St. Denis Essay

A revival of trade in Europe during the eleventh-century lead to a redistribution of wealth in favor of nonreligious power benefiting the middle class and the monarchies of France and England. Saint-Denis had been the burial place of many French kings. The Gothic was the new and revolutionary architectural style during The Middle Ages and it all began with the reconstruction of St. Denis. Fooling and leading the people out of darkness through innovative creations and reinventions of cathedrals – sacred places that were meant to embody the devotion of the people to God. Technical improvements made to the basilica of Saint-Denis included the rib vaults, the flying buttresses, the pointed arches, and the inclusion of stained glass windows.
At the request of King Louis VII, Suger rebuilt the east end of …show more content…
Denis and ever since then, Gothic became the new architectural style of cathedrals. Early Gothic designers began to take advantage of the new method of construction by freeing the walls from their load-bearing function and opening up long lancet and circular windows. The essential feature of Gothic architecture was the combination of pointed arches, rib vaults, and flying buttresses. These features created a structure with the capacity to carry the weight of a Gothic cathedral. Also, with advances in structural engineering, stained glass became an essential feature in church design. I do think that the Gothic was a revolutionary and creative way to construct a building, more specifically, a cathedral. But I also think this was a scam because it’s the people that funded these extravagant architectural masterpieces and thus giving their money and power to the church and/or the French monarchy. Residents of France were being fooled because they were being robbed. Cathedral designers exploited the potential of [this] system to give the buildings a vertical thrust, reflecting the enthusiasm of the middle-class