Romanesque Architecture The term “ Romanesque” refers to the architectural period in 11th and 12th century Europe. It shared a similarity of forms and materials used by th e ancient Romans. Romanesque m eans "in the manner of the Romans." Before the 11th century, people were busy fighting each other. They rarely had enough to eat. People had no time or energy to build big and fancy buildings. Around 975, Europe society began to calm down. By 1050, kings began to order the building of large, stone structures. The stone vaulted building was a major achievement of Romanesque architects. Curved ceilings replaced wooden roofs. Wood was likely to catch on fire. Vaulted stone posed building problems for builders. What shapes worked? How was the weight of stone to be supported? Builders invented some solutions, which included domes and rounded points. To support the heavy stone, they used thick walls and piers. Windows had to be small to keep the strength of the wall. This resulted in churches with dark interiors. This did not change until the Gothic design was used some centuries later. Romanesque was the first pan-European building style since Roman times. The spreading of the style can be explained in this way: people at this time traveled for religious purposes. They would see great buildings and bring home ideas on how they were built. Romanesque buildings can be seen all over France, England, Italy, Germany, and northern Spain.