| Description |
xiv, 292 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm |
| Contents |
Introduction: a Personal Journey -- Pt. I. A Grand Undertaking -- 1. What Is the Gothic Enterprise? -- 2. How Were the Cathedrals Built? -- Pt. II. History -- 3. Kings, Feudal Lords, and Great Monasteries -- 4. The Age of Cathedral-Building -- 5. The Initial Vision -- 6. "The Cathedral Crusade" -- Pt. III. The Gothic Look -- 7. What Is the Gothic Look? -- 8. An Image of Heaven -- 9. A Pragmatic View of Cathedral-Building -- Pt. IV. The Religious Experience -- 10. Sacred Force and Sacred Space -- 11. Imagining the Cathedral -- 12. Honoring the Dead -- Pt. V. The Gothic Community -- 13. Medieval Living Conditions -- 14. The Spiritual Brokers - Priests and Monarchs -- 15. Cathedrals and Community -- Conclusion: Learning from Stonehenge |
| Summary |
"Robert A. Scott explores why medieval people built Gothic cathedrals, how they built them, what conception of the divine lay behind their creation and how religious and secular leaders used cathedrals for social and political purposes. As a traveler's companion or a rich source of knowledge for the armchair enthusiast, The Gothic Enterprise helps us understand how ordinary people managed such tremendous feats of physical and creative energy at a time when technology was rudimentary, famine and disease were rampant, the climate was often harsh, and communal life was unstable and incessantly violent." "Scott's narrative offers a wealth of fascinating details concerning daily life during medieval times. The author describes the difficulties master-builders faced in scheduling construction that wouldn't be completed during their own lifetime, how they managed without adequate numeric systems or paper on which to make detailed drawings, and how climate, natural disasters, wars, variations in the hours of daylight throughout the year, and the celebration of holy days affected the pace and timing of work. Scott also explains such things as the role of relics, the quarrying and transporting of stone, and the incessant conflict cathedral-building projects caused within their communities. Finally, by drawing comparisons between Gothic cathedrals and other monumental building projects, such as Stonehenge, Scott expands our understanding of the human impulses that shape our landscape."--BOOK JACKET |
| Analysis |
Architecture, Gothic |
|
Cathedrals |
| Notes |
Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-277) and index. English |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Subject |
Religious architecture.
|
|
Architecture, Gothic.
|
|
Cathedrals.
|
| SUBJECT |
Stonehenge (England) http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85128337
|
| LC no. |
2003007856 |
| ISBN |
0520231775 cloth alkaline paper |
|
