Editing Gothic architecture (section)

===Romanesque and Norman influence===
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File:Durham Cathedral. Interior.jpg|The transition from [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] to Gothic styles is visible at the [[Durham Cathedral]] in [[England]], (1093-1104. Early Gothic rib vaults are combined with round arches and other Romanesque features. 
File:Abbaye de Lessay - transept sud 2.JPG|The south transept of [[Lessay Abbey]] in [[Normandy]] (1064–1178)
File:Cefalu Cathedral interior BW 2012-10-11 12-07-53.jpg|[[Cefalù Cathedral]] built in Norman [[Sicily]] (1131–1267)
File:MonrealeCathedral-pjt1.jpg|Nave of [[Monreale Cathedral]] in Norman [[Sicily]] (1172–1267)
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[[Romanesque architecture]] and [[Norman architecture]] had a major influence upon Gothic architecture. The plan of the Gothic cathedral was based upon the plan of the ancient Roman [[basilica]], which was adopted by Romanesque architecture. The [[Latin cross]] form, with a [[nave]] and transept, choir, disambulatory, and radiating chapels, came from the Romanesque model. The grand arcades of columns separating the central vessel of the [[nave]] from the collateral aisles, the [[triforium]] over the grand arcades, and the windows high on the walls allowing light into the nave were all also adapted from the Romanesque model. The portal with a [[tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]] filled with sculpture was another characteristic Romanesque feature, as was the use of the buttress to support the walls from the outside. Gothic architects improved them by adding the [[flying buttress]] with high arches connecting the buttresses to the upper walls. In the interior, Romanesque architecture used the [[barrel vault]] with a round arch to cover the nave, and a [[groin vault]] when two barrel vaults met at right angles. These vaults were the immediate ancestors of the Gothic rib vault. One of the first use of the Gothic rib vaults to cover a nave was in the Romanesque [[Durham Cathedral]], (1093–1104).<ref name="auto">Weber, Patrick, ''Histoire de l'Architecture'' (2018), pp. 35–37</ref>

[[Norman Architecture]], similar to the Romanesque style, also influenced the Gothic style. Early examples are found in [[Lessay Abbey]] in Normandy, which also featured early rib vaults in the nave similar to the Gothic vaults. [[Cefalu Cathedral]] (1131–1267) in Sicily, built when Sicily was under Norman rule, is another interesting example. It featured pointed arches and large Gothic rib vaults combined with ornamental mosaic decoration.<ref name="auto" />

Romanesque architecture had become a pan-European style and manner of construction, affecting buildings in countries as far apart as [[Ireland]] and [[Croatia]], and [[Sweden]] and [[Sicily]]. The same wide geographic area was then affected by the development of Gothic architecture, but the acceptance of the Gothic style and methods of construction differed from place to place, as did the expressions of Gothic taste. The proximity of some regions meant that modern country borders did not define divisions of style. Many different factors like geographical/geological, economic, social, or political situations caused the regional differences in the great abbey churches and cathedrals of the Romanesque period that would often become even more apparent in the Gothic. For example, studies of the population statistics reveals disparities such as the multitude of churches, abbeys, and cathedrals in northern [[France]] while in more urbanised regions construction activity of a similar scale was reserved to a few important cities. Such an example comes from Roberto López, wherein the French city of [[Amiens]] was able to fund its architectural projects whereas [[Cologne]] could not because of the economic inequality of the two.{{sfn|Grodecki|1977|pp=25–26}} This wealth, concentrated in rich monasteries and noble families, would eventually spread certain Italian, Catalan, and Hanseatic bankers.{{sfn|Grodecki|1977|p=25}} This would be amended when the economic hardships of the 13th century were no longer felt, allowing [[Normandy]], [[Tuscany]], [[Flanders]], and the southern [[Rhineland]] to enter into competition with France.{{sfn|Grodecki|1977|p=26}}