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91-597: The castle, abbey, church, and surrounding buildings are exceptionally well preserved and are masterpieces of Romanesque architecture . As a result, and because of their historical importance, the buildings were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. Quedlinburg Abbey was founded on the castle hill of Quedlinburg in the present Saxony-Anhalt in 936 by King Otto I , at the request of his mother Queen Mathilda , later canonised as Saint Mathilda, in honour of her late husband, Otto's father, King Henry

182-455: A carved central jamb. Narrow doors and small windows might be surmounted by a solid stone lintel. Larger openings are nearly always arched. A characteristic feature of Romanesque architecture, both ecclesiastic and domestic, is the pairing of two arched windows or arcade openings, separated by a pillar or colonette and often set within a larger arch. Ocular windows are common in Italy, particularly in

273-573: A common rule, living in a mutually dependent community, rather than as a group of hermits living in proximity but essentially separate, was established by the monk Benedict in the 6th century. The Benedictine monasteries spread from Italy throughout Europe, being always by far the most numerous in England. They were followed by the Cluniac order, the Cistercians , Carthusians and Augustinian Canons . During

364-490: A fully illustrated manuscript of the two books of Samuel and the two books of Kings must have looked like". The style suggests it may have been made by the same workshop responsible for the Vergilius Vaticanus , and has links with the mosaics of Santa Maria Maggiore . According to Kitzinger: "Evidently this book was commissioned by a patron who belonged to the same social stratum as the sponsors of de luxe editions of

455-571: A great number of antique Roman columns were salvaged and reused in the interiors and on the porticos of churches. The most durable of these columns are of marble and have the stone horizontally bedded. The majority are vertically bedded and are sometimes of a variety of colours. They may have retained their original Roman capitals, generally of the Corinthian or Roman Composite style. Some buildings, like Santa Maria in Cosmedin (illustrated above) and

546-509: A half-column supporting the arch. There are many variations on this theme, most notably at Durham Cathedral where the mouldings and shafts of the piers are of exceptional richness and the huge masonry columns are deeply incised with geometric patterns. Often the arrangement was made more complex by the complexity of the piers themselves, so that it was not piers and columns that alternated, but rather, piers of entirely different form from each other, such as those of Sant' Ambrogio, Milan , where

637-413: A horizontal moulding representing a capital at the springing of the arch. Sometimes piers have vertical shafts attached to them, and may also have horizontal mouldings at the level of the base. Although basically rectangular, piers can often be of highly complex form, with half-segments of large hollow-core columns on the inner surface supporting the arch, or a clustered group of smaller shafts leading into

728-602: A lack of living space within the walls, and resulted in a style of town house that was tall and narrow, often surrounding communal courtyards, as at San Gimignano in Tuscany and Bologna and Pavia in Lombardy . In Germany, the Holy Roman Emperors built a number of residences, fortified, but essentially palaces rather than castles, at strategic points and on trade routes. The Imperial Palace of Goslar (heavily restored in

819-475: A large Imperial monastery, where the manuscript may well have spent much of its life. The abbey is also known as the home of the Annals of Quedlinburg ( Latin : Annales Quedlinburgenses , German : Quedlinburger Annalen ), begun in 1008 and finished in 1030 in the abbey, quite possibly by a female writer. Quedlinburg was well suited for gathering information on current political affairs, given its connections to

910-630: A large number remain either substantially intact or sympathetically restored, demonstrating the form, character and decoration of Romanesque church architecture. Romanesque architecture was the first distinctive style to spread across Europe since the Roman Empire . With the decline of Rome, Roman building methods survived to an extent in Western Europe, where successive Merovingian , Carolingian and Ottonian architects continued to build large stone buildings such as monastery churches and palaces. In

1001-418: A monastic complex, with all its various monastic buildings and their functions labelled. The largest building is the church, the plan of which is distinctly Germanic, having an apse at both ends, an arrangement not generally seen elsewhere. Another feature of the church is its regular proportion, the square plan of the crossing tower providing a module for the rest of the plan. These features can both be seen at

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1092-511: A single piece of stone were frequently used in Italy, as they had been in Roman and Early Christian architecture. They were also used, particularly in Germany, when they alternated between more massive piers. Arcades of columns cut from single pieces are also common in structures that do not bear massive weights of masonry, such as cloisters, where they are sometimes paired. In Italy, during this period,

1183-497: A site of pilgrimage for Germans. During archaeological excavations, the remains of the king were allegedly found and, in 1937, reinterred in a new sarcophagus. After the war, this sarcophagus and its content, a rather clumsy fake, were removed; remains are on display in the museum. Other burials: 51°47′09″N 11°08′13″E  /  51.7859444444°N 11.1368055556°E  / 51.7859444444; 11.1368055556 Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture

1274-499: A third stage of window openings known as the clerestory rising above them. Arcading on a large scale generally fulfils a structural purpose, but it is also used, generally on a smaller scale, as a decorative feature, both internally and externally where it is frequently " blind arcading " with only a wall or a narrow passage behind it. In Romanesque architecture, piers were often employed to support arches. They were built of masonry and square or rectangular in section, generally having

1365-429: A wine-skin." This suggests that the programme of images was newly devised for this volume, rather than merely copying an earlier work. This, the usual conclusion, was disputed by Ernst Kitzinger , who argued that they were to aid the artist who was copying images from the different format of a scroll . However Walter Cahn sees the instructions as far more detailed than would be needed for that. Whether original or not,

1456-417: Is a direct imitation of Islamic architecture . At other late Romanesque churches such as Durham Cathedral , and Cefalù Cathedral , the pointed arch was introduced as a structural device in ribbed vaulting. Its increasing application was fundamental to the development of Gothic architecture . An arcade is a row of arches, supported on piers or columns. They occur in the interior of large churches, separating

1547-438: Is a significant Romanesque building. Construction of the three-nave basilica on the remains of three predecessor buildings began sometime before 997 and finished in 1021. The immediate predecessor building where Henry I was initially buried in 936 in front of the main altar had been a small three-aisled church with narrow side aisles. In 961 the remains of St Servatius were brought from Maastricht to Quedlinburg. The basilica

1638-612: Is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Romanesque is characterized by semicircular arches , while the Gothic is marked by the pointed arches . The Romanesque emerged nearly simultaneously in multiple countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain); its examples can be found across

1729-427: Is in a "superior uncial script", while the instructions to the artist are in "an eccentric Roman cursive". The full extent of the original manuscript is not known. Some of the episodes illustrated are very minor, suggesting that the whole manuscript may have been illustrated at this density, which is greater than any later Biblical manuscript; according to Kurt Weitzmann "It staggers the imagination to picture what

1820-674: Is often divided into two periods known as the " First Romanesque " style and the "Romanesque" style. The difference is chiefly a matter of the expertise with which the buildings were constructed. The First Romanesque employed rubble walls, smaller windows and unvaulted roofs. A greater refinement marks the Second Romanesque, along with increased use of the vault and dressed stone. The walls of Romanesque buildings are often of massive thickness with few and comparatively small openings. They are often double shells, filled with rubble. The building material differs greatly across Europe, depending upon

1911-460: Is one of simplicity when compared with the Gothic buildings that were to follow. The style can be identified right across Europe, despite regional characteristics and different materials. Many castles were built during this period, but they are greatly outnumbered by churches. The most significant are the great abbey churches, many of which are still standing, more or less complete and frequently in use. The enormous quantity of churches built in

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2002-491: Is the oldest surviving illustrated biblical manuscript and has been in the Berlin State Library since 1875-76. The pages are approximately 305 x 205 mm large. The fragments were found from 1865 onwards (two in 1865, two in 1867, one in 1887) re-used in the bindings of different books that had been bound in the 17th century in the town of Quedlinburg , home of Quedlinburg Abbey , a large Imperial monastery, where

2093-540: Is typical of the churches that were founded on the pilgrim route. The general impression given by Romanesque architecture, in both ecclesiastical and secular buildings, is one of massive solidity and strength. In contrast with both the preceding Roman and later Gothic architecture , in which the load-bearing structural members are, or appear to be, columns, pilasters and arches, Romanesque architecture, in common with Byzantine architecture , relies upon its walls, or sections of walls called piers. Romanesque architecture

2184-533: Is used by the Lutheran Evangelical Church in Germany . Since 1994, the church has been a World Heritage Site designated by UNESCO . It is also a designated stop on the tourist route Romanesque Road . The graves of Heinrich der Vogler (Henry the Fowler), King of East Francia and his wife Mathilda are located in the crypt of the church. Heinrich's grave only contains a battered empty stone coffin;

2275-846: The Bishop of Halberstadt , and subject to no superior except the Pope. The Bishops of Halberstadt were constantly engaged in a dispute with the abbesses, as they claimed to have spiritual jurisdiction over the abbey. The abbess, as head of an Imperial Abbey, had a seat and voice at the Imperial Diet . She sat on the Bench of the Prelates of the Rhineland of the Ecclesiastical Bench of the College of Ruling Princes. During

2366-683: The Crusades , the military orders of the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar were founded. The monasteries, which sometimes also functioned as cathedrals, and the cathedrals that had bodies of secular clergy often living in community, were a major source of power in Europe. Bishops and the abbots of important monasteries lived and functioned like princes. The monasteries were the major seats of learning of all sorts. Benedict had ordered that all

2457-690: The Kingdom of Germany giving rise to the Holy Roman Empire . The invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy , in 1066, saw the building of both castles and churches that reinforced the Norman presence. Several significant churches that were built at this time were founded by rulers as seats of temporal and religious power, or places of coronation and burial. These include the Abbaye-Saint-Denis , Speyer Cathedral and Westminster Abbey (where little of

2548-500: The Pyrenees and converged into a single stream to traverse north-western Spain. Along the route they were urged on by those pilgrims returning from the journey. On each of the routes abbeys such as those at Moissac , Toulouse , Roncesvalles , Conques , Limoges and Burgos catered for the flow of people and grew wealthy from the passing trade. Saint-Benoît-du-Sault , in the Berry province,

2639-643: The Reformation the abbey became Protestant, under Abbess Anna II (Countess of Stolberg) . In the course of the German Mediatisation of 1802 and 1803 the Imperial Abbey was secularized and its territory, properties and subjects were absorbed by the Kingdom of Prussia as the Principality of Quedlinburg . Between 1807 and 1813 it belonged to the short-lived French puppet state Kingdom of Westphalia . In

2730-658: The Twelve Apostles . Santiago de Compostela , located in the Kingdom of Galicia (present day Galicia , Spain) became one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Europe. Most of the pilgrims travelled the Way of St. James on foot, many of them barefooted as a sign of penance. They moved along one of the four main routes that passed through France, congregating for the journey at Jumièges , Paris, Vézelay , Cluny , Arles and St. Gall in Switzerland. They crossed two passes in

2821-446: The reliquary of Saint Servatius, from the time of Charles the Bald ; the 9th century Samuhel Evangeliary ( Samuhel Evangeliar ); the printed St. Wipert's Evangeliary ( Evangelistar aus St Wiperti ) of 1513; and a liturgical ivory comb . The stolen items reappeared in 1987 and after much litigation were returned to the church in 1993. The most famous illuminated manuscript associated with

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2912-463: The "Cluny II" rebuilding of 963 onwards has completely vanished, but we have a good idea of the design of "Cluny III" from 1088 to 1130, which until the Renaissance remained the largest building in Europe. However, the church of St. Sernin at Toulouse , 1080–1120, has remained intact and demonstrates the regularity of Romanesque design with its modular form, its massive appearance and the repetition of

3003-505: The 19th century) was built in the early 11th century by Otto III and Henry III, while the ruined Palace at Gelnhausen was received by Frederick Barbarossa prior to 1170. The movement of people and armies also brought about the building of bridges, some of which have survived, including the 12th-century bridge at Besalú , Catalonia , the 11th-century Puente de la Reina, Navarre and the Pont-Saint-Bénézet, Avignon . Across Europe,

3094-685: The 6th-century octagonal Byzantine Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna being the inspiration for the greatest building of the Early Middle Ages in Europe, the Emperor Charlemagne 's Palatine Chapel, Aachen , Germany, built around the year AD 800. Dating shortly after the Palatine Chapel is a remarkable 9th-century Swiss manuscript known as the Plan of Saint Gall and showing a very detailed plan of

3185-607: The 8th and the 10th centuries in the Iberian Peninsula while " First Romanesque " is applied to buildings in north of Italy and Spain and parts of France that have Romanesque features but pre-date the influence of the Abbey of Cluny . The Romanesque style in England and Sicily is still referred to as Norman architecture . A "dazzling" style developed in Pisa in the mid-11th century is called " Pisan Romanesque ". Eric Fernie writes that by

3276-547: The Alps, a very important group of large city churches survived largely intact. As monasticism spread across Europe, Romanesque churches sprang up in Scotland, Scandinavia, Poland, Hungary, Sicily, Serbia and Tunisia. Several important Romanesque churches were built in the Crusader kingdoms . The system of monasticism in which the religious become members of an order, with common ties and

3367-611: The Classical than those in England. Quedlinburg Itala fragment The Quedlinburg Itala fragment (Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Cod. theol. lat. fol. 485) is a fragment of six folios from a large 5th-century illuminated manuscript of an Old Latin Itala translation of parts of 1 Samuel of the Old Testament. It was probably produced in Rome in the 420s or 430s. It

3458-474: The Crusades could be suitably commemorated by their family in a work of stone and mortar. The Crusades resulted in the transfer of, among other things, a great number of Holy Relics of saints and apostles . Many churches, like Saint-Front, Périgueux , had their own home grown saint while others, most notably Santiago de Compostela , claimed the remains and the patronage of a powerful saint, in this case one of

3549-572: The Fowler , and as his memorial. Henry was buried here, as was Mathilda herself. In the early and high Middle Ages, next to the abbey there was an imperial palace in Quedlinburg (a Kaiserpfalz ), which was often used by the Holy Roman Emperor for Easter celebrations. The later " Kaiserlich freie weltliche Reichsstift Quedlinburg " ("Free secular Imperial abbey of Quedlinburg"), as its full style

3640-656: The Hellenized Jewish world. The Books of Kings feature strongly in the uniquely extensive wall-paintings of the Dura-Europos Synagogue from the 3rd century. The figures have landscape backgrounds, "atmospheric, autumnal settings, with softly shaded skies of pink and light blue", that are "very close" to those of the Vergilius Vaticanus, whereas the Santa Maria Maggiore mosaics see the beginning of

3731-522: The Imperial family and the proximity of Magdeburg , an Imperial centre. The "Annals" are mostly concerned with the history of the Holy Roman Empire . The collegiate church or Stiftskirche St. Servatius , is sometimes colloquially referred to in German as Quedlinburger Dom (Quedlinburg Cathedral), although it was never the seat of a bishop. It is dedicated to Saint Servatius of Tongeren and Saint Denis and

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3822-515: The Pre-Conquest church now remains). At a time when the remaining architectural structures of the Roman Empire were falling into decay and much of its learning and technology lost, the building of masonry domes and the carving of decorative architectural details continued unabated, though greatly evolved in style since the fall of Rome, in the enduring Byzantine Empire . The domed churches of Constantinople and Eastern Europe were to greatly affect

3913-531: The Proto-Romanesque St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim , 1001–1030. Architecture of a Romanesque style also developed simultaneously in the north of Italy, parts of France and in the Iberian Peninsula in the 10th century and prior to the later influence of the Abbey of Cluny . The style, sometimes called First Romanesque or Lombard Romanesque , is characterised by thick walls, lack of sculpture and

4004-433: The Romanesque period was succeeded by the still busier period of Gothic architecture, which partly or entirely rebuilt most Romanesque churches in prosperous areas like England and Portugal. The largest groups of Romanesque survivors are in areas that were less prosperous in subsequent periods, including parts of southern France , rural Spain and rural Italy. Survivals of unfortified Romanesque secular houses and palaces, and

4095-399: The aisles helped to buttress the nave, if it was vaulted. In the cases where half-barrel vaults were used, they effectively became like flying buttresses . Often aisles extended through two storeys, rather than the one usual in Gothic architecture, so as to better support the weight of a vaulted nave. In the case of Durham Cathedral, flying buttresses have been employed, but are hidden inside

4186-451: The arcades that separate large interior spaces of castles, is the alternation of piers and columns. The most simple form that this takes is to have a column between each adjoining pier. Sometimes the columns are in multiples of two or three. At St. Michael's, Hildesheim , an A B B A alternation occurs in the nave while an A B A alternation can be seen in the transepts. At Jumièges there are tall drum columns between piers each of which has

4277-400: The architectural style which flourished across Europe from the 11th to the 13th century, and is distinguished from the Gothic style that followed by semi-circular arches and more massive forms. The development of vaults from barrel and groin vaults to ribbed vaults was the main structural innovation of this period. The distinction between the style of architecture now known as Romanesque, and

4368-470: The architecture of certain towns, particularly through trade and through the Crusades . The most notable single building that demonstrates this is St Mark's Basilica , Venice , but there are many lesser-known examples, particularly in France, such as the church of Saint-Front , Périgueux and Angoulême Cathedral . Much of Europe was affected by feudalism in which peasants held tenure from local rulers over

4459-422: The arts were to be taught and practiced in the monasteries. Within the monasteries books were transcribed by hand, and few people outside the monasteries could read or write. In France, Burgundy was the centre of monasticism. The enormous and powerful monastery at Cluny was to have lasting effect on the layout of other monasteries and the design of their churches. Very little of the abbey church at Cluny remains;

4550-551: The atrium at San Clemente in Rome, may have an odd assortment of columns in which large capitals are placed on short columns and small capitals are placed on taller columns to even the height. Architectural compromises of this type are seen where materials have been salvaged from a number of buildings. Salvaged columns were also used to a lesser extent in France. In most parts of Europe, Romanesque columns were massive, as they supported thick upper walls with small windows, and sometimes heavy vaults. The most common method of construction

4641-407: The beginning of the 21st century there is "something like agreement" on the characteristics of the Romanesque style. Some researchers argue that due to an "astonishing diversity" of the Romanesque buildings, a unanimous definition is impossible: "[n]o single model, no single rule, ever seems adequate to prevail", and the Romanesque should be treated as a "collection of trends". Despite disagreement,

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4732-559: The building of castles at strategic points, many of them being constructed as strongholds of the Normans, descendants of the Vikings who invaded northern France under Rollo in 911. Political struggles also resulted in the fortification of many towns, or the rebuilding and strengthening of walls that remained from the Roman period. One of the most notable surviving fortifications is that of the city of Carcassonne . The enclosure of towns brought about

4823-551: The classics and who shared many of the same cultural values". The other very early illustrated biblical manuscripts that have survived are similar densely illustrated texts of specific books from the Old Testament , mostly the Book of Genesis ( Vienna Genesis , Cotton Genesis ), which, with some specific details of the illustrations, leads scholars to postulate an earlier tradition of Jewish luxury manuscripts, perhaps in scroll format, in

4914-569: The continent, making it the first pan-European architectural style since Imperial Roman architecture . Similarly to Gothic, the name of the style was transferred onto the contemporary Romanesque art . Combining features of ancient Roman and Byzantine buildings and other local traditions, Romanesque architecture is known by its massive quality, thick walls, round arches, sturdy pillars , barrel vaults , large towers and decorative arcading . Each building has clearly defined forms, frequently of very regular, symmetrical plan. The overall appearance

5005-419: The development of the modern English meaning of the word involved primarily two steps: The French term " romane " was first used in the architectural sense by archaeologist Charles de Gerville in a letter of 18 December 1818 to Auguste Le Prévost to describe what Gerville sees as a debased Roman architecture . In an 1823 public lecture (published in 1824) Gerville's friend Arcisse de Caumont adopted

5096-529: The domestic quarters of monasteries are far rarer, but these used and adapted the features found in church buildings, on a domestic scale. The French term " romane " or the English Romanesque , meaning "in the manner of Romans", has been used to describe the architectural style of the Mediaeval era, preceding the more easily recognizable Gothic architecture, since early in the 19th century. It describes

5187-420: The famous abbeys of Aux Dames and Les Hommes at Caen and Mont Saint-Michel date from this period, as well as the abbeys of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela . Many cathedrals owe their foundation to this date, with others beginning as abbey churches, and later becoming cathedrals. In England, of the cathedrals of ancient foundation, all were begun in this period with the exception of Salisbury, where

5278-454: The façade gable and are also seen in Germany. Later Romanesque churches may have wheel windows or rose windows with plate tracery . There are a very small number of buildings in the Romanesque style, such as Autun Cathedral in France and Monreale Cathedral in Sicily in which pointed arches have been used extensively, apparently for stylistic reasons. It is believed that in these cases there

5369-407: The first decades after the foundation the community was favoured by numerous gifts of land, particularly from the Imperial family. All later clearances (i.e., of previously uncultivated land) in the immediate vicinity were also theirs, but in addition they acquired far more distant possessions, such as Soltau , 170 kilometres away, given by Otto I in 936. Among other property the abbey also received

5460-412: The following: The abbey also received numerous gifts of precious books, manuscripts and liturgical items, which were stored in the treasury. The Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission describes the treasure as "the most valuable medieval church treasure" next to Aachen and Halberstadt . At the end of World War II a number of the most valuable items were stolen by an American soldier, Joe Tom Meador, including

5551-409: The images are "the fruit of what we must imagine to have been a thoroughly rationalized and quasi-industrial method of production", in "a stable craft with settled routines". They are painted in "an illusionistic style with an emphasis on imperial imagery" (Saul and David are dressed as emperors in military costume), and gold is used for highlights and the tituli or captions to the images. The text

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5642-448: The label " roman " to describe the "degraded" European architecture from the 5th to the 13th centuries, in his Essai sur l'architecture religieuse du moyen-âge, particulièrement en Normandie , at a time when the actual dates of many of the buildings so described had not been ascertained: "The name Roman (esque) we give to this architecture, which should be universal as it is the same everywhere with slight local differences, also has

5733-432: The land that they farmed in exchange for military service . The result of this was that they could be called upon, not only for local and regional spats, but to follow their lord to travel across Europe to the Crusades, if they were required to do so. The Crusades , 1095–1270, brought about a very large movement of people and, with them, ideas and trade skills, particularly those involved in the building of fortifications and

5824-415: The last of which the young Queen Mathilda had been brought up by her grandmother, the abbess. Through the efforts of Queen Mathilda, Quedlinburg Abbey became one of the scholastic centers of Western Europe. Thanks to its Imperial connections the new foundation attracted rich endowments and was soon a wealthy and thriving community. Ecclesiastically, the abbess was exempt from the jurisdiction of her diocesan,

5915-556: The late 11th and 12th centuries saw an unprecedented growth in the number of churches. A great number of these buildings, both large and small, remain, some almost intact and in others altered almost beyond recognition in later centuries. They include many very well known churches such as Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome, the Baptistery in Florence and San Zeno Maggiore in Verona. In France,

6006-458: The local stone and building traditions. In Italy, Poland, much of Germany and parts of the Netherlands, brick is generally used. Other areas saw extensive use of limestone, granite and flint. The building stone was often used in comparatively small and irregular pieces, bedded in thick mortar. Smooth ashlar masonry was not a distinguishing feature of the style (especially not in the earlier part of

6097-425: The manuscript may well have spent much of its life. The illustrations are grouped in framed miniatures occupying an entire page, with between two and five miniatures per page, with the corresponding text being on the other side of the pages; there are fourteen miniatures in total. One folio contains only text. The illustrations, although much damaged, are done in the illusionistic style of late antiquity . Much of

6188-463: The merit of indicating its origin and is not new since it is used already to describe the language of the same period. Romance language is degenerated Latin language. Romanesque architecture is debased Roman architecture." The term " Pre-romanesque " is sometimes applied to architecture in Germany of the Carolingian and Ottonian periods and Visigothic , Mozarab and Asturian constructions between

6279-485: The metal working needed for the provision of arms, which was also applied to the fitting and decoration of buildings. The continual movement of people, rulers, nobles, bishops, abbots, craftsmen and peasants, was an important factor in creating a homogeneity in building methods and a recognizable Romanesque style , despite regional differences. Life became generally less secure after the Carolingian period. This resulted in

6370-451: The monks relocated from the Norman church at Old Sarum , and several, such as Canterbury , which were rebuilt on the site of Saxon churches. In Spain, the most famous church of the period is Santiago de Compostela . In Germany, the Rhine and its tributaries were the location of many Romanesque abbeys, notably Mainz , Worms , Speyer and Bamberg . In Cologne , then the largest city north of

6461-771: The more northern countries, Roman building styles and techniques had never been adopted except for official buildings, while in Scandinavia they were unknown. Although the round arch continued in use, the engineering skills required to vault large spaces and build large domes were lost. There was a loss of stylistic continuity, particularly apparent in the decline of the formal vocabulary of the Classical Orders . In Rome several great Constantinian basilicas continued in use as an inspiration to later builders. Some traditions of Roman architecture also survived in Byzantine architecture with

6552-617: The most rare, with only a handful of survivors in the United Kingdom, several clusters in France, isolated buildings across Europe and by far the largest number, often unidentified and altered over the centuries, in Italy. Many castles exist, the foundations of which date from the Romanesque period. Most have been substantially altered, and many are in ruins. By far the greatest number of surviving Romanesque buildings are churches. These range from tiny chapels to large cathedrals . Although many have been extended and altered in different styles,

6643-444: The mouldings of the arch. Piers that occur at the intersection of two large arches, such as those under the crossing of the nave and transept, are commonly cruciform in shape, each arch having its own supporting rectangular pier at right angles to the other. Columns are an important structural feature of Romanesque architecture. Colonnettes and attached shafts are also used structurally and for decoration. Monolithic columns cut from

6734-568: The nature of the vault dictated that the alternate piers bore a great deal more weight than the intermediate ones and are thus very much larger. The foliate Corinthian style provided the inspiration for many Romanesque capitals, and the accuracy with which they were carved depended very much on the availability of original models, those in Italian churches such as Pisa Cathedral or church of Sant'Alessandro in Lucca and southern France being much closer to

6825-413: The nave from the aisles, and in large secular interiors spaces, such as the great hall of a castle, supporting the timbers of a roof or upper floor. Arcades also occur in cloisters and atriums, enclosing an open space. Arcades can occur in storeys or stages. While the arcade of a cloister is typically of a single stage, the arcade that divides the nave and aisles in a church is typically of two stages, with

6916-412: The paint surface is lost revealing the underlying writing that gives instructions to the artist who would execute the pictures, such as: "Make the tomb [by which] Saul and his servant stand and two men, jumping over pits, speak to him and [announce that the asses have been found]. Make Saul by a tree and [his] servant [and three men who talk] to him, one carrying three goats, one [three loaves of bread, one]

7007-406: The period), but it did occur, chiefly where easily worked limestone was available. Because of the massive nature of Romanesque walls, buttresses are not a highly significant feature, as they are in Gothic architecture. Romanesque buttresses are generally of flat square profile and do not project a great deal beyond the wall. In the case of aisled churches, barrel vaults, or half-barrel vaults over

7098-489: The presence of rhythmic ornamental arches known as a Lombard band . Charlemagne was crowned by Pope Leo III in Old St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Day of 800, with an aim to re-establishing the old Roman Empire . Charlemagne's political successors continued to rule much of Europe, with a gradual emergence of the separate political states that were eventually to become welded into nations, either by allegiance or defeat, into

7189-517: The simple arched window motif. One of the effects of the Crusades , which were intended to wrest the Holy Places of the Levant from Islamic control, was to excite a great deal of religious fervour, which in turn inspired great building programs. The Nobility of Europe, upon safe return, thanked God by the building of a new church or the enhancement of an old one. Likewise, those who did not return from

7280-504: The style preceding Gothic was not recognized as a whole, and was instead, just like Gothic at the time, treated as a multitude of styles: Giorgio Vasari and Christopher Wren were writing about "Tuscan", "Saxon", or "Norman" architectures. The word Romanesque ("in the manner of Romans" ) appeared in English by 1666, and was used to designate what are now called Romance languages . Definition of Romanesque architecture changed over time;

7371-521: The succeeding style of Gothic architecture was recognised as early as the 15th century, as demonstrated by some artworks of that period. Robert Campin clearly presented the division in his Marriage of the Virgin ; on the left side, representing the Old Testament , the building is in the Romanesque style, while that on the right, representing the New Testament , is Gothic. Until the 19th century, however,

7462-457: The term became a "common currency", and is universally accepted at least for convenience. Buildings of every type were constructed in the Romanesque style, with evidence remaining of simple domestic buildings, elegant town houses, grand palaces, commercial premises, civic buildings, castles, city walls, bridges, village churches, abbey churches, abbey complexes and large cathedrals. Of these types of buildings, domestic and commercial buildings are

7553-496: The town, the 5th-century Quedlinburg Itala fragment , once in the church, had been moved to a museum in Berlin and was not stolen. The Quedlinburg Itala fragment (Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Cod. theol. lat. fol. 485) is a fragment of six folios from a large 5th-century illuminated manuscript of an Old Latin Itala translation of parts of 1 Samuel of the Old Testament. It

7644-399: The triforium gallery. The arches used in Romanesque architecture are nearly always semicircular, for openings such as doors and windows, for vaults and for arcades. Wide doorways are usually surmounted by a semi-circular arch, except where a door with a lintel is set into a large arched recess and surmounted by a semi-circular "lunette" with decorative carving. These doors sometimes have

7735-431: The use of a plain gold background in some scenes, the start of what was to become a very common feature in religious art for the next thousand years. But in many respects, the mosaics look (at the expense of visibility, given their high placement) like enlarged miniatures, just as the miniatures of both manuscripts draw on the styles of larger paintings. The fragment includes a full page with four miniatures illustrating

7826-553: The whereabouts of the king's remains and time and circumstances of their disappearance are unknown. Under the Nazis, Heinrich Himmler , the Reichsführer SS , came to Quedlinburg several times to hold a ceremony in the crypt on the anniversary of the King's death, 2 July. This started in 1936, 1,000 years after Henry died. Himmler considered him to be the "first German King" and declared his tomb

7917-430: Was consecrated in 997. A fire in 1070 caused severe damage. The building was rebuilt in its previous form, and was rededicated in 1129 in the presence of Lothar III . The church contains the architectural feature known as the niedersächsischer Stützenwechsel . Later alterations included a new choir (c. 1320), the southern wall of the transept (1571) and the southern wall of the nave (1708). Significant renovation work

8008-436: Was done in 1863-82. The western towers were rebuilt. The pulpit was also added at that time and the crypt was given a new front. In 1936-9 changes were made to the choir to make it better suited as a Nazi shrine (also see below under burials). The Gothic structure was internally "returned" to Romanesque style. The church was rededicated in 1945 and restoration work on some part of the church has since been ongoing to this day. It

8099-499: Was probably produced in Rome in the 420s or 430s. It is the oldest surviving illustrated biblical manuscript and has been in the Berlin State Library since 1875-76. The pages are approximately 305 x 205 mm large. The fragments were found from 1865 onwards (two in 1865, two in 1867, one in 1887) re-used in the bindings of different books that had been bound in the 17th century in the town of Quedlinburg, home of Quedlinburg Abbey,

8190-430: Was to build them out of stone cylinders called drums, as in the crypt at Speyer Cathedral . Where really massive columns were called for, such as those at Durham Cathedral , they were constructed of ashlar masonry and the hollow core was filled with rubble. These huge untapered columns are sometimes ornamented with incised decorations. A common characteristic of Romanesque buildings, occurring both in churches and in

8281-401: Was until its dissolution in 1802, consisted of a proprietary church of the Imperial family to which was attached a college of secular canonesses ( Stiftsdamen ), a community of the unmarried daughters of the greater nobility and royalty leading a godly life. The greatest and most prominent foundations of this sort were Essen Abbey , Gandersheim Abbey , Gernrode Abbey , and Herford Abbey , in

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