William was married to Adela of Normandy. He was the father of Adelaide of Aquitaine, who became Queen of France when she married Hugh Capet. He was succeeded by his son, William IV of Aquitaine.
Basilica of Saint-Denis
The Basilica of Saint Denis is a basilica near Paris, France. It is famous for its architecture and as the burial place for many Kings of France. It is in the suburb of Saint Denis, which is in the north of Paris. Since 1966, it is the cathedral of the diocese of Saint-Denis. It is located in the Greater Paris area, about from Paris.
The Basilica is named after Saint Denis. Saint Denis is the patron saint of France. He was also the first Bishop of Paris.
The Basilica was a Romanesque building. In 1136 the Abbot Suger (1081 - 1155) began replacing the building, bit by bit, beginning with the west front and then with a new east end. The east end is said to be the first building in the Gothic style. It was not completed until the 13th century.
The current organ of the basilica is the first organ built by Aristide Cavaille-Coll. With 4200 pipes, it contains a lot of innovations, opening the romantic area. The French organist Pierre Pincemaille, titular between 1987 and 2018, set up lots of recitals and recorded 8 CDs with this instrument.
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a way of planning and designing buildings that developed in Western Europe in the Late Middle Ages. Gothic architecture grew out of Romanesque architecture, in France in the 12th century. Gothic architecture spread across Europe and lasted until the 16th century when Renaissance architecture became popular.
The important single feature of Gothic architecture is the pointed arch, which is the main difference from Romanesque architecture which had rounded arches. Other important features are the ribbed vault, flying buttress, and windows with patterns of stone lace called tracery.
Many of the great cathedrals, abbeys and churches of Europe are Gothic architecture. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town halls, universities, and also some houses.
Many church buildings still remain from this period. Even the smallest Gothic churches are often very beautiful, while many of the larger Gothic churches and cathedrals are thought to be priceless works of art. Many are listed with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as World Heritage Sites.
In the 19th century, the Gothic style became popular again, particularly for building churches and universities. This style is called Gothic Revival architecture.
Gothic architecture was at first called "the French Style" ("").
The word ""Gothic"" was used later during the Renaissance as an insult, relating to the uncivilized ancient Goths.
An Italian writer named Giorgio Vasari used the word "Gothic" in the 1530s, because he thought buildings from the Middle Ages were not carefully planned and measured like Renaissance buildings or the buildings of ancient Rome. He said that, as the barbaric Goths had destroyed the classical world, so this "modern art" had destroyed the architecture of the twelfth century. After Vasari, many other people used the word "Gothic" to describe architecture with pointed arches.
At the end of the 12th century, Western Europe was divided into different states. Many of these were beginning to become the countries that exist today.
The Holy Roman Empire ruled a big part of Europe including the modern countries of Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, eastern France and much of northern Italy, apart from Venice. Emperor Charlemagne began the Holy Roman Empire in 800 AD.
The modern countries of France and Spain were each divided into different kingdoms. England was ruled by a king whose family also had a lot of land in France. Norway was influenced by England, while the other Scandinavian countries and Poland were influenced by German states.
Trade between towns and states began to make the towns grow larger. Germany, Holland and Belgium had many big towns that grew peacefully, often trading with each other. Because of the peace and wealth of these towns, they showed their pride by building huge town halls, often with very tall towers.
In England and France, most people did not live in towns. They lived on farms. Rich nobleman or lord owned these farms. The house of the lord was called a manor house. Italy was mostly split up into small city states which often fought each other. Cities often had high walls and many of the houses built at this time were tall, high towers.
In Western Europe, in the Middle Ages, almost everyone belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church has one head - the Pope. During the Middle Ages, one language was used in churches all across Europe - Ecclesiastical Latin, sometimes called Church Latin, which had developed from ancient Latin.
The churches of each area had a local bishop who came under the Pope. . Each Bishop had a throne where he could sit when priests and people came to him. A church which has a Bishop's throne is called a "cathedral". Cathedrals were usually the biggest and most beautiful churches.
In the early Middle Ages, many monasteries were built all over Europe. A group of holy men lived and worked and prayed there. Monks belonged to different "orders" which had different rules. The biggest number of monasteries were homes to the monks of the Benedictine Order. Their monasteries were generally in towns and they often built very big churches called "Abbeys" for the monks and the townspeople to worship in. Other orders of monks, like the Cistercians, did not live near towns. Nowadays their abbeys are seen as beautiful ruins in the English countryside.
In France, there were also Benedictines, as well as Cluniac Orders. The great monastery at Cluny, built in the Romanesque style, was the biggest in Europe. The abbey and other buildings were very well planned so for hundreds of years other monasteries were influenced by that plan.
In the 13th century St. Francis of Assisi started the Franciscans, who were often called the "Grey Friars" because of their grey-brown robes. The Dominicans were founded by St. Dominic in Toulouse and Bologna. The Dominicans built many of Italy's Gothic churches.
Abbot Suger was the head of a large monastery just north of Paris in France. The monastery had a large church, the Abbey of Saint-Denis. There was also a royal palace where the French kings sometimes stayed. Abbot Suger was a close friend to two kings, Louis VI and Louis VII.
In 1127 Suger decided to rebuild the great abbey Church of Saint-Denis. He began by changing the "West Front" or facade This side of the church was about 200 years old and had only one small door. Suger planned for three big doors like the arches on the Arch of Constantine in Rome. These large entrances let in all the crowds on special Holy Days. The facade also had a big round window in the centre, called a rose window, which was the first one in France.
Abbot Suger did not rebuild the church inside the west doors where most of the ordinary people stood. Next, he rebuilt the eastern end. Suger wanted the east facade to make people think of Heaven. He wanted it to be very light and bright, with very big windows of beautifully coloured glass. He looked at all the most modern designs, and all the clever things that other architects had done. He put all the new ideas together in one building. It was the first building of the new "Gothic" style. It was not yet called Gothic at this time. It was called "the French Style".
The new East End was dedicated or "given to God" on June 11, 1144. Other architects soon copied the design for other big churches and cathedrals in northern France. After Abbot Suger's death, the rest of the church was also rebuilt in the new style, and got two more much larger and more decorated rose windows, one on either side.