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450 MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
desire ofthe builders to express in line the component parts of
the design. If this theory is tenable, Durham stands at the be>
ginning ofa development which in France led to some ofthe
greatest achievements of European architecture. But the great'
est examples in France are all characterized by a strong sense of
direction in the linear embellishments of the building, which
are almost always governed by the essential structural system
which they adorn. At Durham this is true also, but the purely
pattern^making treatment of the plain surfaces without any
structural reference is also marked, and this last characteristic
was exploited in England and gave its character to the whole
development ofthe medieval architecture in this country down
to the end of the thirteenth century and beyond, and distin^
guishes
it from the art of northern France with which in other
respects it was so closely
allied. The sources ofthe Durham de/
It is remarkable that
sign can be traced to a variety of places.
was one
throughout the building the cushion capital employed
which was in common use in Germany and the Low Counx
tries, but hardly known in Normandy at the time that the build'
ing ofDurham was undertaken. Equally the cushioned capital
was familiar in late Saxon architecture, the close connexion of
which with the Empire has already been mentioned. This plan,
including the system of alternate piers and double bays, can
be associated with buildings known in Normandy such as
Jumieges, but Jumieges itselfis a Norman building with strong
affinities outside the province of Normandy and comparable
with the work ofregions to the east and north. The outstanding
quality of Durham, however, apart from the structural inx
genuity and daring ofits builders, resides in the masterly quality
of the synthesis that they have made from what appear to be
diverse sources. We are very apt to attribute to one man works
of the middle ages which were probably due to the collaborax
tion of several
persons. Durham is one of the few buildings
and certainly the earliest whose individuality makes this un/
historical approach excusable.
A number of other great monastic
buildings were initiated
in the last
years of the eleventh and first
part ofthe twelfth