<P> The West Front of a French cathedral and many English, Spanish and German cathedrals generally have two towers, which, particularly in France, express an enormous diversity of form and decoration . However some German cathedrals have only one tower located in the middle of the façade (such as Freiburg Münster). </P> <P> The way in which the pointed arch was drafted and utilised developed throughout the Gothic period . There were fairly clear stages of development which did not progress at the same rate or in the same way in every country . Moreover, the names used to define various periods or styles within Gothic architecture differs from country to country . The work of art historians Hans R. Hahnloser and Robert Branner in studying manuscripts and architectural drawings showed that the use of geometric shapes and proportions in squares, circles, semi-circular shapes, and equilateral triangles, abandoned in the Renaissance, was a constant effort in the Middle Ages . </P> <P> Transverse arches, perpendicular to the upper level of the walls and hidden under gallery roofing, appeared circa 1100 at Durham Cathedral and at Cérisy - la - Forêt and are thought to have been used to facilitate roofing and the construction of wall buttressing, as there was no need to give any further support to already thick Romanesque walls . Used at the nave of Durham and at Caen's Abbey of Saint - Trinité, this practice would also be used by Gothic architects at Saint - Germer - de-Fly Abbey and Laon Cathedral . Further application and refinement of this technique since the 11th century made the purpose of the transverse clearer, culminating in the late 12th century as architects used its gallery to buttress the upper echelons of a church . </P> <P> The simplest shape is the long opening with a pointed arch known in England as the lancet . Lancet openings are often grouped, usually as a cluster of three or five . Lancet openings may be very narrow and steeply pointed . Lancet arches are typically defined as two - centered arches whose radii are larger than the arch's span . </P>

Who was responsible for creating gothic style architecture