Romerske

Romerske (Romanesque) refers to the medieval European artistic and architectural style that prevailed roughly from the 10th to the mid-12th century. The term, common in Danish and Norwegian scholarship, describes churches, monasteries, sculpture, and decorative arts that combine classical influence with medieval forms. The name arose in the 19th century as a systematization of a broad, regional phenomenon seen as the successor of late antique traditions and the precursor to Gothic.

Architectural features are sturdy and monumental: thick stone walls, rounded arches, heavy piers, barrel and groin vaults, and small, deeply set windows. Plans are often basilican or cruciform. Facades frequently display elaborately carved portals, sculpted tympana, arcades, and capitals with biblical or devotional imagery. Sculpture and painting served didactic and liturgical purposes, linking worship spaces to religious narratives.

Geographically widespread, the Romanesque developed across much of Western Europe, with distinctive regional varieties in France, Germany, northern Italy, Iberia, England (Norman architecture), and Scandinavia. Chronology varies by region, and the style gradually gave way to Gothic in the late 12th century through innovations such as ribbed vaults and pointed arches. It also accompanied the growth of monastic reform, pilgrimage routes, and urban development.

Notable examples include Sainte-Foy at Conques and Saint-Sernin in Toulouse, Durham Cathedral, Speyer Cathedral, Pisa Cathedral, and the churches of Santa Maria de Taüll in Catalonia. The Romanesque left a lasting legacy in sculpture, metalwork, and manuscript illumination, and is widely regarded as a bridge between antiquity and the Gothic era.