Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/600

 512 Outlines of Europe an Histor)> Fig. 183. Cross Section of Amiens Cathedral It will be noticed that there is a row of rather low windows opening under the roof of the aisle. These constitute the so- called triforium {£). Above them is the clerestory {F), the windows of which open between the flying buttresses. So it came about that the walls of a Gothic church were in fact mainly windows. The Egyp- tians were the first to invent the clerestory (see p. 48 and Fig. 28) and put high, wide, graceful windows in their place. This new style of architecture is known as the Gothic} and its underlying prin- ciples can readily be understood from a little study of the ac- companying diagram (Fig. 183), which shows how a Gothic cathedral is supported, not by heavy walls, but by buttresses. The architects dis- covered in the first place that the concave stone ceiling, which is known as the vaulting (A), could be supported by rids (B). These could in turn be brought together and supported on top of pillars which 1 The inappropriate name " Gothic " was given to the beautiful churches of the North by Italian architects of the sixteenth century, who did not like them and pre- ferred to build in the style ©f the ancient Romans. The Italians with their •' classical " tastes assumed that only German barbarians — whom they carelessly called Goths — could admire a Gothic cathedral.