In France we shall find no example more deeply interesting than Noyon, which at the date of its construction (the last quarter of the twelfth century) formed, as it were, an epitome of the advance so far made by the architects of the Ile-de-France. In this curious building we find a fusion of the antique tradition developed by the Normans in their triforiums, and of the Angevin methods, as manifested in the groined vaults derived from domes: methods further perfected by the example of La Ste. Trinité at Angers; in other words, by the adoption of intersecting arches planned on a square, the thrusts of all being received on the main piers, reinforced by an intermediate transverse arch. And we note the appearance of the detached semi-arch beneath the roofing of the inferior aisles merging at its springing into the lateral _arc-doubleau_, and so resisting the thrust of the intersecting arches and transverse arches of the nave. [Illustration: 25. ABBEY CHURCH AT NOYON. PLAN] [Illustration: 26. TRANSVERSE SECTION OF NOYON CHURCH] It has been said that Noyon was suggested by Tournai, doubtless on account of their superficial affinities. But the likeness is merely in general aspect, the methods of construction being wholly different. At Tournai the apsidal transepts are vaulted upon transverse arches of great strength, and upon radiating semi-arches united where they meet by a ring of voussoirs set horizontally, and at their springing by vaults keyed into their mass, an ingenious arrangement which recalls the vaulting of the _Salle des Capitaines_ over the porch of the monastery church at Moissac. The combination of these _arcs-doubleaux_, which, in addition to the solidity of their independent structure, are strongly reinforced by the massive circular courses of the walls, is very peculiar, for it dispenses altogether both with auxiliary arches and with abutments. Tournai, therefore, cannot be held to have begotten Noyon, for here we have groined vaults, the intersecting arches of which demand the reinforcement of abutments either concealed or apparent to sustain the thrust of these vaults over the lateral _arcs-doubleaux_. The ingenious arrangement above cited had in no sense modified the methods of abutment followed by the architects of the twelfth century even after the adoption of the vault on intersecting arches. These, as will be remembered, consisted in buttressing the walls and piers of the nave by cross walls or by arches concealed beneath the roofing of the side aisles. [Illustration: 27. CHURCH OF TOURNAI, BELGIUM. EXTERIOR VIEW OF THE NORTH TRANSEPT TOWARDS THE SCHELDT] We find at Soissons the first application of an architectural system, the special feature of which is the _flying buttress_. [Illustration:28. MONASTERY CHURCH AT MOISSAC. VAULT OF THE HALL KNOWN AS THE HALL OF THE CAPTAINS ABOVE THE PORCH] [Illustration: 29. CHURCH OF TOURNAI, BELGIUM. INTERIOR OF THE NORTH TRANSEPT]