. A style of architecture developed in N France 
that spread throughout Europe between the 12th and 16th 
centuries; characterized by slender vertical piers and 
counterbalancing buttresses and by vaulting and pointed 
arches.
	Gothic Architecture has nothing to do with the 
Goths, but is a term of contempt bestowed by the architects 
of the Renaissance period on mediæval architecture, which 
they termed Gothic or clumsy, fit for barbarians.
"St. Louis ... built the Ste. Chapelle of Paris, ... the 
most precious piece of Gothic in Northern Europe." - 
Ruskin: Fors Clavigera, vol. i. Napoleon III. magnificently 
restored and laid open this exquisite church.