THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

The Third-Pointed or Perpendicular style was introduced at about 1377, and was whollyconfined to this country. It presented such great architectural differences from the preceding style,that it scarcely appears to have directly emanated from it; yet, extensively as it was applied and highlyas it was enriched, it never did acquire the grandeur, dignity, or magnificent conceptions of the De-corated, though it was practised in its various modifications from the reign of Richard the Second downto that of Henry the Eighth, a period of more than a century and a quarter. Although this style is anundoubted deterioration of ecclesiastical art and architecture, still many great and noble works wereaccomplished in it, amongst the chief of which are the cathedral of Winchester, as reinstated by thegreat William of Wykeham , and the choir of York Minster . In Dickinson’s History and Antiqui-ties of Southwell Minster it is stated, that “ From the time of King Edward the Third, when thedeparture from the chaste simplicity of the preceding ages first took place, almost every reign pro-duced some new species of ornament, or some modification of the old. About the death of KingHenry the Sixth, or, at most, not later than that of his immediate successor, Gothic architecture issupposed to have arrived at its acme. There are, indeed, some few instances in the subsequentreigns of Henry the Seventh and Eighth, where the taste of the architect does not seem to have beencorrupted by the prevailing rage for finery; but these are, in general, buildings which were begununder the preceding monarchs, where the designs were already formed, and, not unfrequently, wherethe edifice was so far erected as absolutely to dictate the particular mode in which it must befinished. These, however, are exceptions to the general style of the times; whether the taste inwhich they are built owes its adoption to necessity or to preference, the architecture of the age waswhat Warton has denominated ‘ florid Gothic.’ It was ornament without beauty, profusion withouttaste, labour without its ordinary consequences—magnificence ; without the smallest pretensions totaste, elegance, or harmony, it was splendid affectation, meretricious frippery.” * It is difficult atthis time to conjecture the cause of this sudden change, but a little reflection will enable us to formsome judgment upon the matter. From the slight remarks which have been made upon the pre-ceding styles, it will be found that the greatness of Gothic architecture was analogous and coevalwith the days of the Crusades , of chivalry, of ecclesiastical and military grandeur, when kings,prelates, knights, and squires, mingled in devotional and processional display, when churchmen andlaity devoted their energies and means to Christianity and its edifices, when in fact each baron waspowerful in his hereditary domains, and ever ready to take up arms for his faith, his honour, and hisking. But, as civilization and the arts of peace progressed, domestic comfort was more studied thanmilitary strength, and thus ecclesiastical architecture superseded the castellated even in its applica-tion to secular buildings. Then were the airy halls constructed, with their vast windows of richarmorial decorations; and hence something of a secular character was imparted to arts, which had

hitherto been exclusively applied to religious purposes.

There are perhaps few of our churches which have not some remains of Perpendicular glass inthem, either of the earlier or later kind, so extensively was this art applied during the times of whichwe are speaking. But its character, details, treatment, and effects, were as different fiom those ofthe preceding period as was the architecture to which it was adapted. The mosaic, medallion, andgeometrical forms of enrichment were now entirely abandoned, and a much gi eater pioportion ofwhite glass was introduced than in any of the foregoing styles, which was obviously to preserve as

“Antiquities, Historical, Chronolographical, &c., of Nottinghamshire , comprising Southwell, pp. /8, 79 .

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* Vide Dickinson’s