Brewer's: 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.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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