What contributions did Michelangelo make to architectural history with his design of the dome of St. Peters?

Michelangelo's contribution to the basilica was the greatest of them. He was the only architect who worked on it whose plans were continued without significant changes after his death.

Explanation:

It took more than a century to build St. Peters Basilica and was designed over time by Donato Bramante, Giuliano da Sangallo, Fra Giocondo, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, Baldassare Peruzzi, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, and Michelangelo. Michelangelo's contribution to the basilica was the greatest of them. In the Catholic Tradition, the Basilica is believed to have been built upon the burial site of Christ's Apostle Saint Peter. Pope's have been interned in the Basilica since the early Christian era and a church has existed on the site since the 4th century. It is one of the four Major Basilicas, all of which are in Rome. It was built between 1506 and 1626.