ttribute it to Italy, others to France; others again are of the
conviction that all Christian (religious) art previous to the birth of
Gothic is Romanesque, etc., etc. The most plausible theory is that the
style in question evolved out of the early Latin-Christian (basilique)
style, at the same time borrowing many decorative details from the
Byzantine-Christian style.

In Spain, pre-Romanesque Christian architecture (or Visigothic) shows
decided Byzantine influence, more so, probably, than in any other
European country. This peculiarity influences also Romanesque, both
early and late. It is not strange, either, considering that an important
colony of _Bizantinos_ (Christians) settled in Eastern Andalusia during
the Visigothic period.

In the tenth century churches, and in the eleventh cathedrals, commenced
to be erected in Northern Spain. Byzantine influence was very marked in
the earlier monuments.

Was Romanesque a foreign style? Was it introduced from Italy or France,
or was it a natural outcome or evolutionary product of decadent early
Christian architecture? In the latter case there is no saying where it
evolved, possibly to the north or to the south of the Pyrenees, possibly
to the east or to the west of the Alps. What is more, the Pyrenees in
those days did not serve as a strict frontier line like to-day; on the
contrary, both Navarra and Aragon extended beyond the mountainous wall,
and the dukes of Southern France occasionally possessed immense
territories and cities to the south of the Pyrenees.

Be that as it may, Romanesque, as a style, first dawned in Spain in the
tenth and eleventh centuries. Its birth coincided with that of the
popular religious crusade against the Moor who had inhabited the
peninsula during four centuries; it coincided also with the great
church-erecting period of Northern Spanish history, when the Alfonsos of
Castile created bishoprics (to aid them in their political ambitions) as
easily as they broke inconvenient treaties and savagely murdered
friends, relatives, and foes alike. Consequently, many were the
Romanesque cathedrals erected, and though the greater part were
destroyed later and replaced by Gothic structures, several fine
specimens of the former style are still to be seen.

Needless to say, Romanesque became localized; in other words, it
acquired certain characteristics restricted to determined regions.
Galician Romanesque and that of Western Castile, for instance, are
a