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CHAPTER XXIIIAUVERGNETHE county of Auvergne,with Clermont for itscapital, till the middle of the loth century recognized theDuchy of Aquitaine as its feudal superior, and after thatthe Counts of Toulouse got possession of it. In thehowever the Counts ofearly part of the I2th centuryAuvergne again did homage to Guienne 1 . The politicalconnexion with these different powers at different timesexplains to some extent the architecture of the province,which at Le Puy seems influenced by the domes ofAquitaine, and in the decorations of Notre Dame du Portat Clermont, and the group of buildings belonging to thesame class, appears to be affected by the Byzantinetraditionsof the south.The architecture of the province however has a Thestrong individuality, and the churches of the Auvergnemay be said to have a style of their own. The bestknown examples are those of Notre Dame du Port atClermont-Ferrand, Issoire, S. Nectaire, and Brioude, all.of which except the last named, which is rather later, datefrom the beginning of the lath century.The planis cruciform, but the management of thecrossing is singular, and very beautifully contrived. Theground plan (Figs. 104, 105) does not suggest the peculiarityof the upper part, for the deep transepts instead of1Hallam, Middle Ages^ chap.I.