It was the Italians of the Renaissance that first referred to the art and architecture of the middle or medieval period as ‘gothic’ and it had little to do with the infamous Goths that sacked Rome in the 4^th century. In fact, ‘gothic’ was meant as a derogatory term for the heavy, dark and ornate decoration and symbolism that covered the churches and paintings of the middle ages. Stone roofs, flying buttresses, highly vaulted ceilings and pointed arches marked this change in architectural taste that the Renaissance men felt moved the art of building in the wrong direction after the end of the Romanesque period.

Despite such famous examples of Gothic architecture as Notre Dame Cathedral and York Minister Abbey, the Italians never really allowed the form to take hold in their region. Gothic architecture spread quickly across the rest of Europe during the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries bringing with it innovations in the designs of buildings, specifically churches and castles.

The flying buttress was introduced during the period as a way of providing extra support to high church and castle walls that had in the past buckled under the weight of the stones used in their construction. By attaching pillars of stone to the outside of the building, the Gothic architect was able to transfer the weight of the interior wall by a connecting arch to the pillars and increase the amount of available height and light inside the building. This innovation paved the way for the medieval stained glass window.

Pointed arches were another change from the preceding Romanesque period that had favored the rounded arch. The pointed arch allowed for higher arches that supported more weight and therefore more decorative application. They worked well with the flying buttress and by extending the height and width of a building, adding to its grandeur and the amount of light within its walls.

The ribbed vault also allowed for greater experimentation and artistic expression in Gothic architecture. By connecting three separate arches and having them traverse each other rather than one single arch, the ribbed vault provided better distribution of weight during construction and can be compared with the use of steel in the modern skyscraper: essential and strengthening.

The Cathedral at Notre Dame remains one of the most famous examples of the Gothic style. Within the high and impressive walls of this medieval cathedral, Napoleon was crowned in 1804 showing that centuries after it was built in 1160s, Notre Dame was well regarded for its beauty and permanence among the French landscape. Highlighting all the innovations of the Gothic period from flying buttresses and stained glass windows to pointed arches and ribbed vaults, Notre Dame has both inspired architects and engineers as well as writers and composers.

The church and castle of the medieval period were not only designed to impress but also to intimidate. The Roman Catholic church of the period wanted to instill a sense of fear and awe of a god just out of reach to the layman, thereby impressing the importance of the pope and his various cadres. The medieval castle was a show of strength meant to deter any wayward rival from making an attack. For the most part, the effect seems to have worked with many examples of Gothic architecture surviving unharmed until the modern period when the bombs and bullets of the first and second world wars caused major damage to some of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in existence.

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So it was that Gothic architecture pulled away from the sense of balance and smooth lines that had ingratiated European and Near Eastern design for centuries and moved the continent into a moodier, more self expressive form of architecture that allowed many artist and engineers to see that Roman styles were not the only ones available anymore. The unconscious colonialism of the Roman Empire was not so deeply embedded in the European psyche as it had once been. Well, if we discount the Italians of the Renaissance that is.

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