SECULAR GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE The 12th century left Europe fundamentally ecclesiastic and feudal. The 16th century found it essentially secular. This devel opment is expressed architecturally by the growing importance in the design, not only of town and country houses, but also in such civic buildings as town halls and court houses. In secular build ings where floors and roofs are more usually beamed than vaulted, no such structural articulation as that which gave char acter to Gothic churches was possible, and no imitation was at tempted. As a rule, simple wall surfaces predominate; Gothic detail was reserved for doors, windows and occasionally gables. Nevertheless, by the frank treatment of the materials and con struction, great beauty was often achieved. Interiors were gen erally simple, with exposed masonry walls, originally hung with tapestries ; ceiling beams were moulded and polychromed and where the hall went into the peaked roof, an interesting carpentry treatment was developed. In France, the tendency in such halls was toward the use of barrel vault forms ; in England, toward separate, strong roof trusses. The council hall of the Palais de Justice, Rouen (c. 1500), and Westminster Hall, London (1394-98) show these two trends. The development of that method of construc tion known as half timber work (q.v.) was also important. In its frank expression of structural elements, it is essentially Gothic, although only occasionally admitting Gothic ornamental forms. While the fortified castle (q.v.) was developing into the palatial manor house (q.v.), town houses were becoming richer and more complicated, reaching their climax in such exquisite examples as the house of Jacques Coeur at Bourges (early 15th century) and the Hotel de Cluny, Paris, slightly later. (For a full discussion of this development see HOUSE. See also the articles dealing with