The term itself, "Gothic," is a derogatory term coined in the Renaissance, to reflect the inferior and non-classical values that were popular after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, roughly around 600 AD. In its own time, this style of architecture was known as modern or French architecture. The evolution of this French style of architecture reflected a shift in philosophies and values during the late middle ages. An increased interest in the romantic and transcendental nature of religion was formed alongside the formation of the cult of the virgin. Cathedrals stood for not only as centers of religion, but also as centers of commerce, local economy, and served to foster community ties to the village. The height of these monuments, rising out of the horizon, had the ability to be seen from miles around, and could lure hundreds of pilgrims into a village and cultivate local economies. One might ask, how did the initial style and concepts of the Gothic style evolve into the masterpieces that they are classified as today?

      The beginning of the Gothic style, dated to 1140, is usually attributed to the influences of Abbot Suger, an advisor of King Louis VI and VII of France, and Bernard of Clairvaux. Bernard influenced the Gothic style, for, in his opinion, religion was a mystical and intuitive experience. The place of meditation was as vital to the experience of the worshipper as anything else, especially the space and light. Suger took the idea and in his redesign of the Abbey of St. Denis, researched the writings of the Roman architect Vitruvius on his theories of light and space. Suger's desire to incorporate his ideas about light and space required him to implement ribbed vaulting (structurally more stable than the older domical vaults), which supported more weight and opened up more wall space for windows. The church of St. Denis helped to establish key ideas behind the new Gothic style. However, it wasn't until the construction of Laon that many of these theories were to be fully implemented throughout the architecture.

      A prime example of Early Gothic and its transition from the Romanesque is the Cathedral of Laon, situated in the Northeast region of France. Laon is the first cathedral that exemplifies the transition from the old Romenesque style of architecture to the new style of Gothic consistantly throughout its structure. In St. Denis, the only structural changes that the Gothic style really influenced were in the newly re-built chapel. In Laon, both the interior and exterior structures were influenced by the new ideals of unification, harmony, and transcendentalism. Ravaged by a fire in 1120, the reconstruction of Laon was a likely candidate to combine both aspects of the outer Romanesque shell of the building with Gothic improvements in its renovation of 1160.

      The most obvious influence of the Early Gothic style in Laon Cathedral is its exterior structure. The massive exterior, sheltered porches and towers are treated in unity with the overall mass of the building, compared to the earlier Romanesque styles, which often treated sections of the architecture separately. The deep perforation in the fa?ade and towers of the cathedral also reflect the growing need to make the structure lighter and airier, breaking up the large masses of stone that were so evident in earlier buildings. The west fa?ade, in general, repeats the Anglo-Norman tradition of division (with portals, windows and rose window, and gallery cutting across echoing the interior divisions of space). The sheltered porches originally had open pilasters that allowed free movement from portal to portal, but were sealed closed during renovations after the French Revolution of 1789. However, the inset nature of the doorways and deeply perforated ornamentation was continued throughout later Gothic structures, such as Notre Dame and Chartres.

      Laon Cathedral is also identified as an Early Gothic structure due to many exterior elements. First, the large number of towers (seven) that crown the building, (as most later cathedrals lacked the funding to complete numerous towers), as well as the presence of a lantern tower over the transept crossing point to an increased interest in builders to reach to the sky. The two main towers at the West End of the cathedral helped establish the two-tower trend that was to be echoed in later Gothic structures. The towers of Laon have been celebrated for their lightness and beautiful structure, as the towers are hollowed out and open-air spiral staircases rise up through the turrets. A unique note about the towers of Laon also is that they are decorated with life-size stone oxen. These oxen were originally hoisted to the tops of the towers in 1113 during the Gothic restoration of the old burnt-out Romanesque church in homage to the oxen that hauled the stone for the cathedral up the hill to the town.

      The interior of Laon also reveals the new ideas and theories that accompanied the evolution of the Gothic style. As seen in the exterior of the building, the interior of Laon also strives to unify the space through lightness of stone and presence of light. The layout of the nave echoes its Romanesque roots, with the strong crossing square and bay system (a large unit in the nave, with two small squares in each aisle), and there remains a need to subdivide the interior space through the compartmentalization of the side aisles. In addition, the presence of the alternate-support system, usually seen in other early gothic structures, is diminished in Laon. The alternate-support system, a system of alternating thick and thin columnettes, sought to break up the interior space and make the viewer pause as he/she traversed through the building, and was a popular feature in Ottonian and Romanesque structures. The first shift away from this earlier tendency towards heavy, solid stone structures and a movement towards the unified, light style of the Gothic is seen in Laon Cathedral.

      Laon Cathedral continues to break up its Romanesque layout by the addition of the triforium to the walls of the nave. In striving to unite the space and break up the continuous wall surfaces, the presence of the triforium harmoniously unites the basic Romanesque layout to the new Gothic re-furbishing. The inclusion of the triforium in Laon, by dividing the nave wall into four parts (nave, arcade, gallery, triforium and clerestory) sets the standard for later Early Gothic structures. Basic standards of the gothic style are also evident at Laon, with its implementation of ribbed vaulting and pointed arches. The presence of stained glass came along later during the Gothic period, during the 1200s, and is seen in the presence of the flat chevet (such as the large Rose Window and accompanying lancets), and the west rose (wheel) window.

      Laon Catheral serves as a perfect transitory piece between the concepts and architecture of the Romanesque in synthesis with the new growing trend of the Early Gothic. The introduction of Gothic elements, both in the interior and exterior structure, points out the importance and influence Laon had in later structures of Early and High Gothic, and set the standards for many important Gothic elements.