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Medieval Architecture: The Cathedrals of Europe
Why medieval cathedrals were built, who paid for them, how long they took, and what they meant to the towns that grew up around them across Europe.
Buildings and Art
Cathedrals and Gothic
The great churches and the Gothic style in building and art.
Medieval Architecture: The Gothic Style
A visitor's guide to recognizing Gothic architecture: pointed arches, ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, big windows, and how the style changed by period and region.
Medieval Art and Architecture: A Reflection of Faith
How Christian belief and worship shaped medieval church plans, light, decoration and symbolism, from the east-facing altar to portals showing the Last Judgment.
Medieval Art: The Rise of the Gothic Style
How Gothic style shaped medieval sculpture, stained glass and painting, from stiff column figures at Chartres to graceful, naturalistic saints and court art.
The Gothic Architecture of the Middle Ages
How Gothic buildings stand up: the engineering logic of pointed arches, ribbed vaults, flying buttresses and large windows, and how medieval masons built them.
The Rise of the Gothic Architecture: A New Style of Building in Medieval Europe
Where Gothic building began in twelfth-century France, from Abbot Suger's work at Saint-Denis to Sens and Paris, and how the style spread across Europe.
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Castles Design, defense and daily life inside medieval castles. Architecture Styles Romanesque, Gothic and the building methods behind them. Art and Iconography Manuscripts, symbols and the visual language of medieval art. Illuminated Manuscripts Hand-made decorated books, their materials and their survival.