Gothic Architecture Part 1

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering core architectural terms, styles, periods, structural components, and major cathedrals from Gothic Architecture Part 1.

Gothic Architecture

A European style of architecture that values height and exhibits an intricate, delicate aesthetic, evolving from Romanesque architecture by using exaggerated arches, increased vaulting, enlarged windows, and flying buttresses.

Romanesque Architecture

A medieval architectural aesthetic characterized by arches, vaulted ceilings, small stained-glass windows, thick walls, and massive piers.

Lancet Window

A tall, narrow window with a sharp-pointed arch at its top, named after a type of weapon called a lance.

Double Lancet Window

Two lancet windows grouped together, separated by mullions.

Tracery

Decorative, carved stonework in the upper parts of a window that divides and supports the glass, creating intricate patterns of interlacing lines and shapes or detailed Biblical scenes.

Plate Tracery

The earliest form of window tracery, where small openings are pierced into a large stone plate to create simple geometric patterns.

Bar Tracery

An advanced form of window tracery characterized by delicate bars and molded ribs that create elaborate patterns and divide the window into intricate sections.

Mullions

The vertical dividing elements in windows.

Rose Window

A circular window composed of stone tracery and stained glass created using a radiating, geometric design, which evolved from Roman oculi.

Pointed Arch

A tall, thin arch adapted from Moorish or Islamic architecture that draws the eye upward and contributes to soaring verticality in Gothic buildings.

Rib Vaulting

A structural support method covering the nave of a church that uses intersecting barrel vaults to support higher ceilings and taller windows.

Flying Buttress

A projecting stone structure consisting of a vertical masonry pier and an arch bridging an intervening space, designed to resist and redirect the outward thrust of interior arches down into the ground.

Pinnacle

A heavy architectural ornament forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, resembling a small spire and helping flying buttresses counteract roof weight.

Finial

The topmost portion of a pinnacle, often sculpted as a leaf-like ornament.

Gargoyles

Grotesque carved stone figures doubling as waterspouts that function like elaborate gutters to draw rain water away from limestone walls, originally intended to repel evil spirits.

Grotesques

Carved decorative elements ranging from angels to animals that keep rain water away from cathedral walls when drops bounce off them, without acting as traditional waterspouts.

Lancet Period (French Gothic)

A period of French Gothic architecture distinguished by pointed arches and geometric traceried windows.

Rayonnant Period

A period of French Gothic architecture characterized by circular windows with wheel tracery.

Flamboyant Period

A period of French Gothic architecture characterized by the use of flame-like or free-flowing window tracery.

Basilica of Saint-Denis

A church in Paris, France, supervised by Abbot Suger and completed as the first church in the Gothic style, uniting pointed arches, ribbed vaults, clustered columns, and flying buttresses.

Notre Dame Cathedral

A famous cathedral in Paris begun in 1163 and mostly completed by 1260, renowned for its enormous rose windows, flying buttresses, and gargoyles.

Chartres Cathedral

A French cathedral marking the high point of French Gothic art, featuring a vast nave in pure ogival style, 12th-century sculpted porches, and well-preserved 12th- and 13th-century stained-glass windows.

Reims Cathedral

The coronation church of the kings of France, featuring deep west façade portals, four-part rib vaults, and a 56-statue Gallery of Kings standing 15 feet high.

Amiens Cathedral

France's largest cathedral, built in High Gothic style over 50 years starting in 1220, featuring main façade sculptures including the Beau Dieu d'Amiens.

Beau Dieu d'Amiens

A celebrated sculpture located at the central door of Amiens Cathedral.

Early English Gothic

The English Gothic period (1180–1275) also known as the Lancet Period, main features of which include pointed arches, lancet windows without traceries, quadripartite vaults, and clustered shafts of tall, narrow piers.

Quadripartite Vault

A rib vault divided into four sections by two diagonal ribs.

Salisbury Cathedral

An English cathedral built between 1220 and 1258, featuring the tallest spire in Britain (404 feet), the largest cathedral cloisters and grounds, and the highest vault in Britain.

Decorated English Gothic

The English Gothic period (1280–1380) also known as the Curvilinear Period, characterized by elaborately carved tracery, wider windows, rich stained glass, and naturalistic curved carvings.

Ball-flower

An architectural decoration consisting of a partly opened flower set on a sphere within a hollow moulding.

Lierne

A tertiary rib connecting one rib to another in Gothic vaulting, rather than connecting to a springer or central boss.

Tierceron

A secondary arched diagonal rib spanning from the springers to the transverse ridge ribs.

Exeter Cathedral

A cathedral in Southwest England known as a fine example of Decorated Gothic architecture, housing the longest continuous medieval stone vault in the world (over 100 yards) and the tallest medieval Bishop's Throne Canopy.

Bosses

Carved, mostly circular stones that act as decorative and functional keystones within cathedral vaulting.

Perpendicular English Gothic

An English Gothic style (14th to early 16th century) defined by very large windows with elaborate tracery and strong vertical lines on window tracery and wall paneling.

Fan Vaulting

An elaborate roof vaulting style featuring a multitude of vaulting ribs spreading outwards in a fan shape, ornamented with decorative pendants and cross-ribs.

Hammer Beam Roof

An open timber Gothic roof that utilizes horizontal and vertical beams to distribute roof weight, serving as the wooden equivalent of stone vaulting.

Westminster Abbey

A 13th-century Gothic architectural masterpiece in London that has served as the site of every British coronation since 1066.

Westminster Hall

A historic hall measuring 240 ft by 67 ft featuring a prominent hammerbeam roof, historically used for parliamentary meetings, major trials, and coronation banquets from 1189 to 1821.