High Medieval Civilization (1000-1350)

• The Revival of Urban Life, Towns, and Commerce (Northern Italy/Flanders)

• Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals

• Scholasticism and the Birth of Universities (University of Paris, Bologna, Oxford, Salamanca)

• Lay Literature: Epics and Courtly Romances (Marie de France)

Monumental Cathedrals in the High Middle Ages

Romanesque (Eleventh Century)

Gothic (Twelfth Century)

• The Gothic style developed as a result of the application of religion and philosophy to art and architecture.

Medieval Church Architecture

• I. Romanesque Architecture (Speyer Cathedral, 1030-1060s; Pisa 1060-1100)

• II. Gothic Architecture: Intellectual Context of the Twelfth Century

• III. The Material and Social Context

II. Intellectual Context of the Twelfth Century

• 1. Scholasticism– Efforts to apply Logic to Faith/Religion– St. Anselm (1030-1109) provides a proof for

the existence of God: “that than which nothing greater can be conceived”

• Thomas Aquinas (1225-74)– A Dominican Friar– Wrote the Summa Theologica – Five Proofs for the existence of God drew on

Aristotle’s principles of being

Aquinas Five Proofs

• First Mover

• Prime Cause

• Necessary Being

• Greatest Being

• Intelligent Designer

• 2. Neo-Platonism and Celestial Hierarchies, (Pseudo-Dionysius c. 400s)– Abbot Suger c. 1122– Emanation (the radiation of God/the Divine)– The Choir of St. Denis

Elements of Gothic Architecture

• Pointed Arch

• Ribbed Vault

• Flying Buttress

• Walls of Stained Glass Windows

III. Social and Economic Context

• 1. The Cult of Mary and Pilgrimage– Relic of Mary’s tunic from the annunciation

• 2. Guilds and Merchant Guilt– Artisan and Merchant Associations to regulate

production and commerce– “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of

needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 19:24