Romanesque vs Gothic

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Romanesque and Gothic Cathedral were very influential buildings that stood out from the rest in the early centuries and even today they are considered to be a sight to see. They were so complex that the building often took more than a generation to be completed. The main purpose of the Cathedrals was that they were to be a place of worship. Romanesque Cathedrals doubled as fortification in case any invader decider to attack. Gothic Cathedrals were magnificent and it showed true beauty in the exterior and the interior in structure and artwork.  There were no different theological understandings between the two types of Cathedrals; both of them were to be used for the Christian faith and both were a place for worshipped. The theological understandings of the cathedrals were different as well as the structures themselves; each express the people’s own view on the Christian faith.

Romanesque Cathedrals structure looked more like a bastion that an actual Church. The reason for that is because during the time not all was peaceful, constant threats from the Vikings in the north and the possible Norman attack from the south, so if an invader were too come the safe haven for the townspeople was the Cathedral. Bigger cities had an entire castle to protect themselves in it from invaders. These Cathedrals had little to no windows and if they did it would always be on the second floor (See Figure 1) the reason being was that the number of projectiles that could have been fired into the buildings were limited. Other fundamental features were that the walls were very thick and the bell towers could also be archer towers.  Some may say that they are completely different from Gothic Churches so the theology behind them were completely different as well, but in reality they did not choose to make Cathedrals a fortress rather than a piece of artwork it was because at the time they were under attack so they made the Cathedrals into strongholds; if it was a peaceful time then probably the Cathedrals from the Romanesque time would look a lot like the ones in the Gothic Era.

As stated before the Cathedrals in the Gothic Era were all about artwork.        During this time everything regained to its peaceful nature. Nobody had to worry about Vikings knocking on their doors or Normans demolishing their cities. The architects had really gotten creative at this time with so complex structures and with the actual Church inside of the Cathedral. The symbolism behind the Cathedrals was mainly about rejoice and celebration. By now Christianity had a tight grip in all of Europe. Theology still stayed but the people were happy so they thanked God by building these impressive structures.

             Many still argue that the Theology was different between the two eras. The only difference in the buildings was the appearance and the actual structures as well. There are also a lot of similarities between them as well. In both eras people spend a lot of time and effort into making the Cathedrals. Another similarity was that the different types of Cathedrals were greeted by storms of praises and complement