FRENCH GOTHIC. (See page 246 for French Romanesque ) " Graceful, grotesque, with ever new surprise Of hazardous caprices sure to please, Heavy as nightmare, airy, light as fern, Imagination's very self in stone." — Lowell. I. INFLUENCES. i. Geographical. — France may be divided architecturally, into North and South, by the River Loire, to the north of which were settled the Franks, while to the south were settled the Romance race. (See page 248.) ii. Geological. — The excellent building stone found near Caen aided in the development of the Northern Gothic style, and in the mountainous districts of Auvergne the use of coloured volcanic material gave a decorative character to the buildings of that district. (See pages 246, 248.) iii. Climate. — (See page 246 in French Romanesque.) iv. Religion. — Religious zeal, which resulted in the erection of so many grand cathedrals, was manifested also in the Crusades, Louis IX. leading the fourth (1248-1254). The clergy as a corporate body reached the summit of their power and influence, such being largely due to their championship of justice and their adhesion to the royal cause. The Abbe Suger, the minister of Louis VII. (i 137-1 180), who maybe styled the Cardinal Wolsey of the period, exercised much influence on church build- ing. Rome remained the controlling spirit, though local liberties were not all swallowed up in centralisation. The introduction of various special cults gave fame to certain chapels and shrines, which as pilgrimage centres acquired both wealth and importance, which are expressed in the richness of their architectural treatment. The zeal with which the urban populations set about building cathedrals has been compared by VioUet-Ie-Duc to the commercial movement which has covered Europe with railways.
