The Church of St. Denis, which plays so great a part in the architec tural development of France, was again rebuilt in "24o, and the works may have been finished about '26o. The arrangement corresponds to that of the great French cathedrals.
The Cathedral of Beaumis, whose construction belongs to the same period, is but a fragment, since only part of the five-aisled choir next to the ciievet,and the eastern side-aisle are completed. The foundation was laid in 1225, but no part of the existing structure can be older than 1240. In 1272 the building was finished much as we now find it; in the sixteenth century its continuation was proposed, but little was done. Figure Do (fii. 29) gives a section of the clievet, and shows to what lightness and slenderness and to what a degree of formal elegance the system—which originated at the most forty years earlier, in the nave of Notre Dame at Paris—had in that comparatively short space of time been developed. It is, in fact, of the greatest interest to compare the four systems shown on Plate 29, to which must be added that of the Cathedral of Cologne, repre sented on Plate 31 (fig. 6). It has gone through a remarkable evolution. The upward aspiration, the effort toward the infinite, has brought the edifice to the most extreme proportion of slenderness; but the master who in the beginning of the thirteenth century had to struggle both with his construction and with his forms now developed the whole as a strong and logical entity out of the internal requirements.
Improvement in Forms.—About the middle of the thirteenth century the rich experience gained rapidly from the superintendence of so many cathedrals gave to the masters a stock of knowledge which they now exploited and followed. The spirit of this system iufiuenced other depart ments, and so there was developed upon the given basis a system of forms which above all aimed to animate the dead masses. Thus the system of the Church of Beauvais shows the aspiring buttresses no longer as heavy masses—though it is just in these that their constructive significance lies—but by means of elegant details they are made to appear like turrets, which merely from artistic motives are formed to please the eye.
The Cathedral of Bayeux, some older portions being retained, was renewed in the second half of the thirteenth century. Though smaller than the edifices before mentioned, it still has its chevet. The thirteenth
century did not see its completion: work was continued upon it until the sixteenth century. The parts built after the Middle Ages contribute to disturb the unity and harmony of the structure.
Friars' Churches.—About the middle of the thirteenth century the number of convents multiplied, while the Dominican and Franciscan orders erected their assembly-rooms in the middle of the cities. Paris has preserved in the Convent of the Jacobins a remarkable monument which St. Louis built for them. The church was a great rectangular hall divided into two aisles by a row of pillars, without chapels, without polygonal choir, and without lower side-aisles, the east and west ends unbroken. The refectory, built in 1256, had exactly the same plan, but was smaller than the church.
The preaching orders had in their church-buildings a purpose different from that exhibited in former churches. Hitherto the church was the place where God was worshipped, and where with great solemnity the bloodless offering could be placed before Him; where perpetually from the various altars individuals might through the mass approach personally near to Him; where a numerous priesthood maintained by rich endow ments could intone their hymns and psalms in honor of the Most High; and where processions singing and praying could move with the dis play of a magnificent ceremonial. Hence the great extent of the sanctu ary, where, besides the high altar at which a bishop displayed the host, stood the stalls for the clergy; hence the many chapels with their altars for individual masses; hence the great apsidal aisles of the choir. The nave was of secondary importance: the sacrifice could there be offered, and there could resound the sacred songs chanted by the priests, though the people took no part. But when by participation of the latter the dig nity of the ceremonial was increased, then it was that they could present in the spacious nave their offerings of praise and co-operate in the sacred ceremony. The aim of the structure was exclusively ideal; hence the inspiration which the artist drew incited him to ideal achievements. The Dominicans gave little room to this ideal in their churches, which were primarily erected to accommodate the people who congregated to listen to their teachings. For this reason their churches are scarcely more than great assembly-rooms.