High Gothic

High Gothic followed Early Gothic architecture and was succeeded in France by Late Gothic in the form of the Flamboyant style. This timetable is not used by French scholars; they divide Gothic architecture into four phases, Primary Gothic, Classic Gothic, Rayonnant Gothic and Flamboyant Gothic. Therefore, in French terms, a few first examples of High Gothic are Classic, but most examples are Rayonnant. High Gothic is often described as the high point of the Gothic style.

It started with Reims Cathedral, first stone in 1211, world's first bar tracery between 1215 and 1220. Amiens Cathedral was begun with the western parts in 1220, the eastern parts were built after 1236 to a slightly different design. Beauvais Cathedral was begun in 1225); the transept of Chartres Cathedral, after a fire in 1194 rebuilt in the new style until 1225. The great western rose of Chartres Cathedral still consists of Early Gothic plate tracery. The upper parts of the northern tower were completed as late as 1510. The most notable example of German High Gothic, or Hochgotik, is Cologne Cathedral, begun in 1248.

The style first appeared in the second decade of the 13th century. One distinctive characteristic was the use of tracery, or thin ornate ribs of stone, to divide windows and walls and emphasize verticality. another was the elimination of the tribune between the lower arcades and the upper windows. This was made possible by the development of advanced forms of the rib vault and flying buttress. These developments made making possible much greater height and larger windows which filled the churches with light.