Carolingian and Romanesque
The Carolingian dynasty of Charlemagne attempted a revival of the symbols of civilized authority by recourse to Roman or " Romanesque " models. Of this era, practically nothing remains visible, though the motifs of arch and vault are carried on in their simplest forms, and the semi circular apse and the basilican plan of nave and aisles persist as the basis of the succeeding phases of Christian architecture. An interesting anomaly is the plan of the church of St-Front at Perigueux, a copy of St Mark's in Venice, brought by trading influence west along the Garonne in the early twelfth century. Elsewhere development may be divided roughly north-south of the Loire. Southern Romanesque is naturally more Roman, with stone barrel vaults, aisleless naves and domes. St-Trophime at Arles (1150) has a porch directly derived from Roman models and, with the church at St-Gilles nearby, exhibits a delight in carved ornament peculiar to the south at this time. The cathedral at Angouleme typifies the use of all these elements. The south, too, was the readiest route for the introduction of new cultural developments, and it is here that the pointed arch and vault first appear - from Spanish Muslim sources - in churches such as Notre-Dame at Avignon, the cathedral at Autun and Ste-Madeleine at Vezelay (1089-1206), which contains the earliest pointed cross vault in France. In the north of the country, the nave with aisles is more usual, together with the development of twin western towers to mask the end of the aisles. The Abbaye-aux-Hommes at Caen (1066-77) is typical. It contains the elements later developed as "Gothic", in piers, pillars, buttresses, arcades, ribbed vaults and spires. The best examples may be found in Normandy, and it is from here, with the introduction of the pointed arch from the south, that the Gothic style developed.
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