# Cross-window

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Type of architectural feature

[Flamboyant](/source/Flamboyant) [Gothic](/source/Gothic_architecture) building with cross-windows

A **cross-window** is a [window](/source/Window) whose [lights](/source/Light_(window)) are defined by a [mullion](/source/Mullion) and a [transom](/source/Transom_(architectural)), forming a [cross](/source/Cross).[1]

The [Late Gothic](/source/Gothic_architecture) cross-window is known since the 14th century and replaced the hitherto common [Romanesque](/source/Romanesque_(architecture)) or Gothic [arched window](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arched_window&action=edit&redlink=1) on buildings. Since then the latter have almost exclusively been reserved for [church buildings](/source/Church_building). The two, upper lights were usually somewhat smaller than the two lower ones and could be opened separately. The latter is also true for a [transom window](/source/Transom_window), which has a horizontal bar or [transom](/source/Transom_(architectural)) separating the lights.

## Design

Parts of a casement cross-window, viewed from the outside

Characteristically the rectangular window is divided into four individual lights by a mullion and transom in the form of a [Latin cross](/source/Latin_cross). The window cross was original made of stone ('stone cross-window'); not until the [Renaissance](/source/Renaissance_(architecture)) and [Baroque](/source/Baroque_(architecture)) periods did the timber cross-window emerge (e. g. on the abbey castle of [Escorial](/source/El_Escorial) and on other buildings in the [Herrerian](/source/Herrerian) style). Where the transom is in the middle, the window is divided into four lights of equal size. Later the windows were often divided into six lights, the two upper ones often being joined and forming a type of [fanlight](/source/Fanlight).

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Curl, James Stevens (2006). *Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture*, 2nd ed., OUP, Oxford and New York, p. 214. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-860678-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-860678-9).

## Literature

- *Meyers Enzyklopädisches Lexikon*. Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim/Wien/Zürich 1973, Vol. 8, p. 638.

## External links

- [Examples of cross-windows in Austria](http://www.burgenseite.com/ksf/ksf_txt.htm)

Authority control databases GND

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cross-window](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-window) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-window?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.