The so-called High Romanesque style resulted from the slow and idiosyncratic fusion
of the two Early Romanesque traditions. To the southern tradition, High Romanesque
owes the practice of integrating and vaulting high spaces; to the northern, it owes the
predilection for expanded, generous, and open spaces, especially as represented by the
fully developed transept. Often, vaulting would be introduced under the original wooden
roofs of Early Romanesque naves and transepts, and rectangular bays of choirs. A good
example is the nave of the great abbey church of Saint-Philibert at Tournus, where
transverse barrel vaults have been introduced under the original wooden roof. Even with
the resulting contraction of volume, the nave of Tournus seems enormous. One can
imagine how much more vast the original 11th-century vessel would have been.
The Romanesque style in France is habitually subdivided into a plethora of local
styles, or “schools.” This manner of classifying 12th-century production is most
instructive in clarifying regional differences. We must not lose sight, however, of what
these seemingly disparate monuments have in common. No longer are they constructed
of small, irregularly shaped, and coursed stones; rather, fine ashlar walls are the rule in
virtually all major monuments. Wooden roofs were replaced by superbly planned stone
vaults over the high spaces of naves, transepts, and rectangular bays of choirs.
Only a small portion—the south arm of the major transept—of the great Burgundian
abbey church at Cluny III survives, but it represents French Romanesque architecture at
its finest. Some 109 feet in height, this stunning space anticipates French Gothic
architecture in its vertical thrust and intricate wall design. The church itself was immense:
a double-aisled nave with two transepts, barrelvaulted, with two magnificent crossing
towers, and an ambulatory with radiating chapels. Already, a century ear-
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