[Illustration: 78. ALENÇON CATHEDRAL. WEST FRONT (FIFTEENTH CENTURY)] "The qualities of the architecture of the decadence must be sought not in the construction, but in the decoration of churches; here we may freely admire the happy detail and patient execution which mark the work of carvers and limners during the last two centuries of the Middle Ages."[24] [24] Anthyme St. Paul, _Histoire Monumentale de la France_; Paris, 1884. Gothic architecture put forth its expansive force at the close of the twelfth and during the thirteenth century, not only throughout Western Europe, but even in Eastern countries, where monuments still survive of the highest interest to us as the work of monkish architects who came from France in the wake of the first Crusaders. The modifications and enlargements of famous buildings in the Holy Land towards the close of the twelfth century show evident traces of their influence, which is further manifested in certain structures of Rhodes and Cyprus from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, in which Western and more especially French types have served as models. [Illustration: 79. FAÇADE OF THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. SOPHIA AT NICOSIA (ISLAND OF CYPRUS)] "It will hardly be disputed that the prolonged sojourn of the Crusaders in the Levant, the teachings of their architects, and the contemplation of their works, were considerable factors in the development of Arab art. There was a reaction of the West upon the East; sometimes indeed such a direct influence is perceptible as to astound and perplex the observer. To understand the part played by the Crusaders in the East, and to appreciate its Western and independent character, we must cast a rapid glance at the monuments constructed by them in Cyprus and Rhodes after their expulsion from Syria. We shall find the movement which originated in the twelfth century progressing throughout the following centuries on the same lines; in other words, drawing a continuous inspiration from France.[25] [25] Melchior de Vogüé, _Les Églises de la Terre Sainte_.