So called in the 19th c. by analogy with the Romance language (in French, both roman), Romanesque art lasted for about two centuries, from the year 1000 to the end of the 12th c., reaching its apogee around the turn of the 1100s. Its advent was rooted in favourable economic, social, demographic and political conditions, in particular the stabilization of the Normans, the christianization of the Hungarians, peace restored in England, the consolidation of the Capetian and Ottonian dynasties, the rise of the feudal system and the adventure of the crusades. The rise of monasticism, which made itself felt in the power of Cluny, and the spirituality of pilgrimages to the relics of Christ and the saints, ensured the investment of wealth in liturgical objects, the circulation of techniques, messages and men and the creation of specific architectural forms. Patronage, often dependent on reigning dynasties and great prelates in Carolingian and Ottonian art, diversified and hence multiplied.

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