over the diocese were employed to create these beautiful buildings. Within these dioceses were smaller areas called parishes. These were run by priests. Parishes were usually made up of a village, town or manor town. The local priest performed all the marriages, baptisms and funerals and also said Mass. He was usually the only person who could read and write in the parish.
Church architecture
The first style of church was called Romanesque (meaning ‘in the Roman style’). This was because they used arches – a Roman invention. 1. The doors and windows were rounded at the top. 2. The bell tower was square. 3. The walls were very thick. 4. The thickness of the walls meant that there were few windows. Any windows in the church were very small. As a result, the inside was very dark.
5. The columns (pillars) inside the church were very big and rounded to support the roof.
The later style was called Gothic. 1. Advances in engineering allowed Gothic architects to build much thinner walls.
2. To support the walls, Gothic churches used supports on the outside. These were called flying buttresses.
3. The flying buttresses allowed the columns inside to be much thinner and more elegant.
4. As the walls were thinner, they could add more windows and make them much bigger.
5. The windows often had beautiful stained-glass pictures
in them. A large circular stained glass
window at the back of the church was known as a rose window. When the sun shone through, the stained glass gave a warm and glowing light.
6. The doors and windows were pointed at the top. 7. Gothic churches had tall spires that seemed to reach to heaven.
8. Gothic churches were decorated with horrible creatures called gargoyles to remind church-goers of hell.
Fig 4.29 Interior of a Romanesque church Fig 4.28 Romanesque church
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Fig 4.30 Statues of gargoyles were used in Gothic churches to ensure church-goers were reminded of hell.