Vocab (Final)

Question 1

Portcullis

Answer 1

Heavy grating that slides down to block the entrance to a castle or fortified town

Question 2

“Motte and Bailey”

Answer 2

type of defensive complex based on a central earthen mound surrounded by a fenced courtyard

Question 3

Inhabited initial

Answer 3

Enlarged letter at the beginning of a section of text that contains a picture

Question 4

Jamb

Answer 4

Vertical post on the sides of a door that supports an arch or archivolt

Question 5

Compound pier

Answer 5

clustered pier composed of a core component to which are added engaged columns and sometimes also pilasters

Question 6

Intuitive Perspective

Answer 6

optical effect in which forms have become narrower and orthogonal converge the farther they are from the viewer, approximating the visual experience of spacial recession (Italian Influence)

Question 7

Engaged Column

Answer 7

Half column embedded in a wall or pier and partially projecting from the surface of the wall or pier

Question 8

Neoplatonism

Answer 8

Idealistic, spiritualistic philosophy that originated in ancient Rome, later revived in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, that combined the teachings of Plato with an interest in the mystical

Question 9

Stringcourse

Answer 9

Decorative horizontal molding

Question 10

Rib vault

Answer 10

groin vault with masonry ribs demarcating the junctions

Question 11

crenellation

Answer 11

Rampart built around the top of a castle with regular gaps for firing arrows

Question 12

Keep

Answer 12

Fortified tower at the heart of a castle

Question 13

Corbel Table

Answer 13

Form of architectural surface decoration consisting of a row of Corbels (brackets), often carrying small arches

Question 14

Structural Rationalism

Answer 14

when a building clearly expresses its structure

Question 15

Lancet window

Answer 15

Vertical pointed window

Question 16

Groin Vault

Answer 16

vault consisting of two intersecting barrel vaults

Question 17

Archivolt

Answer 17

Band of ornamental molding framing or following the curve of an arch

Question 18

Flying buttress

Answer 18

Specific kind of buttress in which the lateral forces of the vaults are transmitted across an intervening space between the wall and the buttress (not in contact with the wall)

Question 19

Humanism

Answer 19

Philosophy or outlook that attaches prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters (“man is the measure of all things”)

Question 20

Voussoirs

Answer 20

Wedge shaped stones that make up an arch

Question 21

Trumea

Answer 21

Central portal support

Question 22

Machicolation

Answer 22

Floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which waste can be expelled or stones or other objects can be dropped on attackers

Question 23

Transverse arch

Answer 23

Arch that connects the wall piers on both sided of a stone vault

Question 24

Tracery

Answer 24

Stonework forming a pattern in the open space of a window or wall surface

Question 25

Triforium

Answer 25

Gallery reduced to a mere passage in the wall

Question 26

Bay

Answer 26

Unit of space defined by architectural element such as columns, pier, and walls

Question 27

Tympanum

Answer 27

Area over a door enclosed by an arch and a lintel, often decorated with sculpture

Question 28

Marginalia

Answer 28

Imagery in the margins of an illuminated manuscript page

Question 29

Exultet Roll

Answer 29

long strip of parchment with text and images for the Easter Proclamation, which the priest unrolled from the pulpit while singing the Proclamation during the Mass for Easter Vigil

Question 30

Court Style

Answer 30

style of the late Gothic figural art in northern Europe Characterized by mannered elegance and often scenes of courtly love, chivalry, and romance

Question 31

Book of Hours

Answer 31

book with prayers to be said for each canonical devotional hours of the day

Question 32

Scholasticism

Answer 32

Method of critical thought in late medieval Europe based on philosophies of reason and observation

Question 33

Feudalism

Answer 33

Socio-economic structure based on relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labor

Question 34

Barrel Vault

Answer 34

Arch extended three-dimensionally into space

Question 35

Modular

Answer 35

Architectural design based on the repetition of a fixed spatial or structural unity

Question 36

Grisaille

Answer 36

Monochromatic painting in shades of grey with only delicate touches of color