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After the 14th century, cathedrals lost their leading role in English architecture. The outstanding building projects of the 15th and early 16th centuries occurred in small-scale church building such as chapels and parish churches and also in the building of Oxford and Cambridge colleges. Some of these smaller building projects turned out, at least in part, to be no less spectacular than the cathedrals and monastery churches of earlier times. This is especially true of the magnificent series of royal chapels with which medieval architecture in England comes to an end. English kings emerged as founders of prestigious building projects: King's College Chapel in Cambridge (Henry VI), St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle (Edward IV), and Lady Chapel at the east end of Westminster Abbey (Henry VII). As all three chapels were intended to serve as royal burial places, they reached cathedral proportions.
King's College Chapel is an integral part of a college that Henry VI founded in Cambridge in 1441. This chapel is the epitome of the Perpendicular style. The walls are now almost completely translated into glass. Only at the bottom is there any remaining solid wall, and this covered by a grid of tracery. This chapel is regarded as the high point in the art of medieval vaulting. Here a technique seen only in England is applied to the monumental span of 12,66 meters: the fan vault.
The photo shows the interior of King's College Chapel looking east.
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