Art and Piety in Medieval Europe

Scriptorium

dedicated rooms for writing where monks copied manuscripts by hand

Cloister

covered walkway surround an open courtyard, usually connecting parts of a monastery

Cruciform Plan

layout of a lot of Medieval European churches

Romanesque Architecture

11th to 12th centuries; thick walls, round arches, sturdy pillars, large towers, decorative arcading

Gothic Architecture

12th to 16th centuries; evolved from Romanesque, new methods, elaborate spires, cavernous spaces, stained glass, arches 

Cathedral 

very large building for Christian worship; largest and most important church of a diocese

Altarpiece

painting or sculpture made for placing at the back or behind the altar

Icon

religious work of art; Byzantine paintings of religious figures

Saint

individual who has been canonized by the Church; recognized for having exceptional holiness and closeness to God

Pilgrimage

journey to a holy place

Camino de Santiago

complex set of routes that pilgrims travel to go to the remains of the apostle “James”

Iconoclasm

rejections or destruction of religious imagery

East-West Schism

Formal split between the Western Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church 

Illumination

decoration of manuscript pages

Mendicant Orders

religious orders that embraced poverty, itinerant preaching in towns and urban centers, rather than cloistered rural monastic life

Crusades

religious wars started to retake the Holy Land from Muslim control