Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. Vol. 2. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 26)

Studies - Endre Abkarovits: Teaching the Englishness of English Gothic cathedral architecture

difficult to ignore these events when we discuss the development of the arts of this period. (Halliday: 56-57) Before that, however, during the second half of the 13th century the Church was rich and fearing that Edward I might confiscate their money for his wars, they invested it into building activity. These facts all prove how much political events, economic conditions and the state of culture are intertwined. And from among all fields of arts it is architecture that is the least inseparable from the conditions of its age. While a poet or painter can make himself independent of the general conditions of his time, at least to a certain extent, architecture can flourish only under proper circumstances. So, it is not by chance that perhaps the most prosperous period of English architecture was between 1250 and 1350, and that later, during the 200 years of Perpendicular (and Tudor), not a single new cathedral was built, only parts of older cathedrals were rebuilt or Lady Chapels and towers were added or completed. The wealth of the Church at the time of Henry III and the first Edwards made the construction of outstanding pieces of architecture possible like the best examples of Decorated Gothic (the nave of Exeter, the cloisters and chapter house of Salisbury, the Angel Choir of Lincoln, the nave of Lichfield, the chapter house of Wells, the nave of York, the octagon of Ely, etc). I think it is typical especially of this period, what is sometimes said about English cathedrals in general, that 'a warmth, a welcoming and homely quality... ' is the ruling atmosphere of these cathedrals, which cannot be found in most Gothic cathedrals in other countries. Moderation and the quest for the golden mean, preoccupation with decoration, especially lines are typical. (Harvey: 21) From the 1240s bar tracery, which had been probably invented in Reims, had a strong impact on the development of English architecture. The name 'Decorated' was coined originally for the period following the arrival of window tracery. All further innovations of tracery in following periods, like wall tracery, can be deduced from window tracery. What is typical of Decorated architecture is not some kind of structural unity; on the contrary, most new constructions were just extensions to or replacement of earlier parts. 'The architects of the time were interested only indirectly in strucUiral problems. Their main preoccupations were with ornament and shapes, whether in ground-plans, vault patterns or window tracery, and structural changes were made primarily to accomodate new ideas about the forms.' (Coldstream: 10) Unfortunately, after the destructions of the Puritans and the neglect of the following centuries, it is very difficult to imagine today what the Decorated churches might have looked like, with all their carved and painted sculptures, paintings, liturgical furniture, and 57