Buttress

Buttress, a mass of stone or brick built up against a wall to strengthen it, especially to counteract lateral pressure, or thrust, from an arch or vault. Buttresses were used in ancient Mesopotamia and by the Romans, who built them against outside walls as piles of stone or against inside walls of vaulted buildings to serve as partitions. Vaulted Romanesque cathedrals in early medieval Europe had buttresses in the form of shallow projecting piers. Beginning in the 12th century, as Gothic cathedrals developed thinner walls and higher vaulted ceilings, with greater lateral thrust, additional support was needed. As buttresses projected farther from the walls, flying buttresses were devised, consisting of a wall buttress and a parallel detached buttress connected to it by an arc. The detached buttress was topped with a pinnacle or finial for added weight. Rows of carved pinnacled flying buttresses gave a delicate silhouette to such major examples of Gothic architecture as Notre Dame de Paris, Amiens, and Beauvais.