lime mortar used in place of pozzolan limited their scale, and large interior spaces were
covered by timber roofs. Yet, despite their structural simplicity, early-medieval French
buildings contributed new elements to the language of architecture. Monumental towers
were erected at Saint-Martin, Tours (5th c.), in response to defensive and liturgical
requirements and as a mark of the church’s distinction as the burial site of St. Martin.
Spacious crypts were created around the tombs of saints, seen at Notre-Dame-de-
Confession at Saint-Victor, Marseilles (5th c.), or Saint-Germain, Auxerre (6th c.), or as
privileged burial sites, such as Jouarre. The elaboration of interior space and the creation
of an impressive exterior silhouette were to occupy architects throughout the remainder
of the Middle Ages.
In the Carolingian period of the late 8th and 9th centuries, architectural practice was
invigorated by a new wave of Roman retrospection. In the abbeys of Saint-Denis (754–
75) or Saint-Riquier at Centula (790–99), the basilican plan with a transept, likely based
on Constantine’s St. Peter’s in Rome, reappeared, but both buildings sported multiple
Flying buttresses, Chartres cathedral.
Photograph courtesy of William
W.Kibler.
exterior towers. In addition to their ideological message, these plans reveal a greater
coherence in planning. A consistent set of geometrical proportions governs the design,
The Encyclopedia 489