Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/421

 FRENCH GOTHIC. 363 The crusade against the Albigenses (see below) was a move- ment against Christians who had been declared by the Pope to be heretics, and the next stage was to carry on a religious war against all who were considered to be enemies of the Papacy. V. Social and Political. — Previous to the commencement of this period (a.u. 987), France was inhabited by races of people who, widely differing from each other, and governed by different rulers, were at constant war. In continuation of the Romanesque style, the Gothic archi- tecture of France varies considerably in different parts of the country, such being due to political environment, to the separation of the various parts by different languages and customs, and to the Roman remains, which naturally gave a classical tone to any new architectural development in the southern districts where they were principally found. vi. Historical. — The real beginning of the modern kingdom of F" ranee may be said to commence with Hugh Capet, who was chosen king in 987, with the title " King of the French." Philip Augustus (i 180-1223) after declaring John, King of England, to have forfeited all the fiefs he held of the French crown, proceeded to conquer Normandy, and all John's possessions in Northern Gaul, with the exception of Aquitaine. Philip next defeated the combined forces of English, Germans, and Flemings at the Battle of Bovines in 12 14. Owing to the power of France at this time, the English barons offered the crown of England to Philip's eldest son Louis, to whom, as Louis VI IL, the French crown afterwards passed. Louis IX., called S. Louis on account of his goodness, largely increased the power of the crown, but died at Tunis in 1270, when setting out on his last crusade. As a consequence of the crusade preached against the Albigenses by Pope Innocent, the dominions of the Counts of Toulouse were conquered by S. Louis in 1229, France thus obtaining a sea-board on three seas, viz. : — the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and the English Channel. The development and consolidation of the French kingdom thus corresponds with the great cathedral-building epoch of the thirteenth century. 2. ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER. The main idea or prevailing principle of Gothic architecture in France was the same as in other parts of Europe (page 268), the vertical and aspiring tendency being accentuated by great internal height, high-pitched roofs, numerous spires (with crockets), pinnacles, flying buttresses, and the long lines of the tall traceried windows (Nos. 154, 158, 160, 161 and 162).