History Blog : Romanesque

Romanesque was an architectural style of Europe, especially prominent in Italy and Southern France during the medieval period from approximately 800 to 1100 A.D. This architectural style arose during the reign of Charles the Great who was crowned emperor of the Roman Empire in 800 A.D. Charles the Great, or Charlemagne, was responsible for establishing schools and monasteries and encouraged building using the technology of Roman structures. Although many castles were built during this time, there was a strong religious movement around 1000 A.D. and the building of churches became more prevalent; there were a minimum of 1587 churches build between 1000 and 1100.

Romanesque churches were most characterized by semi-circular arches. The semi-circular structures commonly seen in the Romanesque style were vaulted ceilings, rows of repeating arches called arcades and arched doorways and windows; the vaulted ceilings are the most recognized from this period. The typical floor plan of a Roman church consisted of the nave, transept and apse, with the nave being the main body of the church. The nave was outlined and defined vertically by a vaulted ceiling.

The vault was perhaps the most important structural development and most familiar feature of Romanesque architecture. The vault was developed in order to construct the ceiling of masonry, instead of wood, to avoid the fire hazards of wood. In order to use unsupported masonry for the ceiling, a stretched out arch form had to be used to produce these massive vaults over the nave of churches.

The ceiling vaults were of three types. The barrel vault was the simplest, with the arched surface extending from wall to wall and the length of the nave of the church. Due to the massive thickness and weight, barrel vaults required the support of solid walls, or walls with very small windows. The weight of these massive vaults tended to push outward and buckle the supporting walls. Therefore, buttresses were needed to help support the outer walls. As churches developed into more than just one central barreled nave, it became necessary to develop a more complex vaulted ceiling. Groin vaults were constructed of two barrel vaults intersecting at right angles. These vaults also had the bonus of distributing the weight more vertically on piers or pillars to support the weight of the ceiling. Groin vaults could be used for smaller vaults or in the ceilings or aisle or halls. Ribbed vaults later developed as an improved version of the groin vault. The ribbed vaults had ribs spanning the arch that served as structural supports and the spaces between the ribs were filled with non-structural materials. The ribs did an even better job of focusing the weight of the vaulted ceiling onto multiple small areas. This allowed the architects to construct wider, taller and more impressive churches.