Ecclesiastical and Monastic Associations 45tory. A veritable school of architecture took form in Lombardy, with its
principal constructions existing in Como, Milan, Pavia, and Parma. It
was a singularly influential force. The Rhine school owes much to it
(Spire, Worms, Mayence) and its influence can likewise be seen in
France in the areas of upper Provence and Languedoc
The structures of this Lombard school betrayed for a long time its
imitation of the fifth-century Latin basilica. The lessons of Byzantine
architecture, however, although close at hand, did not make themselves
felt in Lombard construction; the political separation between the bar-
barous world of the Lombards and the Byzantine world of Venice and
Ravenna was simply too great. But at the end of the eleventh and
throughout the twelfth centuries there appeared vaulting that, unlike
the round-rib vaulting found in France, was made up of square ribs that
formed beneath the vault they held up—suggesting a large, branched
archaic cross. An interesting French example of this structure, undoubt-
edly of Lombard origin, is the ogival square crossing erected in 1178 on
each of the transepts of the ancient cathedral of Maguelone, in the
Herault. Another is the large, square-ribbed crossing on the porch of
Moissac.
This Lombard ribbed crossing is fairly contemporay with or
appeared even a little earlier than the ribbed crossing found in the struc-
tures of northern France. But because the two styles are completely dif-
ferent, neither one can be regarded as the precursor to the other.
Perhaps they may be viewed as the results of similar research and trial
and error. Perhaps the crossed ribs had been envisioned by the Romans
and employed later by the Lombards. Although Lombard builders
knew of this style at the end of the eleventh century, however, and even
exported it, it must be pointed out that its use remained a limited con-
struction procedure for them. Thus we cannot see in it the principle of
a new architecture and get a sense of its power and prodigious future.*
- The same could be said of Armenian construction. As the first Christianized region of
the East, it was subject to the strong influence of Rome and Byzantium. The use of square
crossed ribs, as in the Lombard model, appeared there at the end of the tenth century in
the fullness of its architectural function. It is not impossible that the West was familiar with
it at this time. It would have adapted it to its principles and existing architectural styles.
Here again, we can assume the role of monks in its propagation—cf. H. Focillon, Art
d'Occident, Le Moyen Age Roman, vol. 1 (Paris: Librairie Arand Colin, 1971), 117 ff.