ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE

HISTARC2 DFR4B GRP. 1

THE ARCHITECTURAL STYLE OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE

1000 – 1200 B.C.

OUTLINE

• SETTING (HISTORY OF SOCIETY)• RELIGION• “ROMANESQUE”• MATERIALS• CHARACTERISTICS• ARCHES, COLUMNS, PLANS• BUILDING TYPES and EXAMPLES

SETTING

MIGRATION AND INVASION OF TRIBES = DECLINE OF ROME AND BEGINNING OF DARK AGES

SETTING – THE CRUSADES• Were a series of

religiously sanctioned military campaigns waged by western Christian Europe

• Objective: To restore Christian Control over the Holy Land

• Effect: Brought about different movements resulting in “roman-like” decoration of buildings

RELIGION

ACROSS EUROPE, THE LATE 11TH AND 12TH CENTURIES SAW AN UNPRECEDENTED

GROWTH IN THE NUMBER OF CHURCHES

RELIGION IN THE MIDDLE AGES

• Christianity was the chief source of education and culture.

• THE MONASTIC SYSTEM– Religious became members of an order with

common ties and a common rule, living in a mutually dependent community.

– Promoted new methods in agriculture.– Exercised influence on architecture

• THE PILGRIMAGE– Long trips to visit the relics of Saints– Allowed for the exchange of ideas, including those

of architecture and construction.– The Pilgrims’ way was filled with Romanesque

churches, monasteries, inns, and castles.

ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE

WHY “ROMANESQUE”?

• Romanesque = “Roman- like” • This style grew in those countries of Western

Europe which had been under the rule of Rome.

• With the church as the unifying force, this period was devoted to the glorification of Christianity and the church was the predominant building type.

CLIMATE AND MATERIALS• Use of Local

materials:– Stone– Brick–Marble – Terra-cotta– Ready- made

columns

• Climactic conditions contribute to differences of treatment north and south of the Alps & Pyrenees.

• North – Window openings were enlarged

- High pitched roofs South – small window

openings - Flat Roofs

CHARACTERISTICS

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF ROMANESQUE WALLS, OPENINGS, ROOFS, COLUMNS,

MOULDINGS, AND ORNAMENTS

ARCHES, COLUMNS, PLANS

BUILDING TYPES AND OTHER EXAMPLES

FIN.

Questions

1. These were a series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns waged by

western Christian Europe.

2. These were long trips to visit the relics of Saints

3. Give 2 local materials used for construction.

4. Give 2 characteristics of Romanesque Architecture.

5. What is the literal meaning of “Romanesque”?

sources• Conant, Kenneth J., Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture: 800 to 1200 (4th,

illustrated, reprint ed.). Yale University Press. 1993. ISBN 978-0-300-05298-5• V.I. Atroshenko and Judith Collins, The Origins of the Romanesque, Lund Humphries,

London, 1985, ISBN 0-85331-487-X• Rolf Toman, Romanesque: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Könemann, (1997), ISBN 3-

89508-447-6• Banister Fletcher, A History of Architecture on the Comparative method (2001). Elsevier

Science & Technology. ISBN 0-7506-2267-9.• Alfred Clapham, Romanesque Architecture in England British Council (1950)• Helen Gardner; Fred S. Kleiner, Christin J. Mamiya, Gardner's Art through the Ages.

Thomson Wadsworth, (2004) ISBN 0-15-505090-7.• George Holmes, editor, The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe, Oxford

University Press, (1992) ISBN 0-19-820073-0• René Huyghe, Larousse Encyclopedia of Byzantine and Medieval Art, Paul Hamlyn, (1958)• François Ischer, Building the Great Cathedrals. Harry N. Abrams, (1998). ISBN 0-8109-

4017-5.