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Malcolm IV of Scotland (20 March 1141- December 9, 1165) was the grandson of David I of Scotland.
He succeeded his grandfather as King of Scotland in 1153.
Not much is known about him.
1140s births
1165 deaths
Kings and Queens of Scotland
1084 births
1153 deaths
Saint Margaret of Scotland (c. 1045 - 16 November 1093) was married to Malcolm III of Scotland.
She was the mother of David I of Scotland, Alexander I of Scotland and Edgar.
She was the daughter of Edward the Exile, and the granddaughter of Edmund Ironside.
She was probably born in Hungary.
Margaret of Scotland  at the University of Pittsburgh
Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Margaret of Scotland
1045 births
1093 deaths
Kings and Queens consort of Scotland
Alexander I of Scotland (c. 1078 - 23 April 1124) was the son of Malcolm Canmore and Saint Margaret of Scotland.
He became the King of Scotland in 1107.
In the same year, he married Sybilla, who was an illegitimate daughter of Henry I of England.
1078 births
1124 deaths
Henry I of England (c. 1068 C.E. - 1 December 1135 C.E.), also called Henry Beauclerc (meaning good scholar), was the King of England.
He ruled from, 1100 until his death in 1135.
Henry was born in Selby, Yorkshire.
He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and Queen Matilda of Flanders.
Henry was the only child born in England.
His mother had come to England for her coronation in 1068.
Henry was educated in Latin and the liberal arts.
His parents probably raised him to go into the Church when he was old enough.
On William's death in 1087, Henry's two older brothers were each left half of their father's kingdom.
Robert Curthose became Duke of Normandy.
William Rufus became king of England.
But Henry, still a minor, was left with no inheritance.
Henry purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert.
But Robert and William Rufus forced him out in 1091.
Henry gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin.
He then allied himself with William against Robert.
Henry was present when William died in a hunting accident in 1100.
Robert was away on Crusade.
Henry, who was present when William was killed, rushed to seize the English throne for himself.
As King, Henry tried to make social reforms.
He issued the Charter of Liberties which is considered a predecessor of the Magna Carta.
He put back in place some of the laws of Edward the Confessor.
Henry and his wife had two children, Matilda and William Adelin.
William died in the White Ship sinking on November 25, 1120.
Henry also fathered more illegitimate children than any other English King.
Estimates by various historians place the number between 20 and 25.
Henry died in 1135.
He was visiting his daughter and grandchildren in Normandy.
After his death, his daughter Mathilda and his nephew, Stephen, argued over who would become the ruler of England, and started a civil war called The Anarchy.
Children of Henry I
1068 births
1135 deaths
Anglo-Normans
William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I of England, was a French statesman and warlord.
He was the first Norman King of England (1066–1087).
He was also the Duke of Normandy from 1035 until his death.
At the Battle of Hastings, William defeated Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.
That event is shown on the Bayeux Tapestry.
He changed the course of both Norman and English history.
He and Harold fought to see who would have the English throne.
Harold was killed at the battle of Hastings in 1066.
Early life and minority
William was the son of Robert I, Duke of Normandy by his concubine Herleva.
He was born in Falaise, Normandy in 1027 or 1028.
William became the Duke of Normandy when his father died in 1035.
In 1034 or 1035 Duke Robert wanted to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
He made his noblemen swear to make his young son William their duke if he was killed.
But William's minority rule of Normandy did not start well.
Some Normans did not want a boy as their duke.
Robert II Archbishop of Rouen was a powerful man in Normandy.
He protected William.
King Henry I of France also approved of William.
In 1037, Archbishop Robert died.
Without his support Norman nobles began fighting among themselves.
Some wanted William out of the way and tried to kill him.
One of William's servants was killed in the very room where William slept.
Two more of William's protectors died during this time.
Normandy was in complete disorder.
In 1042 William held a church council in Normandy.
At that council the church made a new law called the Truce of God.
It was to help stop all the private wars.
There could be no fighting on feast days or fast days.
No fighting was allowed from Thursday night until Monday morning.
The punishment for breaking the truce was excommunication.
William probably reached the age of majority in about 1044.
He no longer needed tutors.
He could now rule on his own.
Val-es-Dunes
The private wars continued into 1046.
William's rule depended on the loyalty of his viscounts.
By the fall of 1046 many of the families in lower Normandy began plotting to replace William as duke.
Guy of Burgundy,  William's cousin, was sent to William's court in hopes he would do well there.
William gave Guy castles at Brionne and Vernon.
But Guy wasn't happy with this and decided he should rule Normandy himself.
He became the leader of what was by now an open revolt.
Two of William's viscounts joined Guy.
William realized this was a serious threat and he asked King Henry for help.
The French king came right away and brought a large army.
The combined armies of Duke William and King Henry met the rebels at Val-es-Dunes.
The rebels were defeated and Guy fled to his castle at Brionne.
William kept the castle cut off from food or supplies until Guy gave up in 1049.
The duke forgave his cousin, but Guy soon returned to Burgundy.
William's victory at Val-es-Dunes gave him some control of Normandy.
A church council met in October 1047 near the battlefield to consider a new Truce of God.
No private wars would be allowed from Wednesday evening through Monday morning.
Also no such fighting was allowed during Advent, Lent, Easter and Pentecost.
This followed other such truces in place elsewhere in France.
But the king and duke were both excluded from this truce.
They were allowed to wage war during these times to keep the peace.
William's peace in Normandy was now supported by the church.
Rise to power
The battle of Val-es-Dunes was the start of William's rise to power.
As the king had stepped in it was more his victory than William's.
But William's nobles now began to see him as a leader.
He could now think about taking a wife.
Shortly before 1049 William decided to marry Matilda of Flanders.
She was the daughter of Baldwin V of Flanders and Adela of France, who was the daughter of King Robert II of France.
Before it could take place Pope Leo IX refused to allow the marriage.
He did not give a reason but the two were cousins.
Some time between 1050 and 1052 the two married anyway.
But it wasn't until 1059 that another pope, Nicholas II, lifted the ban on their marriage.
While William was building his power in Normandy things were changing around him.
King Henry had supported him and William had helped the king against the count of Anjou.
About 1052 Count Geoffrey of Anjou and the king suddenly made peace.
Just as suddenly the king turned on William.
At the same time two of William's uncles, Archbishop Mauger and Count William of Arques rebelled against their nephew.
William fought his uncle at the castle at Arques.
King Henry now led a large force (army) into Normandy to help Count William of Arques.
But Duke William met him in battle and won.
Without the king's army to help, the castle had to give up.
Duke William sent his two uncles away from Normandy.
In 1054 the king again entered Normandy with a large hostile force.
He split his army in two and led the southern forces himself.
His brother Odo led the second force east of the Seine river.
This time William had all of Normandy supporting him.
He had everything that could be used as food removed ahead of the French armies.
This would cause them difficulty in keeping their soldiers fed.
William also split his soldiers into two armies.
William's forces watched the king's armies looking for any chance to attack.
When Odo's forces reached the town of Mortimer they found plenty of food and drink.
This caused his forces to relax and enjoy themselves.
The commanders of William's second army caught them by surprise and killed most of Odo's soldiers.
Those who did survive were taken prisoner and held for ransom.
When the king got the news that his brother's army had been destroyed his army was struck with panic.
The king and his men left Normandy as fast as they could.
King Henry I agreed to a peace that lasted three years.
But in 1058 the king broke the peace and invaded Normandy again.
Just as before William kept the king's army close but waited for the best time to strike.
This came as the French army was crossing the Dives river at Varaville.
The king had already crossed the river and watched as his army was destroyed as they entered the water.
He took what remained of his army and left Normandy for good.
The king died a short time later.
The new king, his young son Phillip, was under the care of William's father-in-law, Baldwin V. France was no longer hostile to Normandy and this allowed William the freedom to expand.
Normandy and England
In 1002 Ethelred King of England married Emma, sister of Duke Richard II of Normandy.
The alliance formed by this marriage had far reaching effects.
When Canute came to the throne of England in 1016, he took Emma of Normandy as his wife.
Her two sons by her former marriage fled to Normandy for their own safety.
Edward, the older son, stayed in Normandy for many years at the court of the dukes.
The last duke who protected him there was his cousin William.
Edward became King of England in 1042.
in 1052 Edward made William his heir.
In 1065 Harold Godwinson was in Normandy.
While he was there he promised Duke William he would support him as successor to the English throne.
On 5 January 1066 Edward the king died.
But Harold did not respect his oaths.
The next day, the day of the funeral, Harold Godwinson was crowned King of England.
The story was that on his deathbed, the king had changed his mind, and promised Harold the throne.
Harold was not royalty himself and had no legal claim on the throne.
For weeks William must have known Edward was dying.
But the news of the king's death and Harold's taking the throne must have been a surprise to others.
Norman invasion of England
William began his plans for invasion almost as soon as he received news of the events in England.
He called a meeting of his greatest men.
William made plans to gather a large army from all over France.
His influence and wealth meant he could mount a large campaign.
His first task was to build a fleet of ships to carry his army across the English Channel.
Then he started gathering an army.
His friendship with Brittany, France, and Flanders  meant he did not have to rely only on his own army.
He hired and paid soldiers from many parts of Europe.
William asked for and got the support of the pope who gave him a banner to carry into battle.
At the same time Duke William was planning his invasion, so too was Harold Hardrada.
The king of England knew both would be coming but he kept his ships and forces in the south of England where William might land.
William may have had as many as 1,000 ships in his invasion fleet.
They had favorable winds to leave Normandy on the night of 27 September 1066.
William's ship, the Mora, was a gift of his wife, Matilda.
It led the fleet to the landing at Pevensey the next morning.
As soon as he landed William got news of King Harold's victory over the Norwegian king at Stamford Bridge in the north of England.
Harold also received news that William had landed at Pevensey and came south as quickly as he could.
The king rested at London for a few days before taking his army to meet William and his French forces.
King Harold's army took up a position on an east-west ridge north of Hastings.
The ridge itself was called Senlay Hill.
They found the Norman army marching up the valley in front of them.
While Harold had more soldiers, they were tired from the forced march from London.
William formed his lines at the base of the hill facing the shield wall of the English.
He sent his archers halfway up the slope to attack the English.
He sent his mounted knights to the left and right to find any weak spots.
At first William's knights tried to break through the shield wall with the weight of their horses.
But they were attacking uphill and could not gain any speed.
Harold's front line simply stood fast and was able to fend off any attacks.
William's army began to fall back with rumors of Duke William's death.
William removed his helmet so his men could see he was still alive.
When William saw that many of Harold's men were following his knights back down the hill he used a trick he had learned years before.
He turned suddenly and charged the oncoming English foot soldiers who had no chance against mounted knights.
This tactic worked at least two more times during the battle and made Harold's shield wall weaker.
Now William used something new.
Where his attacks by knights and soldiers had been separate movements he now used them together.
Where his archers had not succeeded against the shield wall he had them shoot high into the air so the arrows came down on top of the English.
This may be where king Harold was killed by an arrow through his eye.
The shield wall finally broke and the Normans were on top of them.
By nightfall the English were either dead on the field or being hunted down by William's troops.
William called his troops back and they all spent the night camped on the battlefield.
The battle was won but the English still had smaller armies which had not joined King Harold at Hastings.
They had lost their king but were still trying to reorganize.
William rested his army for five days before moving towards London.
His line of march took him through several towns he either captured or destroyed.
When William reached London the English resisted for a short time but in the end surrendered.
On Christmas day in 1066 William was crowned King of England.
His victory at Hastings gave Duke William the nickname he has been known by ever since: 'William the Conqueror'.
Early reign
William chose to be crowned at Christmas.
This was partly because he thought the English would be less likely to riot at this high feast day.
It was also a good choice because he believed it was God's will he be king.
Now the king, William spent a few months in England.
He then returned to Normandy leaving England in the hands of two capable men.
These were his half-brother Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux and William FitzOsbern.
Odo was made the Earl of Kent while FitzOsbern became the earl of Hereford.
The remaining three English earls were left in place.
When William sailed back to Normandy with him were many of his followers.
Many of his soldiers who had been paid and others he wished to keep track of.
In particular these were the English Archbishop Stigand and Edgar Atheling.
He also brought his remaining three English earls, Edwin, Morcar and Waltheof.
This was so none of them could start a revolt while he was away.
William had his duties at home to take care of.
Also many of his soldiers needed to come back to keep the duchy safe.
When William returned to London in December of 1067 he began to find out what problems had come up while he was gone.
Hertfordshire had been raided by Mercians.
Then Exeter had not accepted the rule of the new king.
William raised money from all those parts of England that would pay.
He also called out English levies.
Exeter surrendered after one of its hostages was blinded.
After he subdued Devon and Cornwall all seemed quiet.
At Winchester William sent for his wife Matilda who was crowned Queen of England there at Pentecost.
By summer more rebellions had broken out.
At the same time others were fleeing England.
Edgar Atheling along with his mother and sisters left for Scotland where they were welcomed.
In the North strong anti-Norman groups were gathering around York.
Earl Edwin and his brother Morcar left William's court to join the rebels in the north.
William then built a castle at Warwick.
This caused the Earls and others to give in to William.
Other castles followed.
William then entered York where others came to him and submitted.
He then negotiated with the king of Scots to prevent any invasions of England from the north.
But his campaign in the North was not as effective as he thought.
In 1069 a second uprising developed into a war.
The men William left in charge had been killed.
A small Norman force was holding out in York when William came to their aid.
After building another castle William left Earl William FitzOsbern in charge.
For the next five months the north was quiet.
But the northern English leaders had sent word to King Swein in Denmark offering him the crown if he could defeat the Normans.
Swein sent a Danish fleet to England.
In the summer of 1069 the Danish fleet appeared off the coast of Kent.
It moved up the coast towards the north, raiding as it went.
William and his army were in the south guarding against any incursions.
Finally the fleet joined the English rebels on the banks of the River Humber.
The remaining English earls all deserted William and joined the combined English-Danish forces.
They moved against the Norman garrison at York and killed all but a few women and children.
William Malet, a Norman who had lived in England before 1066 was also spared.
Harrying of the north
William's northern army was wiped out and York was in ruins.
At the same time smaller rebellions were breaking out in Wales and southwest England.
William knew he was in trouble.
He began by calling in all his commanders and troops to combine his forces.
The king knew that with a smaller army he had to deal with one group of rebels at a time.
He sent William FitzOsbern and Brian of Brittany to deal with Exeter.
William himself fought an army moving in from the east.
In both cases the Norman armies were victorious.
He now moved on the northern armies that had destroyed York.
But he was unable to get any farther north than Pontefract.
After trying for several weeks William bribed the Danish Fleet to withdraw from York for the winter.
They agreed and returned to the mouth of the Humber to winter there.
William was now able to move up to York.
He rebuilt the castles there.
He then had his forces spread out and destroy everything useful for the English and Danish army to feed itself.
The result was widespread famine and the people of the area either left or starved to death.
This was William's infamous harrying of the North.
The result of all this was the surrender of his English Earls and most of the rebels in England.
The few remaining groups were quickly crushed by William's army.
But one group proved more stubborn.
This was at Chester and after a forced march during Winter, William surprised them before they were ready.
After their surrender he built two more castles there then returned to Winchester.
Ruling England and Normandy
William never again had to lay waste to a county as he did to Yorkshire.
He had dealt with the main threats to his rule but some had only been solved in part.
The Danish fleet came back in 1070 this time led by King Swen.
They joined a small group of rebels on the Isle of Ely led by Hereward the Wake.
Again William bribed the Danes to leave and then dealt with the rebels.
Hereward was never heard from again.
William now had to rule both England and Normandy.
He found he had to be present to keep things under control.
When he was in Normandy trouble often broke out in England.
When in  England, though, Normandy was being ruled by his wife Matilda.
But Fulk Rechin, the new count of Anjou, had taken Maine from William's control.
William had to take it back in 1073.
In 1082 William arrested his half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent.
The reasons are uncertain but Odo was trying to raise an army to march on Rome.
His plan was to become the next Pope.
William put him on trial on the Isle of Wight.
In addition to other crimes was that of trying to raise an army among William's soldiers.
As William pointed out, they were needed for the defense of England.
Odo protested that not even a king could judge him.
As a bishop only the Pope could.
William replied that he wasn't seizing a bishop, he was seizing his earl who he left in charge during his absence.
Odo was imprisoned in Normandy for the rest of his life.
In 1083 Queen Matilda died and was buried in Caen.
The two had been very close and only disagreed over their son Robert Curthose.
Robert had repeatedly rebelled against his father yet kept in contact with his mother.
This caused a rift between them.
Philip I of France had found it difficult for his vassal to become a king like himself and so resented William.
Not strong enough to fight William himself, when Robert Curthose rebelled against his father, King Philip helped him.
In the summer of 1085 William learned that Canute IV of Denmark was getting a fleet ready to sail against England.
William came back to England in the Autumn with many soldiers.
He had to pay them and feed them, at great cost.
It may have been at this time he realized he had no records of what was owed him as king.
He didn't know if he was collecting all the taxes that were due.
At his Christmas court at Gloucester in 1085 William asked that a great survey be taken in every part of England.
The king wanted to know how many people lived in his realm.
He wanted to know the size of every property, what each was worth, and how much income it brought in.
No such survey had ever been made in England before.
It was unique in its details and its contribution to English history.
The Domesday Book was the first public record in England.
The text of the book fit into two volumes.
The first covered thirty-one counties.
It was called 'Great Domesday' because of its size.
The second covered the counties of Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk and was called 'Little Domesday'.
The facts were recorded by several panels made up of bishops and earls.
Each panel collected information on several counties.
William was presented with a large collection of written records on 1 August 1086.
This became the Domesday Book, though it wouldn't be bound into books for almost another century.
Last years
Robert (–1134), Duke of Normandy succeeded his father.
Richard (–.
William (–1100).
Succeeded his father as King of England.
Henry (1068–1135).
Succeeded his brother William as King of England.
Agatha; promised in marriage to Alfonso VI of León and Castile but died before the wedding.
Adeliza.
Cecily (–1127), Abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen.
Adela († 1137), married Stephen I, Count of Blois.
Constance († 1090),  married Alan IV, Duke of Brittany.
1020s births
1087 deaths
Dukes and duchesses
Accidental deaths
Matilda of Flanders (c. 1031 - November 2, 1083) was the wife of William I of England.
She was Duchess of Normandy and Queen of England.
Matilda was the daughter of Baldwin V of Flanders and Adela of France, who was the daughter of king Robert II of France.
Historians think she was born about 1031.
Care was given to her education so she would become known for her learning as much as for her great beauty.
Matilda, like other princesses of her day, was very skilled at fine needlework.
Matilda was well respected because she was a part of a large Royal family.
She was related to many kings in Europe including Charlemagne.
Matilda was a very small woman in size, some reports said she was only four feet two inches high (129.5 Centimeters).
Duchess of Normandy
Matilda was married to William probably between 1051 and 1052 while she was still a teenager.
Ever since he became duke of Normandy as a boy, William had to fight to keep Normandy.
When William was born his mother and father were not married so he had the stigma of being a bastard.
By marrying Matilda, who was the niece of the king of France, William gained respect in Europe.
When William was getting ready to attack England, Matilda had a ship built for him called the Mora.
While William was in England and after he became King of England in 1066, Matilda stayed behind to rule Normandy while William was away.
A year later, in 1067, Matilda was able to join her husband in England and she was crowned Queen of England.
It helped William that Matilda was related to an earlier English king, Alfred the Great.
This was important to the English people to think Matilda was herself part English.
Matilda died on 3 Nov 1083 when she was about 52 years old.
Adela of Normandy, who was the mother of Stephen of England
Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy after his fathers death
1031 births
1083 deaths
Robert II of France (March 27, 972 - July 20, 1031) was born in Orleans, France.
He was the son of Hugh Capet and Adelaide of Aquitaine.
He was married to Constance of Arles.
Robert was succeeded by his son Henry I of France.
Robert is buried in the Saint Denis Basilica.
972 births
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People from Centre-Val de Loire
Adelaide of Aquitaine (c.945-1004) was the Queen of Hugh Capet and the daughter of William III of Aquitaine.
She was the sister of William IV of Aquitaine.
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Kings and Queens consort of France
William III of Aquitaine (c. 915 – April 3, 963) became the Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitiers in 935.
He was the son of Ebalus of Aquitaine.
William's nickname was Towhead.
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.
915 births
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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.
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.
People who are buried in Saint Denis Basilica
L'Internaute Magazine: Diaporama
Cathedrals in France
Establishments in France
Gothic cathedrals are important examples of gothic architecture.
Gothic architecture was a way of planning and designing buildings that began in Western Europe in the Late Middle Ages.
Gothic architecture grew out of Romanesque architecture, in France in the 12th century.
The architecture spread across Europe and lasted until the 16th century when Renaissance architecture became popular.
The single most characteristic feature of Gothic architecture is the pointed arch.
This 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, and palaces.
It is also found in some  town halls, universities, and some houses.
Many church buildings still remain from this time.
Even the smallest Gothic churches are often 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.
About the word "Gothic"
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, Germanic-people documented living near lower Vistula river.
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.
Towns, states and countries
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 and the first Gothic building
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.
Architectural features of Gothic churches
"Romanesque" was the style of architecture in Europe before the "Gothic" style.
Gothic architecture grew out of Romanesque architecture.
There was not a clean break between the two styles.
Many of the features of Gothic architecture did not begin in the Gothic period.
They were already there in Romanesque architecture, and slowly changed to become Gothic.
The main changes were the pointed arch and the flying buttress.
These two developments allowed many other changes to happen.
Romanesque buildings had thick walls, small windows, round arches and flat buttresses.
Gothic buildings had thinner walls, larger windows, pointed arches and large buttresses.
All the types of buildings, and the general shape of the buildings were already there in the Romanesque period.
The types of buildings were:- the cathedral church, the parish church, the monastery, the castle, the palace, the great hall and the gatehouse.
Before the 20th century, the landmark building in almost every town was a church, cathedral, abbey, or town hall with its tall tower or spire rising high above all the houses.
Many of these buildings were from the Middle Ages and were Romanesque or Gothic in style.
The groundplan of most Gothic churches is shaped like a cross.
The long nave makes the body of the church and, crossing it, the arms are called the transept.
On the other side of the transept is the chancel which is often called the choir because that is where the priest and the choir sing the services.
The nave usually has a passageway or aisle on either side.
Sometimes there are two aisles on each side.
The nave is usually a lot taller than the aisles, and has high windows which light up the central space.
The upper part of the building, where these windows are, is called the clerestory (or clear storey). (
It is pronounced "clair-rest-tree")
Some Gothic churches in Germany and Austria and also Milan Cathedral (which was built in the German style) often have nave and aisles of almost the same height and are called "hallenkirke" (hall church).
The Cathedral of St. Stephen of Vienna is an example.
In some churches with double aisles, like Notre Dame, Paris, the transept does not stick out beyond the aisles.
In English cathedrals the transepts always stick out a long way and sometimes there are two transepts as at Salisbury Cathedral.
In England the eastern end it is usually long and often has two parts.
It is usually square or has a "Lady Chapel", a place to pray to the Virgin Mary.
In France the eastern end is often polygonal and has by a passage for walking called an ambulatory.
Often French churches have a ring of chapels called a chevette.
German churches are often like those of France at the eastern end.
In Italy, there is no long chancel jutting out beyond the transept.
There is usually just a semicircular chapel as at Florence Cathedral.
Features of the Gothic style
Pointed arches
Very high towers and spires and roofs
Clustered columns: tall columns that looked like a group of thin columns bundled together
Ribbed vaults: arched ceilings made of stone.
In the Gothic style they were held up by stone ribs.
A skeleton of stonework with great big glass windows in between.
Tracery: carved stone lace in the windows and on the walls
Stained glass: richly colored glass in the windows, often with pictures telling stories
Buttresses: narrow stone walls jutting out from the building to help hold it up
Flying buttresses: buttresses that help to hold the vault up.
They are made with an arch that jumps over a lower part of the building to reach the outside wall.
Statues: of Saints, Prophets and Kings around the doors
Many sculptures, sometimes of animals and legendary creatures.
Gargoyles spout water from the roof.
Grand facade
The "facade" or West Front of a large church or cathedral is designed to make a big impression on the worshippers.
One of the best known is Notre Dame de Paris.
In the centre of the facade is the main door or portal, often with two side doors as well.
In the arch of the middle door is often an important piece of sculpture, usually "Christ in Majesty".
Sometimes there is a stone post in the middle of the doorway where there is a statue of the "Madonna and Child".
There are many other carved figures in niches set all around the portals.
Sometimes there are hundreds of stone figures carved all across the front of the building.
The facade of a French cathedral and many English, Spanish and German cathedrals usually has two towers.
Large Gothic churches and cathedrals are often very tall.
On the inside, the nave is usually at least twice as high as it is wide, which gives the church a very tall narrow look.
Some of the churches in France and Germany have naves that are three times as high as they are wide.
Cologne Cathedral is an example.
The tallest nave is at Beauvais Cathedral which is 157.5 feet high.
Westminster Abbey is 102 feet high.
On the outside most Gothic churches, both big and small, have at least one tower.
In Italy there are domes on the churches, and the tower stands to one side.
But in most other countries, cathedrals generally have two towers and quite often have three.
Some have even more.
Laon Cathedral was planned to have seven, but they were not all built.
Sometimes there is just one tower with a huge spire as at Salisbury.
Lincoln Cathedral had the tallest spire of the Middle Ages at 527 feet (160 metres).
Because a pointed arch points upwards, it makes people look upwards.
In Gothic architecture, the whole building is designed to make people look up.
There are long narrow columns, long narrow windows and high pointed roofs.
On the inside the arches of the roof rise up like branches.
On the outside, there are often lots of fancy bits along the edge of the roof and on the tops of buttresses and above the windows.
These are called  pinnacles.
Milan Cathedral has hundreds of them.
Gothic architecture usually has a lot of windows.
Sainte Chapelle is a famous example.
At Gloucester Cathedral in England, the East window is as big as a tennis court.
Milan Cathedral also has windows of about the same size.
The columns of the inside, the ribs of the vault (or roof) and the flying buttresses, made a strong stone skeleton.
in between these parts, the walls and the filling of the vaults could be of lighter thinner material.
Between the narrow buttresses, the walls could be opened up into large windows.
Through the Gothic period, because of the pointed arch, Gothic windows were able to change from simple openings to very rich designs.
The windows were very often filled with stained glass which made coloured light in the building, and was used for story-telling pictures.
The pointed arch
Pointed arches were used in Persian architecture, and from 641 AD onwards, they were a feature of Islamic architecture.
Knowledge of the pointed arch spread into Europe through the Crusaders who travelled to the Middle East from 1096 onwards.
Also, Islamic forces had taken over parts of Spain, where they built cities and Mosques with pointed arches.
In Gothic Architecture, the pointed arch is used in every place where an arch is needed, both for strength and for decoration.
Gothic openings such as doorways, windows, arcades and galleries have pointed arches.
A row of arches is called an arcade.
A row of arches that is up high on a building is a gallery.
Rows of pointed arches were used to decorate walls.
This is known as blind arcading.
Often walls were made with tall narrow arched openings in them that could be used to stand statues in.
An opening like this is called a niche which is pronounced "neesh".
Vaulted roofs with pointed arches
An arched roof built of bricks or stone is called a vault.
In the Romanesque period before the Gothic, some churches had vaulted roofs.
They were always based on perfectly semi-circular shapes.
There were two main ways to make a nave vault in the Romanesque period.
A vault could be long like a tunnel.
Churches with this type of vault were always rather dark.
Or it could be square, like two tunnels crossing each other.
This meant that the columns that carried the vault always had to be placed on a perfectly square ground plan, which was not always possible.
One of the good things about pointed arches was that they could be narrow and tall, or flattened and wide.
Using pointed arches, architects could make vaults of very different shapes.
They did not even have to be rectangular.
A Gothic architect could make a vault with one side narrow, two sides wide and the last side even wider.
They could make a vault with three sides or five sides quite easily, by using pointed arches.
The vaults were made of ribs which met each other at the highest part of the vault.
In between the ribs were sloping surfaces of stone or brick that could be much thinner and lighter than the ribs.
At first the pattern made by the ribs was quite plain, like Romanesque vaults, but architects, particularly in England, soon started adding small ribs in between the main ones and making different patterns.
Some vaults like this can also be seen in Spain and Germany, but not usually in France or Italy.
Different shapes of Gothic arches
In the Gothic period the shape and style of pointed arches changed.
But the changes were not the same in every country.
With pointed arches, windows could be made very large.
Architects made many designs of pointed arches crossing each other in different ways.
These designs were often used in windows, which look as if they are filled with beautiful stone lace.
This is called "tracery".
The stone tracery was used to hold the glass in place.
An Architectural Historian can often tell just how old a part of a building is by looking at the window tracery design.
Lancet arch
The simplest Gothic arch is a long opening with a pointed arch known in England as the lancet.
A "lancet" is a sharp knife, so these windows are knife-shaped.
Very often lancet windows are put together in a group of three or five.
Salisbury Cathedral is famous for the beauty of its Lancet Gothic Architecture.
In England the style is called "Early English Gothic".
York Cathedral in England has a group of five lancet windows that are 50 feet high and are still full of ancient glass.
They are called the Five Sisters.
These simple windows are also found at Chartres Cathedral and Laon Cathedral in France.
They are the most usual sort of Gothic windows in Italy.
Equilateral arch
Many Gothic openings have tops that are based upon an equilateral triangle.
The Equilateral Arch has a very pleasing look and gives a wide opening useful for doorways, arcades and big windows.
These arches are often filled with tracery in circular designs.