Romanesque architecture

The Romanesque architectural style was common in Europe for only 150 years, from the mid-11th century to the end of the 12th century. The first Gothic cathedrals appeared in France in the middle of the 12th century, but until the end of the 12th century, Romanesque architecture prevailed in all countries of Europe.

The cathedrals, built in the Romanesque style, are distinguished by the massiveness of the walls. They look like powerful fortresses, where in case of danger, local residents could take refuge. Romanesque architecture combined the reliability and functionality that was necessary in those warlike times.

The term "Romanesque architecture" was coined in the 19th century. "Romanesque" means "Roman". Since the fall of Rome in 476, all medieval architecture has imitated Roman architecture for more than a thousand years. However, during the early Middle Ages, many of the building skills of the Roman era were lost. It was out of the question that medieval architects could build something comparable to the dome of the Pantheon.

The architects of the early Middle Ages built copy of the Roman basilicas. The first Christian churches were called "Basilica". However, they did not know how to make Roman arches, so the first basilicas had coffered ceilings. The ceilings were simply covered with wooden beams.

And by the middle of the 11th century, the skill of the architects had increased so much that they were able to revive the Roman vaults. This was the beginning of a new era in architecture. It can not be said that the architects of the early Middle Ages did not know how to make vaults at all. In the side aisles of churches and small chapels, they made vaults that did not carry the main load. But they did not risk making the central naves with vaults. The shape of the arch must be perfect, the blocks must fit exactly to each other, otherwise it will collapse.

The first Romanesque cathedrals

In the middle of the 11th century, France and Germany began to build cathedrals, where the main naves were vaulted. For a century and a half, thousands of them were built and many of them have survived to this day. In Byzantium, not much was built, and the scale of the buildings was not large. This indicates that in the 11th century, the level of economic development in Western Europe was significantly higher than in Eastern Europe. Byzantium was fading, and the European countries were gaining their power.

Some of the first large Romanesque cathedrals were built in the cities on the Rhine: Mainz, Worms and Spreer. In these cities was the Episcopal chairs. The nomadic court of the Holy Roman Emperors also stayed there for a long time. This title made the Emperor above the other kings of European countries, however, they had no real power and no real possessions.

Speer Cathedral was built in the period 1030-1103 and is the first large full-arched building in Germany. The cathedral is huge and the main nave is covered with beautiful arches of the Roman scale. The cathedrals in Mainz and Worms are heavily rebuilt, but they also retain their Romanesque appearance.

A characteristic architectural feature of Romanesque cathedrals is the structure of the arches. The cells of the vaults are twice wider than the arches of the lower tier. Two arches are placed under the span of each vault’s cell. This is due to the width of the side aisles is narrower than that of the central nave. The main vault is supported by every other column, and the side vaults are supported by every column. It looks very nice.

Over time, Romanesque cathedrals had ribs. These are the ribs of the arches, which more effectively extinguish the side pressure. One of the earliest Romanesque basilicas with ribs is the Basilica of Saint Ambrogio in Milan, where Ambrose of Mediolana is buried. Later, ribs appeared in Romanesque churches that were built in Burgundy. Later ribs became a mandatory element of Gothic cathedrals.

Over time, in Romanesque basilicas, there appeared the passages around the altar, where the chapels were located. In the Benedictine basilicas began to make pointed windows, and then pointed arches. With this type of arch, it was easier to extinguish the force of the side pressure, which presses on the walls.

Most of the elements that we are familiar with in Gothic churches appeared in Romanesque churches. However, there they were used separately from each other: pointed arches, ribs, triforium, bundles of columns. To get a Gothic look, it was necessary to put all these elements together. At one moment, this happened. All the elements put together, gave a fundamentally new type of architectural style.

Unified style of Romanesque churches

Over 150 years in the 11th and 12th centuries, thousands of Romanesque churches were built in Western Europe. All these churches are very similar to each other, except for some decorative details. Even more similar to each other were the Gothic cathedrals, which replaced the Romanesque ones. There, only specialists can find significant differences between cathedrals in different countries. Only in the Renaissance epoch in the architecture of different countries, such as Italy and Holland, appeared significant differences from each other. Why did this happen?

The lack of differences in Romanesque architecture in various countries of Western Europe is due to the fact that there were no nations and states within the usual borders at that time. The lands of Europe were owned by the feudal lords. Feudalism was an obstacle to the formation of nations, since a nation needs some kind of self-identification of people as a whole.

This requires a centralized authority that can establish this. But in many countries, dukes were more powerful than kings. If in our days wars are fought between countries, then in the Middle Ages feudal lords fought among themselves. Their possessions were located in certain countries, but they were de facto independent.

Nowadays, if people speak different languages, it means that they were born in different countries. If people in the Middle Ages did not understand each other, it spoke more about the differences in their social status. For a thousand years after the fall of Rome, Latin remained the main language of communication and especially of writing. There were no particular alternatives. The problem was compounded by the fact that in the Middle Ages there was no education system that taught at least a significant number of people.

There remained the Christian religion, which united the people of all Europe. Religious life occupied a much larger place than it does now. People all over Europe found their identity in Christianity. This explains the appearance of such a huge number of churches in all European countries, built according to the same canons, in the same architectural style. The architects of Europe did not know any other style. The Romanesque style was their first experience in the construction of large-scale buildings.