CHAPTER V

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN GERMANY, THE NETHERLANDS, AND SPAIN

In Germany the Romanesque style had been developed on lines so monumental that the architects were slow to abandon it for the Gothic. Accordingly, while the French and English worked out the constructive principles that produced a new style, the Germans were content to borrow its features, especially as represented in the French cathedrals. They were drawn to this imitation through the commercial relations which existed by way of Burgundy between the cities of Germany and Northern France. For at the commencement of the thirteenth century the cities played a most important rôle in the political as well as the economic life of Germany.

Kings and emperors, recognising the value of their support, had conferred special privileges upon them, which in times of confusion they had themselves increased until they were practically self-governing. Their power rivalled that of the duchies, countships, and other governments which made up the fluctuating aggregation of authorities comprised in the empire. Moreover, the cities had increased their power by combinations. The most important of these were the Rhenish Confederation and the Hanseatic League of German merchants, the latter extending its activities to points outside of Germany, as far distant as London and Novgorod.

Another phase of the prominence of cities lay in the fact that they were frequently the sees of Archbishops, who were fiefs of the empire and vied with other feudal lords in political importance. Meanwhile, this period was marked by a revival of culture. “It was a period of great men and great ideas, of dramatic contrasts of character; on the one side a broad humanitarianism combined with a gay enjoyment of the world and on the other an almost superhuman spirituality that sought its ideal in a rejection of all the world could give.” It was the age of the Minnesinger and of the rise of the Friars; an age, too, in which the voice of the laity was raised on behalf of purity of religion and religious tolerance. This higher spirit of the time found expression both in literature and architecture, and, though in the latter field some noble palaces and castles were created, the chief glory is to be found in the cathedrals and town-halls--the embodiment of the religious and civic life of the burghers.

The examples of German Gothic cathedrals are few as compared with those in France and England. Of the three finest--=Strasburg=, =Ratisbon=, =Cologne=--the last is the most magnificent and is also the largest of all Mediæval cathedrals after =Seville= and =Milan=. Its plan is derived from Amiens, while the edifice embraces the chief features of many French cathedrals and is, in fact, an epitomised imitation of French Gothic.

=Cologne.=--Meanwhile, there is a German legend of the origin of the design, which is interesting for the light it throws on the Mediæval spirit. While the architect, bidden by the archbishop to build the noblest shrine in Christendom, sat beside the river pondering, an old man approached him and, having traced in the sand a plan, immediately obliterated it. But the architect had seen enough to know that the plan was the one that was dawning in his mind yet still eluded him. When the old man consented to give it and moreover promised the master-builder a life of fame and riches, demanding only his soul in recompense, the master-builder’s eyes were opened and he cried “Get thee behind me, Satan.” Then he told his confessor, who contrived a scheme whereby the devil might be circumvented. Satan had promised to return, bringing the plan. The master-builder kept the appointment and, snatching the precious document with one hand, in the other brandished a fragment of the True Cross. “I am vanquished!” exclaimed Satan; “but you shall reap no benefit, through your treachery. Your name will be forgotten and your work will never be completed.”

Time, however, discounted the Devil’s curse, for the cathedral was completed during the nineteenth century. It had been begun in 1270 and in all the additions subsequently made the original design was adhered to. Hence =Cologne= presents a very remarkable example of structural unity; and, by the same token, a rather chill precision, product of imitation, instead of a growth which reflects the changing style of successive centuries.

The plan, as at Amiens, includes double side-aisles and a chevêt of seven apses and an ambulatory, but its transepts are extended by an extra bay and one bay of the nave is included in the western entrance. Here the German fondness for towers and spires, already noted in their Romanesque architecture, finds expression in twin towers, crowned with spires of openwork tracery. This last feature is a characteristic of German Gothic. The transition from the tower to the spire is admirably arranged so as to enforce the function and beauty of each; and the effect should be compared with that of =S. Stephen, Vienna=. In the latter the transition is more gradual, so that the spire seems to start from the ground and, notwithstanding the splendour of the whole, “it lacks the vigour and accent” that a better definition of tower and spire produces.

=S. Stephen= is an example of the so-called “Hall Church,” in which the nave and aisles are of equal height. This typically German feature, seen also in =S. Lambert, Hildesheim=, =S. Quentin, Mainz=, and =S. Elizabeth, Marburg=, abolishes the clerestory and triforium and thus dispenses with flying buttresses. It reduces the importance of the nave and, while giving the interior an impression of superior spaciousness, minimises the variety and picturesqueness of the vistas. The nave and aisles are covered on the exterior by a single roof of high pitch.

The German builders made up for their lack of originality by extreme skill of handicraft, which tended to over-elaboration and a merely mechanical excellence. This was displayed in the increasing intricacy of the window traceries, which were more regarded than the proportions of the window openings. Thus, an excessive height was given to the clerestory windows and in many cases the opening is too narrow for its height. A characteristic which often appears is the _double tracery_; that is to say, the employment of tracery on both the outer and the inner wall surfaces.

Piers usually take the place of columns and are treated as lofty posts for the support of the vaulting, their surfaces being frequently indented with niches bearing statues. The vaultings are quite often distinguished by complicated ribs, which, however, are not employed so constructively as in England, but rather as decorative details. The mouldings show a steady growth away from simplicity toward increased complexity, until in the fifteenth century occurs the characteristic feature of “inter-penetration.” In this two separate sets of moulding are interwoven, alternately appearing and disappearing in and out of the same stone. Where foliage is thus used with intertwining branches the forms are treated naturalistically; and this aptitude for exact imitation led also to the occasional abandonment of the more formal tracery of windows in favour of “branch tracery” or the representation of branches of trees--another instance of preoccupation with technical execution rather than with design.

While the stained glass is good, the iron-work is a special characteristic of German ornamentation. Another typical feature is the Tabernacle for enshrining the Host. It is a structure of stone or wood, standing independent of the altar, rising to a considerable height in the form of a tower and spire, richly decorated.

In the north, as at Lübeck and neighbouring cities in the valley of the Elbe, the lack of stone led to the use of brick, and the substitution of moulded and coloured brickwork for sculptured ornament.

=Secular Buildings.=--The most famous of the Gothic castles is =Marienburg= in Prussia, including the chapel and chapter house and the Great Hall of the Order of the German Knights. Other examples are =Heilsberg=, in =East Prussia= and the =Albrechtsburg= at =Meissen= in Saxony. Among the finest of the Town Halls are those of =Ratisbon=, =Brunswick=, =Halberstadt=, =Hildesheim=, and =Munster=, and the brick examples of =Breslau= and =Lübeck=. In domestic architecture the roofs were carried to a remarkable height, consisting of several stories lighted by dormer windows; the space being utilised for storage and the drying of linen in the monthly wash. And a picturesque diversity is given to the character of the streets according as these roofs run parallel to it or at right angles. In the latter case the gables mount up with stepped outlines, and often are decorated with frescoed paintings.

NETHERLANDISH GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

The Gothic architecture of the Netherlands appears at its finest in Belgium, where it is distinguished by a mingling of French and German influence. The latter is to be accounted for chiefly by the trade relations which existed between the great commercial cities of Germany by way of the Rhine, with such centres of commerce as Louvain, Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, Mechlin (Malines), Ypres, and Bruges. On the other hand, the province of Flanders came under the French influence through the marriage of Margaret of Flanders with the first Duke of the French royal house of Valois, whose successors gradually brought the whole of Belgium under their rule. Further, the Abbey of Noyon early established close relations with that of Tournai, and in this way the religious architecture of France penetrated Belgium. Owing to their pre-eminence in weaving the Netherlandish cities became the most prosperous of the period and this is reflected in the florid decoration of the later ecclesiastical building, as well as in the magnificent Town, Trade, and Guild Halls, which are the special distinction of Netherlandish architecture.

=Guild Halls.=--They present a general similarity of character. The façades mount in several stories, which are defined by bands of ornament or string-courses and pierced with rows of pointed windows. These are framed with rich traceries of carved work and separated by canopied niches, designed for and often filled with statues. The façades terminate at the spring of the roof in an adaptation of the Romanesque arcaded eaves, which occasionally project like a continuous balcony, while balconies with traceried parapets often decorate the gabled fronts. The corners of the façade are occupied by towers, frequently carried above the line of the eaves, in pinnacle-like structures, the stories of which are marked by balconies. The roofs have a steep pitch and are enriched with dormer windows and decorated chimneys.

The oldest of these beautiful edifices is the Cloth Hall of =Ypres=, erected in 1304, while other notable examples are those of =Louvain=, =Mechlin=, =Ghent=. The earliest of the Town Halls is the imposing one of =Brussels= (1377), distinguished by its graceful tower and spire. The right to attach a belfry or beffroi to a town hall was a special privilege, granted by charter, and the bell-towers of Netherlandish cities are among their most picturesque features. That of =Bruges=, which forms the theme of one of Longfellow’s poems, is famous in the annals of the city. It surmounts the central mass of a façade plainer than those described above, offering more wall spaces and representing another type of Gothic façade peculiar to the Netherlands.

=Ecclesiastical Buildings.=--The earliest example of Gothic work in ecclesiastical buildings is said to be the choir of the =Cathedral of S. Gudule in Brussels.= =Tournai Cathedral=, erected between 1146 and 1338, illustrates three successive periods. The nave is Romanesque; the apse-ended transepts mark the transition stage, and the choir, with its complete chevêt, the fully developed Gothic. But the largest and most magnificent cathedral of the Netherlands is that of =Antwerp=, distinguished by three aisles of equal height on each side of the lofty nave and by narrow aisleless transepts. The west front, flanked by towers, one of which has been completed by a spire of extreme richness and grace, belongs to that later period (1422-1518) when the taste for decoration had become somewhat florid. Other notable =Cathedrals= are those of =Ghent=, =Bruges=, =Ypres=, =Utrecht=, and of =Haarlem= and =Dordrecht= in Holland.[7]

SPANISH GOTHIC

It was in the north of Spain, following the gradual destruction of the Moorish rule and the replacing of the Crescent with the Cross, that Gothic art took root. The time is the thirteenth century, when Ferdinand (1217-1252), canonised as saint, united the kingdoms of Leon and Castile, and James, called the Conqueror (1213-1276), carried the conquest through to the east so that only Granada remained in the grip of the Infidel.

While it is supposed that Moorish workmen were employed in the cathedrals, the designs were derived from French examples, with certain borrowings from the German. Thus the original of =Leon Cathedral= was Amiens, from which, however, it differs in the larger area of its window spaces; while Notre Dame was the model for the Cathedrals of =Toledo= and =Barcelona=; and the west front of =Burgos=, with its openwork spires, recalls Cologne.

Among the characteristic features of Spanish cathedrals are: the occasional use of cloisters; the excess of width in proportion to the length; the use of a _cimborio_ or lantern over the crossing; the placing of the choir or _coro_ west of the chancel, so that it occupies the centre of the edifice and with its high enclosures blocks the vistas in all directions; an elaborate treatment of the vaulting, prompted by decorative rather than structural considerations, and a general tendency, especially in the later work, toward excessive embellishment.

The largest cathedral in Spain, the largest, indeed, of all mediæval cathedrals, is =Seville=, which was erected on the site of a mosque. It has four side aisles, each of which corresponds in height and width to the nave of Westminster Abbey, yet the length of its nave is little more than that of the latter’s. =Toledo=, again, has four aisles and a nave, recalling the plan of Bourges, which it follows in length, though it is wider by fifty feet.

=Retablos, Rejas.=--Among the distinctive features of the interior decorations of a Spanish cathedral are the _retablo_ and _reja_. The former, a reredos, erected behind the great altar, reaches immense dimensions, often occupying the full width of the nave and rising as high as the vaulting, embellished with sculpture. This is apt to be grossly naturalistic and violently dramatic or sensational, representing colossal figures, sprawling amid marble clouds and sunrays of gilded metal. Far more beautiful are the _rejas_ or lofty grill-screens, upon which the skill of Moorish metal-workers or the skill derived from their traditions, is lavished with extraordinary fertility of design; a special device being the enrichment of the vertical bars by the insertion of canopied figures.