CHAPTER III
THE FIRST GROINED VAULTS
The first application of the system of intersecting vaults appears in the great churches of Angers and Laval.
It is probable that the new methods propagated by the religious architects of Aquitaine and neighbouring provinces had excited the emulation of the Northern builders, more especially those of the Ile-de-France. Evidences to this effect are to be found in certain subordinate portions of their buildings at this period, such as side aisles or apsidal chapels. Their timid arrangement seems, however, reminiscent of the Roman system of ribbed vaulting, with a slightly increased prominence of the ribs superadded, rather than of the revolution that had been effected in church vaulting generally.
9. PLAN OF A BAY IN THE NAVE OF ST. MAURICE AT ANGERS
10. TRANSVERSE SECTION OF THE NAVE OF ST. MAURICE AT ANGERS
But, if we except perhaps Laval, nowhere shall we find the new system of vaulting upon intersecting arches more mightily demonstrated than at Angers, the aisles of which measure 54 feet across. The grandeur of the architectural composition, no less than the admirable technical skill shown in the details, gives proof of the consummate mastery arrived at by the builders of these noble structures so early as the middle of the twelfth century. The plan of these churches resembles that of Angoulême and Fontevrault. It is in no way allied to the Northern buildings.
11. PLAN OF A BAY OF THE NAVE IN THE CHURCH OF LA STE. TRINITÉ AT LAVAL