Ecclesiastical and Monastic Associations 37the minister of King Dagobert. He designed the blueprints for several
churches and monasteries (Solagnac Monastery near Limoges, a convent
for nuns, and Saint Paul and Saint Martial Churches in Paris). His name
is especially prominent in connection with the famous abbey of Saint
Denis (631-637). He also created superb works in gold and silver.
In eighth-century Spain, in monasteries founded by the architect
and mason Saint Fructueux, there were masters who taught theory and,
if need be, directed construction. Special compartments were assigned
to the art of decoration.^1
During the darkest hours of the Middle Ages, the monastery of
Saint Gall in what is now Switzerland distinguished itself by the skilled
teachers who flourished there. It was this monastery that produced the
monks Tutillon, Notker, Adalberne, and Durand of Utrecht.
We must pause here for an observation: Our investigation relates
essentially to religious architecture, but what of civil construction? It
should be noted that during these centuries there was a considerable
slowdown in the construction of significant buildings. Ordinary houses
were built of wood, cob, and mortar made from straw and clay. From
the seventh to the tenth centuries, there was a need to erect castles, large
constructions indeed. Of course, in those years some building special-
ists, architects and sculptors still existed, but they were few in number
and were largely itinerants. Bound to a noble, king, or archbishop, they
were "lent" by their patron to individuals requiring their services.
Therefore, as noted earlier, a number of architecture schools whose
masters moved north to ply their trades were located in the former
kingdoms of the Goths and Burgundians, where many Roman institu-
tions endured; we have already stressed how this region preserved the
art of building passed down by the collegia. There is perhaps no reason
to seek elsewhere for the origin of the architectural term Gothic. Today
this word defines a very specific building style. It is thought that the
Renaissance Italians originally used it in complete derision. In reality,
the term goes back to a much earlier time. It can be found in the writ-
ings of Fridegode, a historian who wrote in Latin in 950. Fridegode
said, in speaking of the Saint Ouen Church of Rouen,* that it was built
* As we have seen, this was built by "Goth" architects.