What does the word "gothic" mean?

*An architectural style, such as a certain type of cathedral*  

*A style of writing, with elegant letters*

*As an indication of a certain atmosphere in stories, in which strange and mysterious things happen in dark and lonely places such as the ruins of a castle*

The word Gothic comes from the German tribe of the”Goths" who once invaded Italy to split up the Roman Empire.
The Italians are responsible for the negative association of the name gothic, by which they meant “barbaric”.
The word Gothic, as we know it today, stems from the time of the late Middle Ages and was used to indicate the artistic trend and architectural style which was a reaction to the Roman style preceding it.
The reaction of the Gothic movement to Romanism was “We do not have to be afraid of God anymore, we should praise him”.
This is how the churches with their high spires, flying buttresses and large windows were created, instead of the dark and fortress like churches of before.
With this another style of fashion was created, namely long dresses with decorations, long trains, pointed sleeves etc. And these changes in fashion were for both men and women.
At first people wore plain, sober clothing but then they started wearing shirts with frilly collars and frilly sleeves.
The gothic style soon became popular and was soon developed in art.
Numerous paintings and sculptures were made in this style in the periods between the 12th and the 16th century.
In spite of the fact that the Gothic style was more and more influenced by religion, Gothic kept its negative name. With this style we more or less end the Middle Ages and a new style, called Neoclassicism, came about, which again was a reaction to the previous style. Here they went back to the simple basic forms and austerity. In contrast to the cheerful stoicism of Gothic.

Round about 1800 Gothic revived.
In this period it was more and more linked with mystery and the supernatural. In the 19th century Gothic became fashionable once more.
Many churches were built in that style to remember “the century of faith”. Gothic literature consisted of a combination of terror, horror and the mysterious side of life and death. In this era the vampire was introduced.

Gothic in its present form arose at the beginning of the 1980s. It is actually seen as a kind of counterpart of the punk movement, which arose from the same thought: it was time for something new, something extreme, and something that is out of the ordinary. But just like punk and all other trends, Gothic retreated into the background again.

Over the past few years Gothic has emerged again and because of bands like Within Temptation, (which is not a real Gothic band), Gothic has become unlocked to a larger audience.

As with most trends, there are real “Goths” and “wannabes”, people who want to join in.
The real “Goth” does not see “Gothic” as a trend, but as a “way of life”.
Being Gothic should come from the heart not from the way you dress.