a bewildering complexity of views that is the hallmark of the Flam-
boyant style.
CARCASSONNEThe Gothic period has been called “the age of
great cathedrals,” but people, of course, also needed and architects
also built secular structures such as town halls, palaces, and private
residences. In an age of frequent warfare, the feudal barons often con-
structed fortified castles in places enemies could not easily reach.
Sometimes thick defensive wall circuits, or ramparts,enclosed entire
towns. In time, however, purely defensive wars became obsolete due
to the invention of artillery and improvements in siege craft. The
fortress era gradually passed, and throughout Europe once-mighty
ramparts fell into ruin.
One of the most famous Gothic fortified towns is Carcassonne
(FIG. 18-28) in Languedoc in southern France. It was the regional
center of resistance to the northern forces of royal France. Built on a
hill bounded by the Aude River, Carcassonne had been fortified since
Roman times. It had Visigothic walls dating from the 6th century, but
in the 12th century masons reinforced them.Battlements (low para-
pets) with crenellations (composed of alternating solidmerlons and
open crenels) protected guards patrolling the stone ring surrounding
the town. Carcassonne might be forced to surrender but could not
easily be taken by storm. Within the town’s double walls was a forti-
fied castle (FIG. 18-28,left) with a massive attached keep,a secure
tower that could serve as a place of last refuge. Balancing that center
of secular power was the bishop’s seat, the Cathedral of Saint-Nazaire
(FIG. 18-28,right). The small church, built between 1269 and 1329,
may have been the work of an architect brought in from northern
France. In any case, Saint-Nazaire’s builders were certainly familiar
with the latest developments in architecture in the Île-de-France.
Today, Carcassonne—as restored in the 19th century by Eugène
Viollet-le-Duc(1814–1879)—provides a rare glimpse of what
was once a familiar sight in Gothic France: a tightly contained com-
plex of castle, cathedral, and town within towered walls.
GUILD HALL, BRUGESOne of the many signs of the grow-
ing secularization of urban life in the late Middle Ages was the erec-
tion of monumental meeting halls and warehouses for the increasing
number of craft guilds being formed throughout Europe. An early
example is the imposing market and guild hall (FIG. 18-29) of the18-28Aerial view of the fortified town of Carcassonne, France. Bastions and towers, 12th–13th centuries, restored by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
in the 19th century.
Carcassonne provides a rare glimpse of what was once a familiar sight in Gothic France: a tight complex of castle, cathedral, and town with
a crenellated and towered wall circuit for defense.
French Gothic 47918-29Hall of the cloth guild, Bruges, Belgium, begun 1230.
The Bruges cloth guild’s meeting hall is an early example of a new type
of secular architecture in the late Middle Ages. Its lofty tower competed
for attention with the towers of the city’s cathedral.