MannionHumanGeo: Weekly #8 Final Draft

Question: How do Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals express different understandings about religious theology?

The Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals both originated in Europe during the medieval period. The Romanesque period lasted from the ninth to eleventh centuries soon after that followed the Gothic period from the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. The Gothic and Romanesque architecture were somewhat similar, but completely different in the meaning due to the change in culture. The Romanesque architecture focused on judgment day and protection during violence; however, the Gothic architecture was peaceful and tried to le the light of God in. The Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals were based on two completely different theologies, but eventually led into what Christianity is today.

The Romanesque Cathedrals were made with thick, heavy walls; however, on the other hand, Gothic Cathedrals were made with thin, elegant walls. In Figure 1, one can see thick walls of the Romanesque Cathedral. (Figure 1) The thick walls were also used for protection, which took a lot of time; instead of spending so much time on the thick walls for protection, they could have spent more time with God. The thick walls also showed how the people they tried to hide from God and didn’t accept many people. This shows that they weren’t really focused on accepting people; they were more focused on protection and judgment day. On the other hand, the Gothic Cathedral in Figure 2 had much less thick walls with design and elegance. (Figure 2) The less thick walls showed how accepting they were to other people coming into the Church to praise God. The design showed how elegant the Gothic Cathedrals and tried to draw even more people in. The walls weren’t the only part of the differences of the Gothic and Romanesque architecture in theology.

Not only did the Romanesque Cathedrals have thick walls, but also had thick pillars to hold those walls for protection. The Gothic Cathedrals used thin, designed pillars, which were used to attract people in its elegance. The pillars on this Romanesque Cathedral show how thick and solid they could be. (Figure 3) The thick and solid pillars demonstrate how the people believed in protection and tried to keep safe. The thick pillars provided the people protection will they worshiped God and focused on judgment day. The thin, elegant pillars in this Gothic Cathedral display the Gothic’s theology in its architecture. (Figure 4) The thin pillars show that the people believed in making peace instead of protection like the Romanesque architecture. The elegant designs on the pillar also showed how they tried to draw people into the Church to make it grow. The Gothic theology was for peace and bringing people to see God; while the Romanesque theology was protection and judgment day and one could clearly see that through the pillars of the architecture.

Another difference between the Romanesque and Gothic architecture about the theology were the windows. The Romanesque windows were very small and skinny and were based on protection. (Figure 5) The small windows show how protective the people wanted to be and showed how they people believed in Judgment day because the small windows let in very little light. The Romanesque windows clearly display how the people believed times were dark because of judgment day; however, the Gothic windows are quite the opposite. The Gothic windows were huge and were used to let in lots of light. (Figure 6) The huge windows were used to let in the light, metaphorically meaning, to let the light of God inside. The big windows show how accepting and open the Gothic theology was compared to Romanesque. As you can see the huge windows of the Gothic Cathedrals were used to let the light of God in, but the small windows of the Romanesque Cathedrals were used for protection, which showed some insecurity in their faith.

In conclusion, the Romanesque and Gothic architecture both had its own particular way of showing its unique theology. Through the walls, pillars, and windows, one can see each detail that depicts its own theology. Through the thick walls, solid pillars, and small windows, one can see that the Romanesque theology was about protection and judgment due to the lack of light from the windows and the thick walls and pillars. Through the thin walls, elegant pillars, and huge windows, the Gothic’s theology was about letting the light of God in and building up the Church. Just the architecture of the Romanesque and Gothic show their differences in theology that eventually led up to Christianity.

Figure 1

Tournai, Belgium

The five towers of the Notre-Dame Cathedral, exterior, 12th century, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tournai_JPG001.jpg,photograph taken in 2005

Figure 2

Brussels, Belgium