Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/451

 GERMAN GOTHIC. (See page 258 for German Romanesque.) " Some roods away, a lordly house there was, Cool with broad courts, and latticed passage wet From rush flowers and lilies ripe to set. Sown close among the strewings of the floor ; And either wall of the slow corridor Was dim with deep device of gracious things ; Some angels' steady mouth and weight of wings Shut to the side ; or Peter with straight stole And beard cut black against the aureole That spanned his head from nape to crown ; these Mary's gold hair, thick to the girdle tie Wherein was bound a child with tender feet ; Or the broad cross with blood nigh brown on it." • I. INFLUENCES. i. Geographical. — Germany was flanked on the east, west and south by large and warlike empires having strong racial differences. Owing to this situation it had direct communication with all the great European States. The River Rhine was an important factor in the rise of cities founded in the earlier period. ii. Geological. — The plains of Northern and North Eastern Germany produce no building material but brick, which has a great influence on the architecture in these regions. Stone was found in the centre and south, and timber in Hanover and the north-west. iii. Climate. — (See page 258 in German Romanesque.) iv. Religion. — The most interesting feature in the religious life of Gennany, prior to the Reformation, was the civil, as well as ecclesiastical, rule of many of the bishops. Some of these episcopal principalities were not finally abolished until the period of the French Revolution. V. Social and Political. — Trade guilds acquired great importance during this period, that of the Freemasons {cf. page 281) having been credited with much influence in the design and working out of the Gothic style. In the absence of records, the truth as to the individuality of the architects will not easily be made out.