façade of [[Strasbourg Cathedral]] (1276–1439)).<ref name=":1" /> By 1300, there were examples influenced by Strasbourg in the cathedrals of [[Limoges]] (1273–), [[Regensburg]] (''c''. 1275–), and in the cathedral nave at [[York]] (1292–).<ref name=":1" />[[File:Prag, Prager Burg, Veitsdom -- 2019 -- 6662.jpg|thumb|''Flamboyant Gothic'' east end,{{Break}}Prague Cathedral (1344–)]]
[[File:Henry7Chapel 02.jpg|thumb|''Perpendicular Gothic'' east end, Henry VII Chapel ({{circa|1503}}–1512)]]

=== {{anchor|Late Gothic}}''Late Gothic'': ''flamboyant'' and ''perpendicular'' ===
{{see also|Flamboyant|Perpendicular Gothic}}
Central Europe began to lead the emergence of a new, international ''flamboyant'' style with the construction of a new cathedral at [[Prague]] (1344–) under the direction of [[Peter Parler]].<ref name=":1" /> This model of rich and variegated tracery and intricate reticulated rib-vaulting was definitive in the ''Late Gothic'' of continental Europe, emulated not only by the collegiate churches and cathedrals, but by urban parish churches which rivalled them in size and magnificence.<ref name=":1" /> The minster at [[Ulm]] and other parish churches like the Heilig-Kreuz-Münster at [[Schwäbisch Gmünd]] (''c''.1320–), [[St. Barbara's Church, Kutná Hora|St Barbara's Church]] at [[Kutná Hora]] (1389–), and the Heilig-Geist-Kirche (1407–) and [[St. Martin's Church, Landshut|St Martin's Church]] (''c''.1385–) in [[Landshut]] are typical.<ref name=":1" /> Use of [[ogee]]s was especially common.<ref name=":04"/>

[[File:Paris Sainte Chapelle du Chateau de Vincennes ancienne demeure royale Vers le Bois de Vincennes en France angle 3.JPG|thumb|right|[[Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes]] (1370s)]]
The ''flamboyant'' style was characterised by the multiplication of the ribs of the vaults, with new purely decorative ribs, called tiercons and liernes, and additional diagonal ribs. One common ornament of ''flamboyant'' in France is the ''arc-en-accolade'', an arch over a window topped by a pinnacle, which was itself topped with [[Fleuron (architecture)|fleuron]], and flanked by other pinnacles. Examples of French ''flamboyant'' building include the west façade of [[Rouen Cathedral]], and especially the façades of [[Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes]] (1370s) and choir [[Mont-Saint-Michel]]'s abbey church (1448).{{sfn|Renault|Lazé|2006|p=36}}

In England, ornamental rib-vaulting and tracery of ''Decorated Gothic'' co-existed with, and then gave way to, the ''perpendicular'' style from the 1320s, with straightened, orthogonal tracery topped with [[Fan vault|fan-vaulting]].<ref name=":04"/><ref name=":1" /> ''Perpendicular'' ''Gothic'' was unknown in continental Europe and unlike earlier styles had no equivalent in Scotland or Ireland.<ref name=":04"/><ref name=":4">{{Citation|title=Perpendicular|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-3451|work=A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture|editor-last=Curl|editor-first=James Stevens|year=2015|edition=3rd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-967498-5|access-date=2020-05-16|editor2-last=Wilson|editor2-first=Susan|archive-date=22 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522004358/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-3451|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It first appeared in the cloisters and chapter-house ({{circa|1332}}) of [[Old St Paul's Cathedral]] in London by [[William Ramsey (architect)|William de Ramsey]].<ref name=":4" /> The chancel of [[Gloucester Cathedral]] ({{circa|1337}}{{Endash}}1357) and its latter 14th century cloisters are early examples.<ref name=":4" /> [[Four-centred arch]]es were often used, and lierne vaults seen in early buildings were developed into fan vaults, first at the latter 14th century chapter-house of [[Hereford Cathedral]] (demolished 1769) and cloisters at Gloucester, and then at [[Reginald Ely]]'s [[King's College Chapel, Cambridge]] (1446{{Endash}}1461) and the brothers [[William Vertue|William]] and [[Robert Vertue]]'s [[Henry VII Chapel]] ({{circa|1503}}{{Endash}}1512) at [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Citation|title=Ely, Reginald|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-1660|work=A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture|year=2015|editor-last=Curl|editor-first=James Stevens|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-967498-5|access-date=2020-05-16|editor2-last=Wilson|editor2-first=Susan|archive-date=22 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522004355/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-1660|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|editor-last=Curl|editor-first=James Stevens|title=Vertue, Robert|date=2015-05-21|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-4936|work=A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-967498-5|access-date=2020-05-16|editor2-last=Wilson|editor2-first=Susan|archive-date=22 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522004406/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-4936|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> ''Perpendicular'' is sometimes called ''Third Pointed'' and was employed over three centuries; the fan-vaulted staircase at [[Christ Church, Oxford]] built around 1640.<ref name=":04"/><ref name=":4" />

Lacey patterns of tracery continued to characterize continental Gothic building, with very elaborate and articulated vaulting, as at Saint Barbara's, Kutná Hora (1512).<ref name=":04"/> In certain areas, Gothic architecture continued to be employed until the 17th and 18th centuries, especially in provincial and ecclesiastical contexts, notably at [[Oxford]].<ref name=":04"/>

=== Decline and transition ===
{{see also|Post-Gothic}}

[[File:St.-Eustache.jpg|thumb|right|Paris, Saint-Eustache (1532–1633)]]
[[File:Stadt- und Residenzkirche Bückeburg.jpg|thumb|right|Bückeburg, Stadtkirche (1611–1615)]]

Beginning in the mid-15th century, the Gothic style gradually lost its dominance in Europe. It had never been popular in Italy, and in the mid-15th century the Italians, drawing upon ancient Roman ruins, returned to classical models. The dome of [[Florence Cathedral]] (1420–1436) by [[Filippo Brunelleschi]], inspired by the [[Pantheon, Rome]], was one of the first Renaissance landmarks, but it also employed Gothic technology; the outer skin of the dome was supported by a framework of twenty-four ribs.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=179}} In the 16th century, as [[Renaissance architecture]] from Italy began to appear in France and other countries in Europe. The Gothic style began to be described as outdated, ugly and even barbaric. The term "Gothic" was first used as a [[pejorative]] description. [[Giorgio Vasari]] used the term "barbarous German style" in his 1550 ''[[Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects|Lives of the Artists]]'' to describe what is now considered the Gothic style.{{sfn|Vasari|1991|pp=117, 527}} In the introduction to the ''Lives'' he attributed various architectural features to the [[Goths]] whom he held responsible for destroying the ancient buildings after they conquered [[Rome]], and erecting new ones in this style.{{sfn|Vasari|1907|p=83}} In the 17th century, [[Molière]] also mocked the Gothic style in the 1669 poem ''La Gloire'': "...the insipid taste of Gothic ornamentation, these odious monstrosities of an ignorant age, produced by the torrents of barbarism..."{{sfn|Grodecki|1977|p=9}} The dominant styles in Europe became in turn [[Italian Renaissance architecture]], [[Baroque architecture]], and the grand classicism of the ''[[style Louis XIV]]''.

The Kings of France had first-hand knowledge of the new Italian style, because of the military campaign of [[Charles VIII of France|Charles VIII]] to Naples and Milan (1494), and especially the campaigns of [[Louis XII of France|Louis XII]] and [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] (1500–1505) to restore French control over Milan and Genoa.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=210}} They brought back Italian paintings, sculpture and building plans, and, more importantly, Italian craftsmen and artists. The Cardinal [[Georges d'Amboise]], chief minister of Louis XII, built the [[Chateau of Gaillon]] near Rouen (1502–1510) with the assistance of Italian craftsmen. The [[Château de Blois]] (1515–1524) introduced the Renaissance loggia and open stairway. King Francois I installed [[Leonardo da Vinci]] at his [[Chateau of Chambord]] in 1516, and introduced a Renaissance [[long gallery]] at the [[Palace of Fontainebleau]] in 1528–1540. In 1546 Francois I began building the first example of French classicism, the square courtyard of the [[Louvre Palace]] designed by [[Pierre Lescot]].{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=211}}

Nonetheless, new Gothic buildings, particularly churches, continued to be built. New Gothic churches built in Paris in this period included [[Saint-Merri]] (1520–1552) and [[Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois]]. The first signs of classicism in Paris churches did not appear until 1540, at [[Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais]]. The largest new church, [[Saint-Eustache, Paris|Saint-Eustache]] (1532–1560), rivalled Notre-Dame in size, {{cvt|105|m|ft}} long, {{cvt|44|m|ft}} wide, and {{cvt|35|m|ft}} high. As construction of this church continued, elements of Renaissance decoration, including the system of classical orders of columns, were added to the design, making it a Gothic-Renaissance hybrid.{{Sfn|Texier|2012|pp=24–26}}

In Germany, some Italian elements were introduced at the Fugger Chapel of [[St. Anne's Church, Augsburg]], (1510–1512) combined with Gothic vaults; and others appeared in the Church of St. Michael in Munich, but in Germany Renaissance elements were used primarily for decoration.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=211}} Some Renaissance elements also appeared in Spain, in the new palace begun by Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] in Granada, within the [[Alhambra]] (1485–1550), inspired by Bramante and Raphael, but it was never completed.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=225}} The first major Renaissance work in Spain was [[El Escorial]], the monastery-palace built by [[Philip II of Spain]].{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=227}}

Under [[Henry VIII]] and [[Elizabeth I]], England was largely isolated from architectural developments on the continent. The first classical building in England was the [[Somerset House#Old Somerset House|Old Somerset House]] in London (1547–1552) (since demolished), built by [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset]], who was regent as [[Lord Protector]] for [[Edward VI]] until the young king came of age in 1547. Somerset's successor, [[John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland]], sent the architectural scholar [[John Shute (architect)|John Shute]] to Italy to study the style. Shute published the first book in English on classical architecture in 1570. The first English houses in the new style were [[Burghley House]] (1550s–1580s) and [[Longleat]], built by associates of Somerset.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=238}} With those buildings, a new age of architecture began in England.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=236}}

Gothic architecture, usually churches or university buildings, continued to be built. Ireland was an island of Gothic architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries, with the construction of [[St Columb's Cathedral|Derry Cathedral]] (completed 1633), [[St John the Baptist Cathedral, Sligo|Sligo Cathedral]] ({{circa|1730}}), and [[Down Cathedral]] (1790–1818) are other examples.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hunter |first=Bob |date=18 September 2014 |title=Londonderry Cathedtral |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/plantation/transcripts/pa01_t06.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925060817/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/plantation/transcripts/pa01_t06.shtml |archive-date=25 September 2015 |access-date=24 August 2015 |website=Wars & Conflict: The Plantation of Ulster |publisher=BBC}}</ref> In the 17th and 18th century several important Gothic buildings were constructed at [[Oxford University]] and [[Cambridge University]], including [[Tom Tower]] (1681–82) at [[Christ Church, Oxford]], by [[Christopher Wren]]. It also appeared, in a whimsical fashion, in [[Horace Walpole]]'s [[Twickenham]] [[villa]], [[Strawberry Hill House|Strawberry Hill]] (1749–1776). The two western towers of [[Westminster Abbey]] were constructed between 1722 and 1745 by [[Nicholas Hawksmoor]], opening a new period of [[Gothic Revival]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Gothic architecture survived the [[early modern period]] and flourished again in a revival from the late 18th century and throughout the 19th.<ref name=":04"/> ''Perpendicular'' was the first Gothic style revived in the 18th century.<ref name=":4" />