The doorways appear to have been a special feature with the Normans, for they were generally very richly ornamented, and were greatly recessed. The windows were narrow and small in proportion to the rest of the building. At a late period of the style the small circular windows became greatly enlarged, and it became necessary to divide up the space by the introduction of slender columns radiating from the centre. In England the semi-circular apse, towards the close of the style, gradually gave place to the square apse, which was more generally adopted. _Gothic._--_Fourth to Twelfth Century._--Another great and early factor in ecclesiastical architecture is the Gothic. In the early stages of Christianity, the Goths, a Teutonic race, dwelt between the Elbe and the Vistula. They subverted the Rome Empire. They, like other countries, received the Christian religion from Rome. Each country after its own fashion endeavoured to imitate the architecture of Rome. As these countries were semi-barbarous and unpolished, their work was necessarily rude. This, in conjunction with the invasions of Italy by the Goths, led to the term "Gothic." This period commenced in the fourth century, and was entirely changed in the twelfth, by the introduction of the pointed arch. _Gothic._--1145-1550.--This marked a new era, and established a new style of architecture, the transition from the Norman, or Romanesque, to the Mediæval Gothic. Several attempts were made to introduce new names in lieu of Gothic, for to name anything Gothic was looked upon with askance. Romanesque Early Gothic IVth century to XIIth century. Anglo-Saxon 500-1066 A.D. ANGLO-NORMAN William I 1066. William II 1087. Henry I. 1100. Stephen 1135. Henry II. 1154-1189. Transition. Mediæval Gothic EARLY ENGLISH (FIRST POINTED, OR LANCET) Richard I. 1189. John. 1199. COMPLETE, OR GEOMETRICAL POINTED Edward I. 1272-1307. Transition. DECORATED MIDDLE POINTED, OR CURVILINEAR Edward II. 1307. Edward III. 1327-1377. PERPENDICULAR THIRD POINTED, OR RECTILINEAR Richard II 1377. Transition. Henry IV. 1399. Henry V. 1413. Henry VI. 1422. Edward IV. 1461. Edward V. 1483. Richard III. 1483. Henry VII. 1485 } Tudor Period. Henry VIII. 1509-1547 } With the close of the Tudor Period, Mediæval Gothic practically died out. There crept in then the English Renaissance, followed after by what is called "The Revival of Gothic Architecture." ENGLISH RENAISSANCE