Definition
Refers to the period and style associated with the Norman Conquest of Britain in 1066 and the spread of the Old French Anglo-Norman dialect and Norman tastes through the English, Welsh, and Irish aristocracy. The period produced a large body of Anglo-Norman literature and an artistic style characterized in sculpture, painting, illumination, and textiles by elegance and refinement, and in architecture by grand scale, ribbed vaults covering huge spaces through a double-X design, sturdiness, dramatic lighting, and ornamentation that included chevrons, diaper pattern, and billet-molding.