44 THE ORIGINS OF FREEMASONRY FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO THE MIDDLE AGES
Romanesque vault was a return of the Roman, influenced by the
Byzantine style. Gothic and Romanesque also coexisted chronologically.
The first applications of the ogival rib, in Durham and Saint Denis, were
coincident with the golden age of Romanesque art, a period to which the
great cathedrals of the second half of the twelfth century still belong.
Some still see significance in the geographical rift between the two
styles. Romanesque churches are the exception rather than the rule
north of the Loire, in those regions where the Gothic style first made its
appearance. There are concrete reasons for the fact that the
Romanesque style spread only south of the Loire: the continuation of
Roman institutions and traditions in the south, the remnants of the col-
legia that existed there, and the possibility of builders creating associa-
tions allied with monasteries. Perhaps the best proof may be found in
Auvergne, the last of the Roman provinces and the one that remained
faithful to the genius of Rome for the longest time. It is precisely here
that the greatest Byzantine influence can be seen and it is here, at
Limoges, that we can discover the traces of a seventh-century architec-
tural school. The Romanesque school of Auvergne is one of the oldest
and most characteristic of its kind.
While churches covered all the lands south of the Loire, they were
noticeably scarce in the north. It was impossible for the art of building to
spread in the north. We have seen how Roman institutions came to grief
in the Frankish kingdom. In addition, the capitularies of the Garolingian
kings and even the Church stood in opposition to associations and guilds.
Building there began to blossom only when, in conjunction with the evo-
lution of mores and customs, new forms of association became possible,
exemplified by brotherhoods that included both clerics and laypeople as
their members. In northern regions, where architecture changed slowly,
artists continued to perfect Romanesque art and did not cross through it,
so to speak. From this we should not conclude that the "crossed rib" and
Gothic architecture that appeared in the Ile de France region was the
spontaneous creation of that area's genius.
In looking at the existence and growth of architectural schools, we
should pay specific attention to Lombardy in Italy. We have seen how
this region, notably the area of Como, managed to maintain a Roman
tradition with associations of free builders despite the upheavals of his-