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

used to have the greatest number of sculptures, like Wells, have small, unimportant doorways. The splendour of the original Wells facade, the first of its type in Gothic England, with its painted and gilded sculptures must have been a dazzling sight for medieval people. As for individual sculptures, only a few - mainly royal - tombs (like those at Westminster or that of Edward II at Gloucester) excel from among the few surviving pieces of the various Gothic periods. 2.4 Gothic cathedra] architecture after 1250 The division of Gothic into periods may vary with different authors. Pevsner calls the period after 1250 'Late Gothic' for the continent. In connection with England the traditional division is: Early English (1150— 1250), Decorated (1250-1350), Perpendicular (1350-1550, the second hundred years of which is often called Tudor). The differences discussed in the previous chapter had been present from almost the very beginning and remained typical features of English Gothic in later periods, too. Although the English introduced remarkable innovations and avoided direct imitations of French examples, the French were unquestionably the leading power in Gothic arts in the whole of Europe during the period until 1250, which is called Early English in England and High Gothic in France. They soon reached such perfect solutions which were difficult to surpass, and excesses in increasing height soon led to the already mentioned disastrous consequences. The historical background did not favour French arts either. After the long and prosperous reign of Louis IX, more difficult times were to come. A hostile atmosphere surrounded France. The development of towns slowed down, the benefits drawn from the Crusades were over, general stagnation was typical of the economy, and in the fourteenth century, at the beginning of the Hundred Years' War the French were the losers. In England the second half of the thirteenth century saw the birth of national consciousness. The spirit of nationalism (with all its good and bad sides) was awakened in Europe for the first time here. While earlier the language of the upper classes had been French in England, English became the language of the whole nation now for the first time. Edward I invaded Wales and parts of Scotland and carried out large-scale construction activity. (Welsh castles) The first universities were set up. His grandson, Edward III, started the Hundred Years' War against France and was successful at first. But in 1348-49 the Black Death killed almost half of the population. It is 56