What is the history of the Gothic style of architecture?
In order of your questions, 1. For a full history read the links below but, very basically, it started in France in the late 1100s and lasted until the Renaissance. 2. The style is first recorded in the abbey church of St. Denis in France designed by Abbey Suger. 3. The Gothic style was not copied from anything (unless you are thinking of the Gothic revival prevalent in the Victorian Age). It stemmed from technological invention, specifically the pointed arch, which allowed great load bearing. This, in turn, allowed for thinner walls which did not have to take the main weight of the roof, and therefore allowed penetrations to be put in for stained glass windows. 4. The term has little to do with the Goths themselves, other than the fact that term was used as an insult during the Renaissance when Gothic architecture was seen to be barbarous.
