Short answers, pulled from the story.
Gothic architecture originated in the Île-de-France region of northern France between 1140 and 1144 at the Abbey of Saint-Denis. Abbot Suger reconstructed portions of the old Romanesque church to create a space filled with light through large stained glass windows.
The defining characteristic of Gothic architecture is the pointed arch, which directed weight outward to corners rather than downward like Romanesque barrel vaults. Flying buttresses carried the thrust of roof weights outside the building to heavy stone piers, freeing interior walls from structural burdens.
High Gothic followed until 1350, producing landmarks like Reims Cathedral begun in 1211 and Beauvais Cathedral starting in 1225. Rayonnant style maximized stained glass coverage so walls became effectively entirely glazed, as seen in the nave of Saint-Denis from 1231 onward.
French cathedrals prioritized vertical height while English builders focused on width and horizontal expansion. Perpendicular Gothic emerged in England around 1320, featuring straightened orthogonal tracery topped with fan-vaulting unknown elsewhere in Europe.
Giorgio Vasari used the term barbarous German style in his 1550 Lives of Artists to describe what is now considered Gothic architecture. Christopher Wren disapproved of the label Gothic for pointed architecture, comparing it instead to Islamic Saracen style he encountered during the Crusades.