Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/496

 438 COMPARATIVE AKCHITFXTUKE. Luther in Germany (a.d. 1517), in which countries Reformation in religion proceeded side by side with Renaissance in architecture. This renewed vigour in thought and hterature was accompanied by a fresh building era in northern Europe. In England, civil and domestic architecture received a special impulse from the diffusion among laymen of the wealth and lands of the monasteries dissolved by Henry VIII. In Italy, on the other hand, where the Reformation took no hold, and where comparatively few churches had been built in the Gothic manner during the Middle Ages, a revival of eccle- siastical architecture took place, and in every important town Renaissance churches were carried out on a grand scale and in a most complete manner. The Jesuits who headed the counter- reformation carried the style into all parts, at the same time giving it a special character (page 496). V. Social and Political. — A new intellectual movement manifests itself sooner in literature than in architecture, and thus the former influences the public taste. Dante (1265-1321), Petrarch (1304-1374), and Boccaccio (1313-1375) aided in the spread of the newly-discovered classic literature, which caused a revolt against mediaeval art, and the subsequent fall of Constanti- nople in A.D. 1453 caused an influx of Greek scholars into Italy, whose learning w^as an important influence in an age which was ripe for a great intellectual change. Thus a revival of classic literature produced a desire for the revival of Roman architecture. Again, among the MSS. of Greek and Latin authors brought to light about this time, was Vitruvius' book of Architecture, written in b.c. 50, which was translated into Italian in a.d. 1521. Erasmus (1467-1536), one of the few Greek scholars of the period, worked hard to direct the public attention to the original text of the New Testament, and to the Greek classics, as a set-off to the wrtings of the median^al philosophers, whose authority had for so long borne an exclusive sway. Italian architecture was naturally the first to be affected, because the Gothic style had never taken a firm hold on the Italians, who had at hand the ancient Roman remains, such as the Pantheon, the Basilica of Maxentius, the Colosseum, the remains of the great baths, and the Roman fora. In Italy, therefore, where feudalism had never fully established itself, and where the municipalities had developed a spirit of municipal enterprise, practically a direct return was made to Roman forms. vi. Historical. — At the beginning of the sixteenth century there was a general grouping together of the smaller states into independent kingdoms, under powerful rulers, who governed with authority, and kept large standing armies, Three great inventions