Gothic_architecture

context: Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. Originating in 12th-century France and lasting into the 16th century, Gothic architecture was known during the period as Opus Francigenum ("French work") with the term Gothic first appearing during the later part of the Renaissance. Its characteristics include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress. Gothic architecture is most familiar as the architecture of many of the great cathedrals, abbeys and churches of Europe. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings, such as dorms and rooms.
qas: answers: late medieval period
question: What is one time period in which Gothic architecture flourished?

answers: Romanesque architecture
question: What style of architecture did Gothic architecture evolve from?

answers: Renaissance architecture
question: What style of architecture came after the Gothic style?

answers: France
question: Where did the Gothic architecture style originate?

answers: private dwellings, such as dorms and rooms
question: Gothic architecture is known for being commonly used in cathedrals and churches, what is one example of a lesser known type of structure in which Gothic architecture has been used?

context: It is in the great churches and cathedrals and in a number of civic buildings that the Gothic style was expressed most powerfully, its characteristics lending themselves to appeals to the emotions, whether springing from faith or from civic pride. A great number of ecclesiastical buildings remain from this period, of which even the smallest are often structures of architectural distinction while many of the larger churches are considered priceless works of art and are listed with UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. For this reason a study of Gothic architecture is largely a study of cathedrals and churches.
qas: answers: churches and cathedrals
question: What is an example of where the Gothic style is expressed most strongly?

answers: faith or from civic pride
question: Where do the emotions which traits of the Gothic style represent, originate from? 

answers: ecclesiastical
question: A great number of what type of buildings still remain from this period today?

answers: UNESCO
question: With what organization are many Gothic cathedral listed with as World Heritage Sites?

answers: larger churches are considered priceless works of art
question: Why are larger cathedrals and churches associated with the Gothic style?

context: The term "Gothic architecture" originated as a pejorative description. Giorgio Vasari used the term "barbarous German style" in his Lives of the Artists to describe what is now considered the Gothic style, and in the introduction to the Lives he attributes various architectural features to "the Goths" whom he holds responsible for destroying the ancient buildings after they conquered Rome, and erecting new ones in this style. At the time in which Vasari was writing, Italy had experienced a century of building in the Classical architectural vocabulary revived in the Renaissance and seen as evidence of a new Golden Age of learning and refinement.
qas: answers: a pejorative description
question: What type of description did the term "Gothic architecture" originate as?

answers: Giorgio Vasari
question: Who used the term "barbarous German style" to portray what is known today as the Gothic style?

answers: "the Goths"
question: Who does Vasari believe destroyed ancient buildings after they conquered Rome?

answers: a century
question: How long had Italy undergone building in a Classical architecture style at the time of Vasari?

answers: the Renaissance
question: In what period was the Classical architecture vocabulary revived? 

context: The greatest number of surviving Gothic buildings are churches. These range from tiny chapels to large cathedrals, and although many have been extended and altered in different styles, a large number remain either substantially intact or sympathetically restored, demonstrating the form, character and decoration of Gothic architecture. The Gothic style is most particularly associated with the great cathedrals of Northern France, the Low Countries, England and Spain, with other fine examples occurring across Europe.
qas: answers: Northern France
question: What is one region with which the Gothic style is distinctly connected with?

answers: the Low Countries
question: What is another region with which the Gothic style is distinctly connected with?

answers: churches
question: What type of structures remaining today have the largest amount of examples of the Gothic style?

answers: England
question: What is one country with which the Gothic style is distinctly connected with?

answers: Spain
question: What is another country with which the Gothic style is distinctly connected with?

context: At the end of the 12th century, Europe was divided into a multitude of city states and kingdoms. The area encompassing modern Germany, southern Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic and much of northern Italy (excluding Venice and Papal State) was nominally part of the Holy Roman Empire, but local rulers exercised considerable autonomy. France, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Portugal, Scotland, Castile, Aragon, Navarre, Sicily and Cyprus were independent kingdoms, as was the Angevin Empire, whose Plantagenet kings ruled England and large domains in what was to become modern France. Norway came under the influence of England, while the other Scandinavian countries and Poland were influenced by trading contacts with the Hanseatic League. Angevin kings brought the Gothic tradition from France to Southern Italy, while Lusignan kings introduced French Gothic architecture to Cyprus.
qas: answers: the end of the 12th century
question: At the end of what century was Europe separated into several city states and kingdoms?

answers: the Holy Roman Empire
question: What was the region covering modern Germany, southern Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic and much of northern Italy known as?

answers: modern France
question: What modern country contains regions in which Plantagenet kings controlled large domains?

answers: the Hanseatic League
question: Poland was affected by trade connections with what League?

answers: Angevin kings
question: What type of kings brought the Gothic style from France to Southern Italy?

context: Throughout Europe at this time there was a rapid growth in trade and an associated growth in towns. Germany and the Lowlands had large flourishing towns that grew in comparative peace, in trade and competition with each other, or united for mutual weal, as in the Hanseatic League. Civic building was of great importance to these towns as a sign of wealth and pride. England and France remained largely feudal and produced grand domestic architecture for their kings, dukes and bishops, rather than grand town halls for their burghers.
qas: answers: trade
question: Europe experienced a rapid growth in what at this time?

answers: Germany
question: What is one country that contained considerable and prosperous towns during this time?

answers: Civic building
question: What type of building was considered to be very important and a sign of affluence and achievement?

answers: England
question: What is one country that stayed mostly feudal and created spectacular architecture for its royalty rather than its burghers?

answers: France
question: What is another country that stayed mostly feudal and created spectacular architecture for its royalty rather than its burghers?

context: The Catholic Church prevailed across Europe at this time, influencing not only faith but also wealth and power. Bishops were appointed by the feudal lords (kings, dukes and other landowners) and they often ruled as virtual princes over large estates. The early Medieval periods had seen a rapid growth in monasticism, with several different orders being prevalent and spreading their influence widely. Foremost were the Benedictines whose great abbey churches vastly outnumbered any others in France and England. A part of their influence was that towns developed around them and they became centers of culture, learning and commerce. The Cluniac and Cistercian Orders were prevalent in France, the great monastery at Cluny having established a formula for a well planned monastic site which was then to influence all subsequent monastic building for many centuries.
qas: answers: The Catholic Church
question: What church was widespread across Europe at this time?

answers: by the feudal lords (kings, dukes and other landowners)
question: Who were bishops appointed by?

answers: The early Medieval periods
question: Which periods saw a quick growth in Monasticism? 

answers: great abbey churches
question: What types of church were the Benedictines known for?

answers: Cistercian Orders
question: What is one type of Benedictine order that was common in France?

context: From the 10th to the 13th century, Romanesque architecture had become a pan-European style and manner of construction, affecting buildings in countries as far apart as Ireland, Croatia, Sweden and Sicily. The same wide geographic area was then affected by the development of Gothic architecture, but the acceptance of the Gothic style and methods of construction differed from place to place, as did the expressions of Gothic taste. The proximity of some regions meant that modern country borders do not define divisions of style. On the other hand, some regions such as England and Spain produced defining characteristics rarely seen elsewhere, except where they have been carried by itinerant craftsmen, or the transfer of bishops. Regional differences that are apparent in the great abbey churches and cathedrals of the Romanesque period often become even more apparent in the Gothic.
qas: answers: 10th to the 13th century
question: During what time period did Romanesque architecture become a pan-European style of construction?

answers: Croatia
question: What is one country in the geographic area that was affected by the development of the Gothic style of architecture?

answers: proximity of some regions
question: Why did country borders not affect differences in style within Gothic architecture?

answers: the Gothic
question: During which period did regional differences in Romanesque architecture become even more pronounced?

answers: Spain
question: England and what other country showed differences in architectural style rarely observed anywhere else?

context: In Northern Germany, Netherlands, northern Poland, Denmark, and the Baltic countries local building stone was unavailable but there was a strong tradition of building in brick. The resultant style, Brick Gothic, is called "Backsteingotik" in Germany and Scandinavia and is associated with the Hanseatic League. In Italy, stone was used for fortifications, but brick was preferred for other buildings. Because of the extensive and varied deposits of marble, many buildings were faced in marble, or were left with undecorated façade so that this might be achieved at a later date.
qas: answers: brick
question: Northern Germany, Netherlands, northern Poland, Denmark, and the Baltic countries used what building material in place of local stone?

answers: Brick Gothic, is called "Backsteingotik"
question: What was the name of the building style that resulted from the use of brick?

answers: "Backsteingotik"
question: What building style was the Hanseatic League connected with in Germany and Scandinavia?

answers: Because of the extensive and varied deposits of marble
question: Why were many buildings covered with marble?

answers: undecorated façade
question: With what type of facade were buildings left with if they were to completed at a later time?

context: By the 12th century, Romanesque architecture (termed Norman architecture in England because of its association with the Norman invasion), was established throughout Europe and provided the basic architectural forms and units that were to remain in evolution throughout the Medieval period. The important categories of building: the cathedral church, the parish church, the monastery, the castle, the palace, the great hall, the gatehouse, the civic building, had been established in the Romanesque period.
qas: answers: Norman architecture
question: What is Romanesque architecture known as in England?

answers: the 12th century
question: By the beginning of what century was the Romanesque style established all over Europe?

answers: the Medieval period
question: The Romanesque style continued to affect and inspire  the basic architectural forms throughout which period?

answers: the cathedral church
question: What is one important category of building that was recognized during the Romanesque period?

answers: the palace
question: What is another category of building that was established during the Romanesque period?

context: It was principally the widespread introduction of a single feature, the pointed arch, which was to bring about the change that separates Gothic from Romanesque. The technological change permitted a stylistic change which broke the tradition of massive masonry and solid walls penetrated by small openings, replacing it with a style where light appears to triumph over substance. With its use came the development of many other architectural devices, previously put to the test in scattered buildings and then called into service to meet the structural, aesthetic and ideological needs of the new style. These include the flying buttresses, pinnacles and traceried windows which typify Gothic ecclesiastical architecture. But while pointed arch is so strongly associated with the Gothic style, it was first used in Western architecture in buildings that were in other ways clearly Romanesque, notably Durham Cathedral in the north of England, Monreale Cathedral and Cathedral of Cefalù in Sicily, Autun Cathedral in France.
qas: answers: the pointed arch
question: What was the most important single design aspect that separated the Gothic style from the Romanesque? 

answers: the flying buttresses
question: What is one example of a Gothic style element that was able to be incorporated because of technological innovation?

answers: traceried windows
question: What is another example of a Gothic style element that was able to be incorporated because of technological innovation?

answers: Durham Cathedral
question: What is the name of the cathedral in Northern England that first displayed the use of the pointed arch?

answers: Cathedral of Cefalù
question: What is the name of the cathedral in Sicily that first displayed the use of the pointed arch?

context: The pointed arch, one of the defining attributes of Gothic, was earlier incorporated into Islamic architecture following the Islamic conquests of Roman Syria and the Sassanid Empire in the Seventh Century. The pointed arch and its precursors had been employed in Late Roman and Sassanian architecture; within the Roman context, evidenced in early church building in Syria and occasional secular structures, like the Roman Karamagara Bridge; in Sassanid architecture, in the parabolic and pointed arches employed in palace and sacred construction.
qas: answers: The pointed arch
question: What is one defining characteristic of the Gothic architectural style?

answers: Islamic architecture
question: Which type of architecture first used the pointed arch during the seventh century?

answers: Sassanian architecture
question: What other type of architecture also made use of the pointed arch?

answers: secular structures
question: The Roman Karamagara Bridge is an example of what type of structure?

answers: palace and sacred construction
question: Parabolic and pointed arches were used in what type of constrcution?

context: Increasing military and cultural contacts with the Muslim world, including the Norman conquest of Islamic Sicily in 1090, the Crusades, beginning 1096, and the Islamic presence in Spain, may have influenced Medieval Europe's adoption of the pointed arch, although this hypothesis remains controversial. Certainly, in those parts of the Western Mediterranean subject to Islamic control or influence, rich regional variants arose, fusing Romanesque and later Gothic traditions with Islamic decorative forms, as seen, for example, in Monreale and Cefalù Cathedrals, the Alcázar of Seville, and Teruel Cathedral.
qas: answers: cultural contacts with the Muslim world
question: What could have affected Medieval Europe's embracing of the pointed arch?

answers: the Norman conquest of Islamic Sicily
question: What event in the year 1090 could have had an effect on Medieval Europe's embracing of the pointed arch?

answers: those parts of the Western Mediterranean subject to Islamic control
question: In which parts of the Western Mediterranean did the blending of Romanesque and Islamic styles occur?

answers: Cefalù Cathedrals
question: What is one cathedral in which the mixing of Romanesque, Gothic and Islamic styles can be seen?

answers: Teruel Cathedral
question: What is another example of a cathedral in which the blending of Romanesque, Gothic and Islamic styles can be seen?

context: The characteristic forms that were to define Gothic architecture grew out of Romanesque architecture and developed at several different geographic locations, as the result of different influences and structural requirements. While barrel vaults and groin vaults are typical of Romanesque architecture, ribbed vaults were used in the naves of two Romanesque churches in Caen, Abbey of Saint-Étienne and Abbaye aux Dames in 1120. Another early example is the nave and apse area of the Cathedral of Cefalù in 1131. The ribbed vault over the north transept at Durham Cathedral in England, built from 1128 to 1133, is probably earlier still and was the first time pointed arches were used in a high vault.
qas: answers: Romanesque
question: The distinctive forms that describe Gothic architecture developed out of which style?

answers: Romanesque architecture
question: Barrel and groin vaults are examples of what kind of architecture?

answers: ribbed vaults
question: What type of vaults were used in the Abbey of Saint-Étienne and Abbaye aux Dames?

answers: from 1128 to 1133
question: When was Durham Cathedral constructed?

answers: Durham Cathedral in England
question: What cathedral first made use of pointed arches in high vaults? 

context: The Basilica of Saint Denis is generally cited as the first truly Gothic building, however the distinction is best reserved for the choir, of which the ambulatory remains intact. Noyon Cathedral, also in France, saw the earliest completion of a rebuilding of an entire cathedral in the new style from 1150 to 1231. While using all those features that came to be known as Gothic, including pointed arches, flying buttresses and ribbed vaulting, the builders continued to employ many of the features and much of the character of Romanesque architecture including round-headed arch throughout the building, varying the shape to pointed where it was functionally practical to do so.
qas: answers: The Basilica of Saint Denis
question: What is considered the first truly Gothic building?

answers: Noyon Cathedral
question: Which cathedral was first to be rebuilt in the new style from 1150 to 1231?

answers: pointed arches
question: What is one of the features that have come to be considered as an important part of the Gothic style?

answers: flying buttresses
question: What is one of the features that have come to be considered as an important part of the Gothic style?

answers: ribbed vaulting
question: What is one of the features that have come to be considered as an important part of the Gothic style?

context: At the Abbey Saint-Denis, Noyon Cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris and at the eastern end of Canterbury Cathedral in England, simple cylindrical columns predominate over the Gothic forms of clustered columns and shafted piers. Wells Cathedral in England, commenced at the eastern end in 1175, was the first building in which the designer broke free from Romanesque forms. The architect entirely dispensed with the round arch in favour of the pointed arch and with cylindrical columns in favour of piers composed of clusters of shafts which lead into the mouldings of the arches. The transepts and nave were continued by Adam Locke in the same style and completed in about 1230. The character of the building is entirely Gothic. Wells Cathedral is thus considered the first truly Gothic cathedral.
qas: answers: Abbey Saint-Denis
question: What is one cathedral in which simple cylindrical columns stand out more than the Gothic features?

answers: in 1175
question: When was the construction of Wells Cathedral in England begun?

answers: Adam Locke
question: Who completed the transepts and nave on Wells Cathedral in about 1230?

answers: Wells Cathedral
question: Which Cathedral is considered the first thoroughly Gothic cathedral?

answers: Notre Dame de Paris
question: What is another cathedral in which simple cylindrical columns stand out more than the Gothic features?

context: Suger, friend and confidant of the French Kings, Louis VI and Louis VII, decided in about 1137, to rebuild the great Church of Saint-Denis, attached to an abbey which was also a royal residence. He began with the West Front, reconstructing the original Carolingian façade with its single door. He designed the façade of Saint-Denis to be an echo of the Roman Arch of Constantine with its three-part division and three large portals to ease the problem of congestion. The rose window is the earliest-known example above the West portal in France. The façade combines both round arches and pointed arches of the Gothic style.
qas: answers: Suger
question: Who chose to rebuild the great Church of Saint-Denis in about 1137?

answers: the West Front
question: Which portion the cathedral was the reconstruction of the great Church of Saint-Denis begun?

answers: the Roman Arch of Constantine
question: The facade of Saint Denis resembled what other well known structure?

answers: to ease the problem of congestion
question: Why were three large portal used in the construction of the Roman Arch of Constantine?

answers: pointed arches of the Gothic style
question: The facade of Saint Denis combines round arches with what other style arch?

context: At the completion of the west front in 1140, Abbot Suger moved on to the reconstruction of the eastern end, leaving the Carolingian nave in use. He designed a choir that would be suffused with light. To achieve his aims, his masons drew on the several new features which evolved or had been introduced to Romanesque architecture, the pointed arch, the ribbed vault, the ambulatory with radiating chapels, the clustered columns supporting ribs springing in different directions and the flying buttresses which enabled the insertion of large clerestory windows.
qas: answers: in 1140
question: When was the west front of Saint Denis completed?

answers: the eastern end
question: What portion of the reconstruction of Saint Denis was begun after the completion of the west front? 

answers: the Carolingian nave
question: What style of nave was left unaltered during this portion of the reconstruction of Saint Denis?

answers: clustered columns
question: What style of columns did Abbott Suger use when reconstructing Saint Denis?

answers: the flying buttresses
question: What design element allowed the use of large clerestory windows?

context: While many secular buildings exist from the Late Middle Ages, it is in the buildings of cathedrals and great churches that Gothic architecture displays its pertinent structures and characteristics to the fullest advantage. A Gothic cathedral or abbey was, prior to the 20th century, generally the landmark building in its town, rising high above all the domestic structures and often surmounted by one or more towers and pinnacles and perhaps tall spires. These cathedrals were the skyscrapers of that day and would have been the largest buildings by far that Europeans would ever have seen. It is in the architecture of these Gothic churches that a unique combination of existing technologies established the emergence of a new building style. Those technologies were the ogival or pointed arch, the ribbed vault, and the buttress.
qas: answers: cathedrals and great churches
question: What type of buildings most prominently display the design aspects of the Gothic architectural style?

answers: the landmark building
question: Prior to the 20th century, a Gothic cathedral was considered to be what type of building in the town in which it was constructed?

answers: the ogival
question: What is another name for the pointed arch?

answers: the ribbed vault
question: What is an example of architectural technology that is seen in Gothic construction?

answers: the buttress
question: What is another example of architectural technology that is seen in Gothic construction?

context: The eastern arm shows considerable diversity. In England it is generally long and may have two distinct sections, both choir and presbytery. It is often square ended or has a projecting Lady Chapel, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In France the eastern end is often polygonal and surrounded by a walkway called an ambulatory and sometimes a ring of chapels called a "chevet". While German churches are often similar to those of France, in Italy, the eastern projection beyond the transept is usually just a shallow apsidal chapel containing the sanctuary, as at Florence Cathedral.
qas: answers: The eastern arm
question: In England, which arm would generally show two distinct sections, choir and presbytery?

answers: the Virgin Mary
question: Who is a projecting Lady Chapel dedicated to?

answers: polygonal
question: What shape does the eastern end often exhibit in France?

answers: chevet
question: What is the ring of chapels found in the eastern end of French chapels known as?

answers: the sanctuary
question: In Italy, the eastern projection beyond the transept often contains what?

context: Contrary to the diffusionist theory, it appears that there was simultaneously a structural evolution towards the pointed arch, for the purpose of vaulting spaces of irregular plan, or to bring transverse vaults to the same height as diagonal vaults. This latter occurs at Durham Cathedral in the nave aisles in 1093. Pointed arches also occur extensively in Romanesque decorative blind arcading, where semi-circular arches overlap each other in a simple decorative pattern, and the points are accidental to the design.
qas: answers: the diffusionist theory
question: The use of the pointed arch for bringing transverse vaults to the same height diagonal ones, is in disagreement with what theory?

answers: Durham Cathedral
question: At which cathedral is the pointed arch used to match the heights of transverse and diagonal vaults?

answers: Romanesque
question: In what type of decorative blind arcading are pointed arches common?

answers: points
question: When semicircular arches overlap each other, what type of design is accidentally created?

context: The Gothic vault, unlike the semi-circular vault of Roman and Romanesque buildings, can be used to roof rectangular and irregularly shaped plans such as trapezoids. The other structural advantage is that the pointed arch channels the weight onto the bearing piers or columns at a steep angle. This enabled architects to raise vaults much higher than was possible in Romanesque architecture. While, structurally, use of the pointed arch gave a greater flexibility to architectural form, it also gave Gothic architecture a very different and more vertical visual character than Romanesque.
qas: answers: The Gothic vault
question: Which type of vault can be used for rectangular and trapezoidal shaped roofs?

answers: channels the weight onto the bearing piers or columns at a steep angle
question: What structural benefit is offered by the Gothic vault?

answers: vaults
question: What can architects raise much higher using the Gothic versus the Romanesque variety?

answers: more vertical visual character
question: What type of visual character is achieved by using the pointed arch?

context: Externally, towers and spires are characteristic of Gothic churches both great and small, the number and positioning being one of the greatest variables in Gothic architecture. In Italy, the tower, if present, is almost always detached from the building, as at Florence Cathedral, and is often from an earlier structure. In France and Spain, two towers on the front is the norm. In England, Germany and Scandinavia this is often the arrangement, but an English cathedral may also be surmounted by an enormous tower at the crossing. Smaller churches usually have just one tower, but this may also be the case at larger buildings, such as Salisbury Cathedral or Ulm Minster, which has the tallest spire in the world, slightly exceeding that of Lincoln Cathedral, the tallest which was actually completed during the medieval period, at 160 metres (520 ft).
qas: answers: towers
question: What is one feature of both large and small Gothic churches?

answers: spires
question: What is another feature of both large and small Gothic churches?

answers: two towers
question: How many towers are typical on the front of Gothic churches in France and Spain?

answers: Italy
question: In what country is the tower often found detached from the main building?

answers: just one tower
question: How many towers are found at the Salisbury Chapel?

context: On the exterior, the verticality is emphasised in a major way by the towers and spires and in a lesser way by strongly projecting vertical buttresses, by narrow half-columns called attached shafts which often pass through several storeys of the building, by long narrow windows, vertical mouldings around doors and figurative sculpture which emphasises the vertical and is often attenuated. The roofline, gable ends, buttresses and other parts of the building are often terminated by small pinnacles, Milan Cathedral being an extreme example in the use of this form of decoration.
qas: answers: the towers and spires
question: What enhances the vertical look of the exterior of Gothic construction? 

answers: The roofline
question: What is one design element of Gothic construction that is often terminated by small pinnacles?

answers: gable ends
question: What is another design element of Gothic construction that is often terminated by small pinnacles?

answers: Milan Cathedral
question: Which cathedral demonstrates a drastic example of termination with small pinnacles?

answers: buttresses
question: What other part of Gothic buildings are often found terminated with small pinnacles?

context: On the interior of the building attached shafts often sweep unbroken from floor to ceiling and meet the ribs of the vault, like a tall tree spreading into branches. The verticals are generally repeated in the treatment of the windows and wall surfaces. In many Gothic churches, particularly in France, and in the Perpendicular period of English Gothic architecture, the treatment of vertical elements in gallery and window tracery creates a strongly unifying feature that counteracts the horizontal divisions of the interior structure.
qas: answers: attached shafts
question: What is often found sweeping unbroken from floor to ceiling on the interior of Gothic buildings?

answers: the treatment of the windows and wall surfaces
question: Where are the verticals found repeated in the interior of Gothic buildings?

answers: a strongly unifying feature
question: What sort of feature is created by the use of vertical elements in gallery and window tracery?

answers: horizontal divisions of the interior structure
question: What does the use of vertical elements help to counteract?

context: Expansive interior light has been a feature of Gothic cathedrals since the first structure was opened. The metaphysics of light in the Middle Ages led to clerical belief in its divinity and the importance of its display in holy settings. Much of this belief was based on the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius, a sixth-century mystic whose book, The Celestial Hierarchy, was popular among monks in France. Pseudo-Dionysius held that all light, even light reflected from metals or streamed through windows, was divine. To promote such faith, the abbot in charge of the Saint-Denis church on the north edge of Paris, the Abbot Suger, encouraged architects remodeling the building to make the interior as bright as possible.
qas: answers: the Abbot Suger
question: Who encouraged cathedral architects to allow as much light as possible into the building?

answers: Pseudo-Dionysius
question: Who held the belief that all light, including light reflected from walls and surfaces was divine?

answers: Expansive interior light
question: What sort of light has always been characteristic of Gothic cathedrals?

answers: The Celestial Hierarchy
question: What book became popular with monks in France and had an effect on how light was used in cathedrals?

answers: Pseudo-Dionysius
question: Whose writings led to the clerical belief in the divinity of light?

context: Above the main portal there is generally a large window, like that at York Minster, or a group of windows such as those at Ripon Cathedral. In France there is generally a rose window like that at Reims Cathedral. Rose windows are also often found in the façades of churches of Spain and Italy, but are rarer elsewhere and are not found on the façades of any English Cathedrals. The gable is usually richly decorated with arcading or sculpture or, in the case of Italy, may be decorated with the rest of the façade, with polychrome marble and mosaic, as at Orvieto Cathedral.
qas: answers: a large window
question: What size of window is found above the main portal at York Minster?

answers: a rose window
question: What type of window is often found above the main portal at cathedrals in France such as the Reims Cathedral?

answers: any English Cathedrals
question: Where are rose windows never found in the facades of cathedrals?

answers: The gable
question: What portion of Gothic buildings are usually richly decorated with arcading or sculpture?

answers: Orvieto Cathedral
question: Which Italian cathedral displays polychrome marble and mosaic on the gable?

context: The distinctive characteristic of French cathedrals, and those in Germany and Belgium that were strongly influenced by them, is their height and their impression of verticality. Each French cathedral tends to be stylistically unified in appearance when compared with an English cathedral where there is great diversity in almost every building. They are compact, with slight or no projection of the transepts and subsidiary chapels. The west fronts are highly consistent, having three portals surmounted by a rose window, and two large towers. Sometimes there are additional towers on the transept ends. The east end is polygonal with ambulatory and sometimes a chevette of radiating chapels. In the south of France, many of the major churches are without transepts and some are without aisles.
qas: answers: their impression of verticality
question: What is the distinguiushing visual design feature of French cathedrals?

answers: three portals
question: How many portals are typically found on the west front of French cathedrals?

answers: two large towers
question: How many towers are typically found on the west front of French cathedrals?

answers: The east end is polygonal
question: What shape does the east end of French chapels typically have?

answers: transepts
question: What do many major churches in Southern France often lack?

context: The distinctive characteristic of English cathedrals is their extreme length, and their internal emphasis upon the horizontal, which may be emphasised visually as much or more than the vertical lines. Each English cathedral (with the exception of Salisbury) has an extraordinary degree of stylistic diversity, when compared with most French, German and Italian cathedrals. It is not unusual for every part of the building to have been built in a different century and in a different style, with no attempt at creating a stylistic unity. Unlike French cathedrals, English cathedrals sprawl across their sites, with double transepts projecting strongly and Lady Chapels tacked on at a later date, such as at Westminster Abbey. In the west front, the doors are not as significant as in France, the usual congregational entrance being through a side porch. The West window is very large and never a rose, which are reserved for the transept gables. The west front may have two towers like a French Cathedral, or none. There is nearly always a tower at the crossing and it may be very large and surmounted by a spire. The distinctive English east end is square, but it may take a completely different form. Both internally and externally, the stonework is often richly decorated with carvings, particularly the capitals.
qas: answers: their extreme length
question: What is the unique design feature of English cathedrals?

answers: double transepts
question: What type of transepts do English cathedrals often feature? 

answers: very large
question: What size of window is typically featured on the west end of English cathedrals?

answers: the transept gables
question: Where are rose windows used on English cathedrals?

answers: at the crossing
question: On English cathedrals, where is a tower almost always found?

context: Romanesque architecture in Germany, Poland, the Czech Lands and Austria is characterised by its massive and modular nature. This is expressed in the Gothic architecture of Central Europe in the huge size of the towers and spires, often projected, but not always completed. The west front generally follows the French formula, but the towers are very much taller and, if complete, are surmounted by enormous openwork spires that are a regional feature. Because of the size of the towers, the section of the façade between them may appear narrow and compressed. The eastern end follows the French form. The distinctive character of the interior of German Gothic cathedrals is their breadth and openness. This is the case even when, as at Cologne, they have been modelled upon a French cathedral. German cathedrals, like the French, tend not to have strongly projecting transepts. There are also many hall churches (Hallenkirchen) without clerestory windows.
qas: answers: modular nature
question: In Germany, Poland and Austria Romanesque architecture is defined by its massive size and what other design element?

answers: the French formula
question: What design style does Romanesque architecture in Germany, Poland, and Austria normally follow?

answers: follows the French form
question: What does the eastern end of German Romanesque cathedrals typically emulate?

answers: their breadth and openness
question: What is the distinguishing design element in German Gothic cathedrals?

answers: Hallenkirchen
question: What are hall churches in German cathedrals known as?

context: The distinctive characteristic of Gothic cathedrals of the Iberian Peninsula is their spatial complexity, with many areas of different shapes leading from each other. They are comparatively wide, and often have very tall arcades surmounted by low clerestories, giving a similar spacious appearance to the 'Hallenkirche of Germany, as at the Church of the Batalha Monastery in Portugal. Many of the cathedrals are completely surrounded by chapels. Like English cathedrals, each is often stylistically diverse. This expresses itself both in the addition of chapels and in the application of decorative details drawn from different sources. Among the influences on both decoration and form are Islamic architecture and, towards the end of the period, Renaissance details combined with the Gothic in a distinctive manner. The West front, as at Leon Cathedral, typically resembles a French west front, but wider in proportion to height and often with greater diversity of detail and a combination of intricate ornament with broad plain surfaces. At Burgos Cathedral there are spires of German style. The roofline often has pierced parapets with comparatively few pinnacles. There are often towers and domes of a great variety of shapes and structural invention rising above the roof.
qas: answers: their spatial complexity
question: What is the distinctive design element of Gothic cathedrals of the Iberian Peninsula? 

answers: very tall arcades
question: What size are the arcades of Gothic cathedrals of the Iberian Peninsula?

answers: Islamic architecture
question: What type of architecture is a prominent influence on the design and form of Gothic cathedrals from the Iberian Peninsula? 

answers: a French west front
question: What type of West front does the Leon Cathedral resemble?

answers: German style
question: What style are the spires at Burgos Cathedral?

context: The distinctive characteristic of Italian Gothic is the use of polychrome decoration, both externally as marble veneer on the brick façade and also internally where the arches are often made of alternating black and white segments, and where the columns may be painted red, the walls decorated with frescoes and the apse with mosaic. The plan is usually regular and symmetrical, Italian cathedrals have few and widely spaced columns. The proportions are generally mathematically equilibrated, based on the square and the concept of "armonìa", and except in Venice where they loved flamboyant arches, the arches are almost always equilateral. Colours and moldings define the architectural units rather than blending them. Italian cathedral façades are often polychrome and may include mosaics in the lunettes over the doors. The façades have projecting open porches and occular or wheel windows rather than roses, and do not usually have a tower. The crossing is usually surmounted by a dome. There is often a free-standing tower and baptistry. The eastern end usually has an apse of comparatively low projection. The windows are not as large as in northern Europe and, although stained glass windows are often found, the favourite narrative medium for the interior is the fresco.
qas: answers: the use of polychrome decoration
question: What is the unique characteristic of Italian Gothic design?

answers: the columns may be painted red
question: What color are the columns of Italian Gothic cathedrals often painted?

answers: they loved flamboyant arches
question: What type of arches do they love to use in Venice?

answers: occular or wheel windows
question: Instead of rose windows, what type of windows do Italian cathedral facades usually feature?

answers: the fresco
question: What is the preferred narrative medium for the interior of Italian cathedrals?

context: The Palais des Papes in Avignon is the best complete large royal palace, alongside the Royal palace of Olite, built during the 13th and 14th centuries for the kings of Navarre. The Malbork Castle built for the master of the Teutonic order is an example of Brick Gothic architecture. Partial survivals of former royal residences include the Doge's Palace of Venice, the Palau de la Generalitat in Barcelona, built in the 15th century for the kings of Aragon, or the famous Conciergerie, former palace of the kings of France, in Paris.
qas: answers: the kings of Navarre
question: Who was the Royal palace of Olite built for?

answers: the master of the Teutonic order
question: Who was the Malbork Castle built for?

answers: Brick Gothic architecture
question: What type of Gothic architecture is the Malbork Castle an example of?

answers: the famous Conciergerie
question: What is the name of the royal residence built for the kings of France in Paris?

answers: built in the 15th century
question: When was the Palau de la Generalitat in Barcelona constructed?

context: Secular Gothic architecture can also be found in a number of public buildings such as town halls, universities, markets or hospitals. The Gdańsk, Wrocław and Stralsund town halls are remarkable examples of northern Brick Gothic built in the late 14th centuries. The Belfry of Bruges or Brussels Town Hall, built during the 15th century, are associated to the increasing wealth and power of the bourgeoisie in the late Middle Ages; by the 15th century, the traders of the trade cities of Burgundy had acquired such wealth and influence that they could afford to express their power by funding lavishly decorated buildings of vast proportions. This kind of expressions of secular and economic power are also found in other late mediaeval commercial cities, including the Llotja de la Seda of Valencia, Spain, a purpose built silk exchange dating from the 15th century, in the partial remains of Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament in London, or the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, Italy, a 13th-century town hall built to host the offices of the then prosperous republic of Siena. Other Italian cities such as Florence (Palazzo Vecchio), Mantua or Venice also host remarkable examples of secular public architecture.
qas: answers: Stralsund town halls
question: What is an example of secular Northern Brick Gothic architecture from the 14th century?

answers: built during the 15th century
question: When was Brussels Town Hall built?

answers: the Llotja de la Seda of Valencia
question: What is the name of the secular building in Spain which was constructed for the purpose of silk exchange?

answers: the Palazzo Pubblico
question: What is the name of the 13th-century town hall constructed to host the offices of the republic of Siena?

answers: Florence
question: Impressive public secular architecture can also be found in what other Italian city?

context: By the late Middle Ages university towns had grown in wealth and importance as well, and this was reflected in the buildings of some of Europe's ancient universities. Particularly remarkable examples still standing nowadays include the Collegio di Spagna in the University of Bologna, built during the 14th and 15th centuries; the Collegium Carolinum of the University of Prague in Bohemia; the Escuelas mayores of the University of Salamanca in Spain; the chapel of King's College, Cambridge; or the Collegium Maius of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.
qas: answers: the late Middle Ages
question: In what era had university towns grown in wealth and importance?

answers: the Collegio di Spagna
question: What is the name of the university building in Bologna, built in the 14th and 15th centuries?

answers: the Collegium Carolinum
question: What is the name of the building at University of Prague in Bohemia?

answers: the Escuelas mayores
question: What is the name of the secular building at the University of Salamanca in Spain? 

answers: the Collegium Maius
question: What is the name of the secular building at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland?

context: Other cities with a concentration of secular Gothic include Bruges and Siena. Most surviving small secular buildings are relatively plain and straightforward; most windows are flat-topped with mullions, with pointed arches and vaulted ceilings often only found at a few focal points. The country-houses of the nobility were slow to abandon the appearance of being a castle, even in parts of Europe, like England, where defence had ceased to be a real concern. The living and working parts of many monastic buildings survive, for example at Mont Saint-Michel.
qas: answers: Bruges
question: What is one city with an accumulation of secular Gothic structures? 

answers: Siena
question: What is another city with an accumulation of secular Gothic structures? 

answers: flat-topped with mullions
question: What style are most windows on secular Gothic structures?

answers: a few focal points
question: Where are pointed arches and vaulted ceilings found on most secular Gothic structures?

answers: Mont Saint-Michel
question: What is the name of the surviving monastic building in England? 

context: In 1663 at the Archbishop of Canterbury's residence, Lambeth Palace, a Gothic hammerbeam roof was built to replace that destroyed when the building was sacked during the English Civil War. Also in the late 17th century, some discrete Gothic details appeared on new construction at Oxford University and Cambridge University, notably on Tom Tower at Christ Church, Oxford, by Christopher Wren. It is not easy to decide whether these instances were Gothic survival or early appearances of Gothic revival.
qas: answers: Lambeth Palace
question: What is the name of the Archbishop of Canterbury's residence?

answers: In 1663
question: In what year was a Gothic hammerbeam roof installed on the Archbishop of Canterbury's residence?

answers: the late 17th century
question: In what century were distinct Gothic details used on new construction at Oxford and Cambridge?

answers: Christopher Wren
question: Who used Gothic details in construction of Tom Tower, Oxford?

context: In England, partly in response to a philosophy propounded by the Oxford Movement and others associated with the emerging revival of 'high church' or Anglo-Catholic ideas during the second quarter of the 19th century, neo-Gothic began to become promoted by influential establishment figures as the preferred style for ecclesiastical, civic and institutional architecture. The appeal of this Gothic revival (which after 1837, in Britain, is sometimes termed Victorian Gothic), gradually widened to encompass "low church" as well as "high church" clients. This period of more universal appeal, spanning 1855–1885, is known in Britain as High Victorian Gothic.
qas: answers: during the second quarter of the 19th century
question: When was neo-Gothic popularized by influential figures?

answers: Victorian Gothic
question: In Britain after 1837, what was the Gothic revival known as?

answers: 1855–1885
question: During what years was the High Victorian Gothic period in Britain?

answers: the Oxford Movement
question: What movement was responsible for the philosophy which led to the revival of Anglo Catholic ideas? 

answers: institutional architecture
question: Besides ecclesiastical and civic architecture, what other style of architecture did influential figures of the 19th century prefer to use Victorian Gothic for?

context: The Houses of Parliament in London by Sir Charles Barry with interiors by a major exponent of the early Gothic Revival, Augustus Welby Pugin, is an example of the Gothic revival style from its earlier period in the second quarter of the 19th century. Examples from the High Victorian Gothic period include George Gilbert Scott's design for the Albert Memorial in London, and William Butterfield's chapel at Keble College, Oxford. From the second half of the 19th century onwards it became more common in Britain for neo-Gothic to be used in the design of non-ecclesiastical and non-governmental buildings types. Gothic details even began to appear in working-class housing schemes subsidised by philanthropy, though given the expense, less frequently than in the design of upper and middle-class housing.
qas: answers: Sir Charles Barry
question: Who was the exterior architect of the Houses of Parliament?

answers: Augustus Welby Pugin
question: Who was the interior architect of the Houses of Parliament?

answers: the Gothic revival style
question: What style of architecture does the Houses of Parliament exemplify?

answers: George Gilbert Scott
question: Who designed the Albert Memorial in London?

answers: William Butterfield
question: Who designed the chapel at Keble College, Oxford?

context: In France, simultaneously, the towering figure of the Gothic Revival was Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who outdid historical Gothic constructions to create a Gothic as it ought to have been, notably at the fortified city of Carcassonne in the south of France and in some richly fortified keeps for industrial magnates. Viollet-le-Duc compiled and coordinated an Encyclopédie médiévale that was a rich repertory his contemporaries mined for architectural details. He effected vigorous restoration of crumbling detail of French cathedrals, including the Abbey of Saint-Denis and famously at Notre Dame de Paris, where many of whose most "Gothic" gargoyles are Viollet-le-Duc's. He taught a generation of reform-Gothic designers and showed how to apply Gothic style to modern structural materials, especially cast iron.
qas: answers: Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
question: Who was the main figure of the Gothic Revival in France?

answers: the Abbey of Saint-Denis
question: What famous French cathedral was restored and reconstructed by Viollet-le-Duc?

answers: cast iron
question: What modern building material did Viollet-le-Duc teach reform Gothic designers to work with?

answers: Carcassonne
question: In what fortified city in Southern France did Viollet-le-Duc recreate historical Gothic constructions?

answers: Notre Dame de Paris
question: What other famous French cathedral did Viollet-le-Duc work on?