ARCHITECTURE/ GOTHIC AND RENAISSANCE

The architecture generally known as Gothic, but often described as Christian Pointed, prevailed throughout Europe to the exclusion o f every rival for upwards of three centuries/ and it is to be met with, more or less, during two others. Speaking broadly, it may be said that its origin took place in the twelfth century, that the thirteenth was the period of its development, the fourteenth that of its perfection, and the fifteenth that of its decline/ while many examples of its employment occur in the sixteenth.