The region between the rivers Rhine and Seine developed towards a Christian-European state system, which, after a short, strong time of prosperity under Karl the Great and his son, Ludwig the Pious, and caused by continuous internal and external turmoil, soon lost importance. In the 10^th century, states were created by the Danes, Czechs and the Polish. In the 11^th century, the Hungarians, Norman England and the wealthy Christians in Northern Spain consolidated. A more peaceful era began. Europe had its great cultural heyday which we mainly find in the field of Romanesque history of art. From the end of the 10^th century, new art and architecture were emerging everywhere in Europe following pre-Romanesque, Carolingian impulses but transcended them at the same time. What is immediately noticeable about the architecture and all the preserved works of art is the varied diversity, the dissimilarity of the objects and the extremely different artistic creativity of their creators, this “overabundance of inventiveness“ (Georges Duby) and their, after all, profound and fundamental unity. This fact is not surprising for historians as the Christian Europe of this time is a vast area which comprises different ethnic groups, empires and provinces. Nearly every region, every province develops its own artistic forms of expression. And nevertheless, they all stand out for their unity, uniting everything in the most diverse way.

Romanesque survey (part 1)  (25,1 MB)
Romanesque survey (part 2)  (11,2 MB)