Coucy

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Coucy

France

Also known as: Coucy-Le-Château-Auffrique

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In full:: Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique

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Coucy, village in the Aisne département, Hauts-de-France région, northern France, 18 miles (29 km) west-southwest of Laon. It was important in the European Middle Ages for its castle and for the family of the sires de Coucy. A commune from 1196, the village itself was strongly fortified, the most remarkable feature in its wall being the great Porte de Laon. The castle, begun in the 10th century and rebuilt in the 13th, was restored in the 19th century, but the Germans dynamited it in World War I.

Enguerrand de Boves (died 1115), founder of the house of Coucy, distinguished himself as a crusader. His son Thomas de Marle was a brigand and rebel against whom Louis VI of France had to undertake two expeditions. Enguerrand III fought for Philip II Augustus at Bouvines. In the 14th century, as Enguerrand IV left no heirs, Coucy passed to a nephew, Enguerrand de Guynes. Enguerrand VI was killed at Crécy in 1346, and his son Enguerrand VII, who joined the Hungarian crusade against the Turks, was captured at Nicopolis and died in Turkey in 1397. His daughter Marie sold Coucy to Louis de France, duc d’Orléans, in 1400. After three more changes of ownership, it passed to Philippe, duke d’Orléans, in 1673 and remained with the house of Orléans until the Revolution. Pop. (2014 est.) 1,041.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.

Gothic architecture

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The north rose window in Chartres Cathedral, Chartres, France.

Requena: Gothic portal of the church of Santa María

The interior of Gloucester Cathedral cloisters, England, begun 1337.

Gothic architecture

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Key People:: Ralph Adams Cram

Related Topics:: stained glass; Flamboyant style; Rayonnant style; Perpendicular style; English Decorated style

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Gothic architecture, architectural style in Europe that lasted from the mid-12th century to the 16th century, particularly a style of masonry building characterized by cavernous spaces with the expanse of walls broken up by overlaid tracery.

In the 12th–13th century, feats of engineering permitted increasingly gigantic buildings. The rib vault, flying buttress, and pointed (Gothic) arch were used as solutions to the problem of building a very tall structure while preserving as much natural light as possible. Stained-glass window panels rendered startling sun-dappled interior effects. One of the earliest buildings to combine these elements into a coherent style was the abbey of Saint-Denis, Paris (c. 1135–44). The High Gothic years (c. 1250–1300), heralded by Chartres Cathedral, were dominated by France, especially with the development of the Rayonnant style. Britain, Germany, and Spain produced variations of this style, while Italian Gothic stood apart in its use of brick and marble rather than stone. Late Gothic (15th-century) architecture reached its height in Germany’s vaulted hall churches. Other late Gothic styles include the British Perpendicular style and the French and Spanish Flamboyant style.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Alicja Zelazko.