superposed passages and arcade screens, as in the transept arms of Noyon, the transept
chapels at Laon, and the interior of the façade of Saint-Remi at Reims. The period ca.
1175–85 saw those experiments continued but usually on a more modest scale than at
Paris or Cambrai, both of which were over 100 feet tall on the interior. Perhaps the most
important change that took place in this decade was the systematic application of the
flying buttress to the exteriors. The flying buttresses constructed at the lower level of the
nave at Notre-Dame in Paris were the first examples to suggest the full potential of the
feature. From the moment of their appearance, probably ca. 1175, they had a profound
impact on builders and were quickly incorporated at such sites as Mantes, Saint-Remi at
Reims, and Canterbury. The evidence suggests that they were added after the fact in a
number of other cases, such as the nave at Laon. So profound was the impact of the
flying buttress that other structural experimentation for all intents and purposes ceased.
The decade ca. 1185–95 saw the continuation of the experiments of the previous de-cade
and was again dominated by the flying buttress. The vocabulary of design solutions was
broadened and made ever more complex through the sheer number of buildings, large and
small, that were undertaken, but no major new features were introduced.
With the rebuilding of Chartres, begun after the fire of 1194, and of Bourges (ca.
1195), the lines of experimentation can be said to have reached two different but equally
important ends. Chartres in particular is separated by scholars from Early Gothic and
considered the beginning of a new stylistic trend, commonly called “High Gothic.” “High
Gothic” is the term for what has long been considered the “classic” moment in French
Gothic architecture, that series of cathedrals built in northern France between 1195 and
ca. 1225/30. In English, the term carries the added connotation of height. By general
agreement, High Gothic begins with the reconstruction of Chartres following the fire of
1194 and continues, for some, with Bourges, begun in 1195, or more often with Soissons,
now thought to predate Chartres; then Reims, begun after the fire of 1208, followed by
the nave of Amiens, begun by Robert de Luzarches 1218–20, and the chevet of Beauvais,
begun ca. 1225.
One can argue with equal validity that Chartres, Bourges, and Soissons, along with
others usually excluded, represent the final flowering and full variety of possible
solutions available to builders after a half-century of extraordinary architectural
experimentation. Bony has characterized Chartres as a radical simplification of ideas
from a variety of earlier sources. The design of Soissons is another sort of simplification,
but one still firmly rooted in previous experiments. In this line of reasoning, Bourges
represents the ultimate complexity coming out of these same experiments. In short, all
three are the continuation of Early Gothic experiments.
The importance of Chartres has been exaggerated, both because of its identification
during the 19th century as the most sacred shrine of the Virgin in France and because of
its proximity to Paris. Its stylistic impact is confined largely to Reims; but the latter’s
importance as the source for the simplified three-story elevation incorporating bar-tracery
windows and double tiers of flying buttresses topped by pinnacles is incontestable. As a
solution, the design of Reims is less radical than those adopted at Chartres, Soissons, or
Bourges. If it is recognized that the elements at Reims constituted refinements to existing
techniques and designs, it, too, becomes the product of builders with full knowledge of
previous experiments. The only “dislocation” concerns the cathedrals of Amiens and
Beauvais, both of which, but most especially Amiens, are usually included in the “High
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