What Are The Stave Churches In The Middle Ages

Beginning in the Middle Ages and through the seventeenth centuries, witch trials occurred in Europe. Many people were accused of being witches some of these people were accused of being witches for not following Christian beliefs at that time and others followed witch prosecutions for goods and money. Furthermore, the stereotypes of witches at this period also had a role in causing witch prosecutions. In this essay I argue how these three components led to the death of so-called witches. Firstly, I will discuss how the Catholic Church had an impact on most prosecutions. Secondly, I will explain how social stereotypes of that period have also influenced with the causes of prosecution of many alleged witches. Thirdly, I will discuss how

Ziggy Marley once said, “God is like the sun. When the sun shines, it shines for everyone. God is for everyone.” In the same way, Abbot Suger built the Basilica of St. Denis so that sunlight would flood throughout the building and symbolize the power of God inviting visitors into the cathedral. The Basilica of St. Denis was an artistic response to the rise of the Catholic Church’s power for it was modeled to be a physical representation of heaven, which the church heavily preached upon. (Thesis) As the basilica represented the shift from Romanesque architecture to Gothic, Abbot Suger introduced new techniques that transformed cathedrals to look more spacious and “heavenly”. (Map Statement #1-Art History) By allowing sunlight to come

Robert A. Scott wrote The Gothic Enterprise in an attempt to give readers a bit of insight into the world of cathedrals. He moves from topic to topic, explaining how Gothic Cathedrals came to be, how they were constructed, and who ran them. Two course themes very applicable to Scott’s text are “How Technologies Develop” and “Technology and the Environment.” Over the nearly 500 year period of cathedral building, technologies to make the process easier were developed. For example, the windlass were used to hoist the heaver timbers up to the roofs of the cathedrals. Flying buttresses were also put in place after wind started to become a problem with the building of the spires. This environmental problem, along with others such as flooding at the

The New Cathedral is a prime example of Gothic architecture. Much of the cathedral is covered

Religion has always been a part of our identity. Today, the population wander around the world seeing these wonderful churches and religious buildings all around us. The architectural style of the Middle Ages was very prominent: high stone vaults, internal elevations of multiple stories, rounded arches, and thick walls. This was characterized as Romanesque architecture. Suger revolutionized everything. He reworked these ideas and introduced, to the world, what is now known as the Gothic architectural style.

Near the end of the 11th century, we see the style of Romanesque architecture transfigure into what is known as the Gothic era, introduced by Abbot Suger during his rebuilding of the Abbey of St. Denis. Looking at the basilica of St. Sernin de Toulouse (1080-1120), named after the bishop who was apprehended by the former Pagan priest when Christianity was illegal, we can see the basilica is itself in shape of the cross. There are also five aisles, to suggest the five wounds of Christ, five entryways (Soltes, 12, 3:25). The most notable difference between a Romanesque church and a Gothic one can be seen in the arches. Gothic arches, ogives they’re named, are pointed instead of rounded, giving a new criss-cross pattern, as exampled in the Chartres Cathedral (12th century) (Soltes, 12, 10:40). New patterns can also be found in the buttressing, where instead of holding the framework directly through the walls, the Gothic structure works from the roof and down as if flying away, coining the term the flying buttresses (Soltes, 12, 11:15). This sort of buttressing is competent for

“Stories about architecture are stories about people,” said David Macaulay, author of Cathedral (4). The intention of cathedrals was to draw people, and in turn inspire those who came to pray, learn, and worship (Macaulay, Cathedral 4). Cathedrals remain inspirational in their enormous scale and overpowering beauty, and that these places of worship are still standing after many centuries show a level of determination and integrity in those that built the edifices (Macaulay, Cathedral 4). Architect Vitruvius wrote, “All the buildings have two components: The building itself and an idea that its architecture tried to express” (McNamara 6). People build churches because they believed in something (McNamara 6). In David Macaulay’s book, Built to Last, he says the mindset behind building cathedrals was that of honor and dedication. Macaulay’s research noted that, “The new cathedral would be built to the glory of God, and it mattered little that it might take more than one hundred years to construct it” (Macaulay, Built to Last 98). However, there is more to cathedrals than just building something grand and beautiful to honor God. Churches and cathedrals were built to be packed with meaning (Taylor 1), and were used to illustrate key points of Christian teaching through the use of imagery (Taylor 5). Cathedrals were a place to immerse individuals in worship. Religious parents encourage their children to pray, take them to church and to religious events (Newberg and

The Catholic Church and religion alone, dominated the western parts of the world in 590 to 1517 AD (Jack L. Arnold). England began to create a complex hierarchy and the pope was the higher power of it. Within the religion of being a Roman Catholic, there are many ways of worshipping. However, over the time period of 11th and 12th centuries, there was lots of arguments over how many sacraments there are. The Protestants believed there were two sacrament while the Catholics believed there were seven. The Council of Trent eventually ended the controversy and declared the seven sacraments as Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Marriage and Holy Orders.

This style was very popular in early western Canada as it uses materials that are effortlessly accessible and it is relatively uncomplicated. The structure of the church also consisted of, wood construction, pointed arch windows, separate entry porch and attached haven (Midnapore Church of England Society, 2014). Today in order to keep these styles of churches functioning, they had to be altered slightly. These altercations included general construction consisting of stone.

The Cathedral was a symbol of authority and religious achievement to people of the Middle Ages. Both Romanesque and Gothic style cathedrals are monuments to the skill and creativity of medieval people. Upon entering a Romanesque or Gothic style cathedral, one would have noticed that the function of these houses of worship is very similar. They are each an urban religious center in which priests conducted masses. Upon further examination of the sculptures and the different structures that embody them, one would have found that they differ quite dramatically.

The Gothic style, dating between the 12th century and 16th century, began in France and eventually spread throughout the rest of Europe. An example of the first true Gothic church was St. Denis of Paris. Now, it is considered one of our finest artistic periods, but at the time, the term “gothic” did not exactly hold the same meaning it does today. The name came from the Goths and was used rather negatively when describing this style of architecture as they considered it to be similar to the works of the barbarians from which the name was derived.

Religion experienced a lot of progress and transformation throughout the Middle Ages. Christianity held consistent popularity and other religions such as Islam were on the rise in participation. After the fall of Rome, there was no unified state or government in Europe and the Catholic Church used that opportunity to become a large powerhouse. The Roman Empire had effectively split into three different worlds: Muslim, Byzantine, and western European. Various Kings, Queens, and other leaders looked to the Catholic church for power and protection in exchange for alliances. Meanwhile, the Islamic religion was growing in wealth, power, and people. With the prophet Muhammad’s death in 632, Muslim groups took under large parts of land and united them under a single caliph. The Byzantines were still operating from Constantinople, just under a smaller rule and rural life assumed greater importance in the backbone of their society. Religion was largely involved in the Middle Ages’ art and architecture. Massive Cathedrals were built and even books were a work of art before the invention of the printing press. In addition, their economy was directly affected by religious activity such as missions and conquests. Overall, the general trends marking the progress religion in the Middle Ages are inclusion of everyone, a building of a community, and the opportunity of becoming equals with other practitioners.

I also thought it was interesting to learn that the abbey church of Saint Dennis was the first introduction of Gothic architecture. Another interesting thing that I wanted to point out was, that many of the churches, including the abbey church of Saint Dennis and the Chartres Cathedral, "had lengthy construction histories" (Kleiner 379). But, one church, in particular, had a fairly quick construction time frame. The Laon Cathedral, pictured below, is an example of a church that began construction around 1160 and the construction was quickly completed, by 1200. Besides, Gothic architectural features, the Laon Cathedral also demonstrates some Romanesque features, including, "nave bays with large sexpartite rib vaults" (Kleiner 379). The textbook

The Gothic style was an over exaggerated, awe-inspiring attempt to become closer to God. The worshipper was not only drawn to the altar, but experienced an ascent to heaven at the same time.1 These artistic gems are a grand testament to historical technology and the imaginative approach and vision of skilled craftsmen. The gothic style is one of the most

All over the world, people still come to admire the beauty of European cathedrals. Many of the cathedrals are fragile due to age, neglect, pollution, and insufficient funds available to restore these historical and magnificent buildings. Nevertheless, visitors to these architectural masterpieces are fascinated by the design and structure of these churches. The cathedral builders using their own ingenuity, expertise, and limited resources were able to defy the laws of gravity and time. (Icher 30)