Waterhouse, Percy Leslie: The story of architecture throughout the ages: an introduction to the study of the oldest of the arts for students and general readers (London: B. T. Batsford, 1924)

VI
ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE
We must now hark back to Italy, where the
early Christians were left at work upon their
basilicas.
The transference of the seat of government
by Constantine to Byzantium, and the con-
sequent decay of the Roman empire, checked
intelligent building for a period in Italy. But,
as Christianity continued to spread, there was
an increasing demand for accommodation on
the part of its adherents, and builders were
called upon to provide it, first in this town,
then in the other. Throughout the Dark Ages
—from the fifth to the tenth century—a con-
siderable amount of building was done, but very
little architecture was produced worthy of the
name, except in those cities in which, as at
Ravenna and Venice, it was developed under
Byzantine auspices. Meanwhile, however, the
Church was strengthening her authority and
broadening her influences, and a new style of
architecture slowly developed—with natural
modifications arising out of climatic and other
local conditions—and gradually spread through-
out Western Europe. This new architecture,
based upon the traditions of Rome and of the

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