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

'The special triumphs of Perpendicular architects were mainly centered on two features: towers and vaults.' (Harvey: 224) In some cathedrals it is precisely these two things that are the most outstanding features, as at Norwich, which has the second highest tower in England (with one of the four surviving stone spires of a central tower) and several hundreds of gilded and carved bosses at the junctions of the vault ribs. I think Pevsner is right when he says 'To find English architecture of 1350 to 1525 at its best, one should visit not cathedrals and abbey churches, but manor houses and parish churches for the happiest ensembles, and the royal chapels for the highest architectural standard.' (Pevsner: 153) So, the period was over, when the guiding principle was to build one huge church for the whole town. Parish churches, though they had existed for a longer period, had an increasing importance, but they are beyond the scope of this paper. No new cathedral was built in England until Old St. Paul's was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, but by that time the Gothic era had long been over. 3 Conclusion Though the limits of this paper do not make it possible to give a more detailed description of the differences between English Gothic and the Gothic arts of other countries (especially France), I think even the arguments of the preceding chapter (mainly on cathedral architecture for lack of suviving evidence in other fields of arts) are sufficient to prove that English Gothic has a distinctive national character. The French gave a strong initial impetus to the development of English Gothic cathedral architecture. (And probably to painting and sculpture as well, but as they have largely vanished, the two countries are difficult to compare in these fields). But in the 13th century the English gradually broke away from the French influence, developed their own style, which did not aim so much at structural perfection, but at more and more sophisticated decoration. As we have seen, after the French dominance in Europe until the middle of the thirteenth century, during the following period it was England that was able to develop its Gothic with new ideas and became the leading country in the field of cathedral architecture for at least a century. Though Perpendicular is called the 'national style' of England by many authors (just as several other countries developed their own Gothic style in that period), I think the Decorated Gothic between 1250 and 1350 is the climax of English Gothic architecture and also the most important period by European standards, though Perpendicular undoubtedly also showed a lot of innovative ideas. 62