massive, and contained like the olderRomanesque style, but light, open, and aerial, and its appearance in all partsof Europe had an enduring effect on the outlook of succeeding generations.4Gothic architecture evolved at a time of profound social and economicchange in Western Europe. In the late eleventh and twelfth centuries trade andindustry were revived, particularly in northern Italy and Flanders, and a livelycommerce brought about better communications, not only between neighboring townsbut also between far-distant regions. Politically, the twelfth century wasalso the time of the expansion and consolidation of the State. Along withpolitical and economic developments, a powerful new intellectual movement arosethat was stimulated by the translation of ancient authors from Greek and Arabicinto Latin, and a new literature came into being. Gothic architecture bothcontributed to these changes and was affected by them.5The Gothic style was essentially urban. The cathedrals of course wereall situated in towns, and most monasteries, had by the twelfth century becomecenters of communities which possessed many of the functions of civic life.The cathedral or abbey church was the building in which the people congregatedon major feast days. It saw the start and the end of splendid and colorfulceremonies, and it held the earliest dramatic performances. The abbeytraditionally comprised at least a cloister, a dormitory and a refectory for themonks. But the cathedral also was around a complex of buildings, the bishop'spalace, a cloister and the house of canons, a school, a prison, and a hospital.However the cathedral dominated them all, rising high above the town like amarker to be seen from afar.6The architectural needs of the Church were expressed in both physicaland iconographical terms. Like its Romanesque predecessor, the Gothic cathedralwas eminently adaptable. It could be planned larger or smaller, longer orshorter, with or wi...
