PRINCIPLES AND ELEMENTS OF MEDIEVAL CHURCH ARCHITECTURE IN WESTERN EUROPE

This work is made up of three fundamental parts. The first “Definition of the Plan” enables the reader to apprehend the origins of Medieval Church Architecture in the West (the basilican choice) as well as the reasons (hierarchical, political, economic) for the architectural distribution inside a church. The second part “the Mastery of the Forces” is an exhaustive analysis of the forces which disrupt the equilibrium of a building of the longitudinal type and of the whole of the Romanesque and Gothic techniques invented to fight against these forces. The last part “the elements” enables the study of the whole of the architectural “objects” of a church, arches, vaults, supports etc. and their function within the building. The illustrations entirely in synthetic images are numerous throughout the book.

CONTENTS : Introduction – Milestones - Definition of the plan – The plan of a Church – The origins of the basilican plan – Aisles, side aisles, mastering the interior space – The Christian choice – East and west – Magistrates, faithfull & pilgrims – The Church within the church – Main periods – Mastering the forces – Forces, the Romanesque equilibrium – At the heart of Romanesque Church – Romanesque and the feudal universe – The forces, gothic light – At the heart of a gothic church – A theology of light – A monastery, an enclosed world – The elements – Arches – Vaults – Timber frame roofs – Supporting members – Shouldering and buttressing – Openings – Tools, material…& builders – Glossary – Index – Decoration – For further information – Some churches and cathedrals in France.

HENRY-CLAUDE Michel : former plasterer’s apprentice becoming later a stonecutter, he learnt at his masters’ side on the sites of Cathedral restorations the fundamental techniques of stone mounting. Numerous journeys, including several to Rome, where he discovered the principles of Roman concrete and of Antique architecture have given him an overall vision of Western Church architecture. He entered a seminary at the age of 38, he became a priest and resumed his studies in order to submit a doctor’s thesis on History of Art on the theme of “The influence of the Pig Market on Catholic Architecture” or “From the Basilica Porcia to the Modern Church” Today he is emeritus Professor at the University of Lons-le-Saunier, he studies, in collaboration with other specialists, the exercise of the pressure of forces within stone buildings.

STÉFANON Laurence : history teacher, well-known expert on Renaissance and Classical Architecture, she has specialised in the reconstitution of synthetic images of many buildings including medieval ones. She is also an excellent drawer.

ZABALLOS Yannick : an eminent specialist of Prehistory, he has published with the Editions Fragile a monograph on the Battle of Gergovie. Also a specialist of Medieval Architecture, he is at the present time making a study of perforated metopes in the chapels of Romanesque Churches in the West.