nobody ever makes the change, the mark changes itself

(Romanesque) Sainte-Croix Abbey church of Quimperlé, Normandy (1083)

let's do a little bit of paleography of typeface.  

imagine the vaults as the ascenders of the typeface. we start with romanesque, which is sort of the rustica typeface. 

 

romanesque has roman & bizantine influences, the rustica has greek influences. with romanesque the vault is in its proper "uncial" place. 

no wonder greeks loved uncials!

now, the transition from R to G is a slow one. the story goes that the new church at Durham Cathedral began in 1093, under william de st-calais (i visited the durham in 2004, the city grows around the cathedral, though the have a beautiful little botanical garden). 

the cathedral was originally intended to be built in romanesque rounded-arch groin vaults, but as the work continued on the nave the norman builders (normans are french from normandy) experimented with pointed arches, which directed the weight outward and downwards.

this is exactly what happens with scribes in the scriptorium!

why upwards? 

there's a structural novelty: the space between the ribs was filled with small pieces of stone. at the arch  corners the weight (supported by colonettes) the weight transferred downwards to alternating columns and piers below (rather than to the walls). 

since the panels are relatively thin, the rib vaults are lighter than the romanesque barrel and groin vaults, so the walls can be higher and show larger windows (of course the weight of the structure goes outwards and downwards), which is why you need buttresses outside.  

 

GOTHIC WAS AN ACCIDENT!

another way to see it is as the process of gothic itself, which is not a planned thing at all. rather it's the natural selection of the mark in its own iteration. 

at the level of the typeface, there is an undergoing process irrespective of the scribe's doodling alternative fonts in the scriptorium. and forget about the armarius. he just doesn't notice the imperceptibleminute differences in the overall iteration. 

the lesson? IT'S THE MARK THAT CAUSES THE CHANGE.

Transition from R-G, Nave of Durham Cathedral, (1093–1135)

(Sexpartite) Gothic Six-part rib vaults of ceiling of nave of Notre-Dame de Paris (1163–1345) 115 feet tall

(Quadripartite) The choir of Beauvais Cathedral (1225–1272), the tallest of Gothic church interiors (156 feet tall)