Editing Gothic architecture (section)

=== 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–)]]