Bk. VI. Ch. III. ENGLISH MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE. 129 CHAPTER III. ENGLISH MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE. AN entirely new state of affairs was inaugurated in 1066 by the Norman Conquest of England. A new aristocracy, new laws, and a new language infused new life and energy into every depart- ment of the State, and an age of unwonted activity and brilliancy superseded the lethargic misrule of the Saxon period. In nothing was this more manifestly evident tliau in architecture. Instead of a clumsy, timid, half- wooden style, a real lithic art was introduced and adopted at once, on a scale of magnificence not known even in France at that time. Almost all our great cathedi-als were either rebuilt, or at least remodelled, at that time, and great monastic institutions were founded all over the country, demanding churches and buildings on a scale undreamt of before that time. The impulse thus given lasted for nearly five centuries, till the Saxon element in the population again came to the surface at the Reformation ; but during that long period it continued without break or drawback, and forms a style com])lete and perfect in itself, — imported, it is true, in the first instance, but taking root in the soil, and with little aid from abroad growing into a thoroughly vigorous and acclimatized style. So completely is this the case, and so steady and uninterrupted was its progress, that it is impossible to separate its various stages, one from another, but it is proposed to treat it as one style and in one chapter in the following pages. In a larger work it might be neces- sary to divide it into parts, but Avithin our limits it will certainly be found more convenient, as it certainly is more logical, to treat it as a whole. Plans of English Cathedral Churches. The most remarkable and universal peculiarity in the arrangement of English churches, when compared with those on the Continent, is their extraordinary length in proportion to their breadth. In this respect they seem to stand alone when compared with any buildings existing in other parts of the world. The ancients affected a double square ; in other words, their temples were generally twice as long as they were broad. In the Middle Ages, on the Continent, this propor- tion was generally doubled. Practically the internal width was multiplied by 4 for the length. This at least seems to have been the VOL. IL — 9
