The Medieval World

Romanesque Architecture

General Chronology:

Pre-Romanesque ca. 500-1000

Romanesque ca. 1000-1200

Gothic ca. 1200-1500

Romanesque buildings belong generally to the eleventh and twelfth centuries. They include a multitude of regional variations. This distinctive style drew many of its early forms from the previous Carolingian period (ca. 800-900), which began during the reign of great Charlemagne. The name literally refers to the intent of designing in the style or manner of Rome.

Carolingian and Romanesque architecture are characterized by:

1. Massive enclosure
2. Manifest verticality

The tower becomes a formal element of primary importance for the first time in the history of Western architecture.

Symbolic concepts:

1. Sacrum Palatium from Rome translated into the Romanesque church
2. Pentyrigion= a five-towered structure with a major central element.
3. Pentyrigion combined with longitudinal basilica.
4. Roman church as a stronghold and as gate to heaven.

Design and construction strategies:

1. Subdivision of principal volumes.
2. Rhythmic articulation.
3. Sculptural program.
4. One of the most important structural developments of the Romanesque era was the vault. Originally intended as an alternative to fire prone wooden roofs, vaults became a major innovation in architectural features through the ensuing centuries.

Building types of the period:

1. The church.
2. The castle

Feudalism, Monasticism, and the sacred landscape

The three pilgrimage places:

1. Rome
2. Jerusalem
3. St. James of Compostela

Monasticism

Invented in Egypt by St. Benedict of Nursia (480-553) who created the Benedictine Order.

Palatine Chapel, Aachen, Germany, 792-805

St. Gall, Switzerland, ca. 820

Mont St.-Michel, begun 1024

Abbey of Cluny, 1157

Examples of Romanesque Churches:

Ste. Madeleine,VÈzelay, France, ca. 1120

Cathedral, Speyer, 1029-61

Cathedral and belfry, Pisa, Italy, 1063-68; 1174

Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela (St. James), 1075

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Last time edited: 29 October 2002