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The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral
The great Gothic cathedrals of Europe are among the most astonishing achievements of Western culture. Evoking feelings of awe and humility, they make us want to understand what inspired the people who had the audacity to build them. This engrossing book surveys an era that has fired the historical imagination for centuries. In it 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.
While most books about Gothic cathedrals focus on a particular building or on the cathedrals of a specific region, The Gothic Enterprise considers the idea of the cathedral as a humanly created space. Scott discusses why an impoverished people would commit so many social and personal resources to building something so physically stupendous and what this says about their ideas of the sacred, especially the vital role they ascribed to the divine as a protector against the dangers of everyday life.
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 lifetimes, 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.
While most books about Gothic cathedrals focus on a particular building or on the cathedrals of a specific region, The Gothic Enterprise considers the idea of the cathedral as a humanly created space. Scott discusses why an impoverished people would commit so many social and personal resources to building something so physically stupendous and what this says about their ideas of the sacred, especially the vital role they ascribed to the divine as a protector against the dangers of everyday life.
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 lifetimes, 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.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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November 15, 2011
Scott's book is an entertaining and readable overview of the culture of Gothic cathedral building in Europe, particularly France and England. A sociologist by trade, Scott shows himself to be well-studied in the literature of cathedral building, but has a tendency to base large passages on single books. He strikes me as adequately competent in the literature to write this book, but I did wonder at times about the depth of his knowledge of medieval culture as a whole.
Scott explores the cathedral from many angles, looking at its place in religious and intellectual culture, the art and craft of cathedral construction, and the logistics and politics required by this enormous enterprise. It is in these chapters where Scott's book is at its best and most useful. The book also includes several ancillary chapters on side topics ranging from Stonehenge to the extremely-hypothetical relationship that contemplative mnemonic practices in Christian monastics may have had to how cathedrals were conceived.
Given the complexity, depth, and interest of the primary topics, I could have done without many of those discursi. In particular found the section on "The Religious Experience" to be of marginal interest. Scott raced quickly through the political history of Europe in the High Middle Ages, and I think the book would have been more balanced and on firmer ground had he spent more attention there and less on highly-speculative and not-terribly-illuminating questions, such as whether or not mnemonic exercises had some affect on cathedral building.
I'm on the fence about giving this book a positive review because Scott altogether avoids what is for me the primary basic fact about cathedrals - the effect that they have on people who experience them. Obviously Scott is himself moved by these buildings, given the time and energy he has put into their study. But he writes about cathedrals as if that fact is irrelevant and of no moment. What interests him in this presentation is overwhelmingly the social facts that contributed to their construction and contemporaneous interpretation. As a sociologist, this is understandable, but as an author who has attempted to step outside his academic role and write about a topic in which he is not an expert, it's an extremely peculiar omission. It is as though his training has led him to feel that the best scientific approach to analyzing a complex phenomenon like a cathedral is to ignore the most obvious and salient fact about it. Rather than attempt in a structured and rational way to come to terms with that effect, he simply excludes it from his analysis.
It probably goes without saying that there is very little theological consideration in this book.
The result is a scattered and quick overview, often interesting, sometimes superfluous, and a readable introduction to the topic.
Scott explores the cathedral from many angles, looking at its place in religious and intellectual culture, the art and craft of cathedral construction, and the logistics and politics required by this enormous enterprise. It is in these chapters where Scott's book is at its best and most useful. The book also includes several ancillary chapters on side topics ranging from Stonehenge to the extremely-hypothetical relationship that contemplative mnemonic practices in Christian monastics may have had to how cathedrals were conceived.
Given the complexity, depth, and interest of the primary topics, I could have done without many of those discursi. In particular found the section on "The Religious Experience" to be of marginal interest. Scott raced quickly through the political history of Europe in the High Middle Ages, and I think the book would have been more balanced and on firmer ground had he spent more attention there and less on highly-speculative and not-terribly-illuminating questions, such as whether or not mnemonic exercises had some affect on cathedral building.
I'm on the fence about giving this book a positive review because Scott altogether avoids what is for me the primary basic fact about cathedrals - the effect that they have on people who experience them. Obviously Scott is himself moved by these buildings, given the time and energy he has put into their study. But he writes about cathedrals as if that fact is irrelevant and of no moment. What interests him in this presentation is overwhelmingly the social facts that contributed to their construction and contemporaneous interpretation. As a sociologist, this is understandable, but as an author who has attempted to step outside his academic role and write about a topic in which he is not an expert, it's an extremely peculiar omission. It is as though his training has led him to feel that the best scientific approach to analyzing a complex phenomenon like a cathedral is to ignore the most obvious and salient fact about it. Rather than attempt in a structured and rational way to come to terms with that effect, he simply excludes it from his analysis.
It probably goes without saying that there is very little theological consideration in this book.
The result is a scattered and quick overview, often interesting, sometimes superfluous, and a readable introduction to the topic.
April 28, 2021
Awe. Inspiration. Humility. These words just hint at the powerful responses evoked by the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe. The visionaries who dreamed them command our admiration and respect, and the audacity of those who actually built them elicits disbelief. How, we may wonder, did ordinary people manage these feats of tremendous physical and creative effort during a time when life was nasty, brutish and short? Technology in the 12 to 16th centuries was rudimentary, famine and disease were rampant, and climate was often harsh, and communal life was unstable and incessantly violent. Yet communities with only a merger standard of living managed to make the immense investment of capital demanded by the construction of these great edifices. They mobilized the spiritual and civic determination needed to sustain building projects that sometimes spanned centuries. And they crated buildings whose exquisite beauty continues to amaze us today.
The movement of the Gothic enterprise began in the first half of the 12th century in the Greater Paris Basin. It continued for the next 400 years throughout Europe. This was clearly the greatest, most sustained ecclesiastical building campaign in the history of Christendom.
The earliest Gothic great church was the Abbey Church of St. Denis, located 7 miles north of Paris. The Greater Paris Basin proved fertile ground for Gothic cathedral-building for good reason. Unlike other regions in France such as Flanders, Burgundy and Champagne, where powerful counts supported the construction of monasteries and cathedrals, the civility of Paris had seen precious little church-building during the previous century because the general weakness and financial impoverishment of the monarchy. But once the monarchy began to gain strength, the absence of a recent regional style, combined with the fact that most abbeys and cathedrals in the Greater Paris Basin were old and in disrepair, created an opportunity for wholesale renewal of churches that could not have arisen elsewhere.
What propelled and sustained Gothic cathedrals was the realization by bishops, abbots, kings and others that the Gothic cathedral was a powerful theological and political symbol. Because a main aim of the Gothic style was to flood the interior with light, it was important to construct vaults, buttresses and arches that would allow them to open the side walls for windows.
Men who acquired power took a keen interest in developing new artistic styles that would identify them and distinguish them from those over whom they had triumphed. As new groups came to power, they tended to develop and embrace artistic styles of their own, including, most especially, distinctive styles of architecture. With the introduction and gradual spread of Christianity throughout the West, a class of specialists -priests- emerged who proclaimed themselves "masters of the sacred". Increasingly they challenged the hold of kings on this role and taught that the portion of the king's wealth reserved for sacrifice should be turned over to them, sot hat they could use it more appropriately to venerate God. In their minds, wealth was best spent for "the Glory of God" which, among other things, meant building grand basilicas appropriate for enacting their rounds of prayers and liturgical worship.
Cathedrals have been part of Christianity from the time of Constantine. Their design and architectural styles have varied from one historical era to another, but in one important respect they are alike: all cathedrals display a distinctive geometric regularity in their design. This quality reached a high point in the Gothic style, reflecting an effort to achieve a rational, harmonious and proportional result. Appreciating the role of geometry in their design is fundamental to understanding Gothic cathedrals.
The quest for geometric uniformity, when followed consistently, gives Gothic cathedrals their characteristic organic unity. Every part of the building is linked logically, harmoniously and proportionally to the whole. The design of a great church, then, reflects a desire to abide a series of precise, geometrically related components, each part deriving its definition from the building as a whole, each subpart deriving its measurements from the element to which it belongs. One practical result is that the components of the building are more or less identical repetitions of each other. If geometric regularity is a feature of all great churches, what distinguishes Gothic cathedrals from others? The key to this is the central defining element of the Gothic style - light. All of the features we associate with Gothic architecture - pointed arches, flying buttresses, ribbed vaults, soaring ceilings, stained glass windows, pinnacles and turrets - were developed in the service of the desire to flood the interior space with as much light as possible. The wall of Gothic cathedrals appear almost porous as light permeates the interior and merges with every aspect of it, as though no segment of inner space should be allowed to remain in darkness, undefined by light.
Flying buttresses, ribbed vaults and pointed arches all worked together to permit larger windows and to open up the interior spaces, allowing the increased light to penetrate the building more completely. Light generally requires height, and to get it, designers had to find ways to siphon off the weight of the roof and high vaults, other than onto interior walls, which had been opened up and "thinned out" by the extensive use of pointed arches.
The most important part of a Gothic cathedral is its interior space. Here the emphases on geometry and light fuse to create an image of God's house. Of course, the outside appearance of the building mattered, but the primary goal in building these cathedrals was the illumination of interior spaces. At this point one may wonder why geometry and light were so important in designing great churches. Is there a connection to ecclesiastical, theological and philosophical precepts of the time? In 1144 a ceremony was held to dedicate the newly completed Gothic choir of the Abbey Church of St. Denis. Otto von Simson writes that the renovated choir was an embodiment of the "mystical vision of harmony that divine reason has established throughout the cosmos". The choir was portrayed as a place where heaven touched earth, a space where the living could glimpse heaven. This description expresses the conception that have rise to the Gothic style of architecture. The Gothic cathedral was intended as a space where people could get a taste of heaven. But how could a space located on earth and created using ordinary materials become magically transformed into a heavenly enclave? The answer lies in the belief of medieval theologians that all visible objects contain within them the potential to reveal the divine - indeed, that through the contemplation of material objects, we can gain a direct experience of God. These were thus regarded as stepping stones to heaven. And the quality that unleashed their intrinsic potential for experiencing God was light.
In order to construct images of heaven out of ordinary materials, a designer must first picture what heaven is like. It is here that geometry comes into play. Augustine inferred that the defining quality of divine order is precise mathematical relationships. Given his belief that true beauty must be rooted in metaphysical reality, Augustine concluded that the fundamental quality of true beauty is what he termed "proper modulation". based on arithmetic ratios. Augustine's ideas about geometry were reflected in every aspect of medieval sacred design, probably because they were taught in the 12th century cathedral schools whose students became the bishops, abbots and master builders of the 12, 13 and 14th centuries. Augustine's philosophy of beauty became part of a powerful intellectual movement in France, especially among the group of eminent Platonists assembled at the Cathedral School of Chartres. They believed that geometry was means for linking human beings to God, that mathematics was a vehicle for revealing to humankind the innermost secrets of heaven.
The idea behind the importance of light in Gothic architecture is that as the most noble of natural phenomena, the least material, the closest approximation to pure form, light can mediate between what is bodiless and what is corporeal. It became essential in Gothic architecture because it was capable of revealing the divine reality that Gothic churches were meant to disclose. To serve their intended purpose, sanctuaries demanded that light penetrate every corner of the interior space. The quest to achieve greater openings to admit more light necessitated piercing the walls, which led to a concern with points of support, and this led builders to perfect the coordinated interplay between ribbed vaults, pointed arches, and flying buttresses that distinguished the Gothic style. In essence, new structures and forms were invented to solve problems created by theological purposes. At the same time, these new expanses of glass could be used for another purpose, namely, to adorn the interior or the newly created Heavenly Jerusalem.
In the medieval world, a sacred space demanded art - not just any art, but the most beautiful, exquisite and refined expressions of human artistic endeavour available. The very existence of art made it imperative to use it in decorating sacred spaces. People feared that a failure to use the best of human creativity might be interpreted by the divine as a slight, an indication of something less than full devotion. Therefore, medieval people felt compelled to draw on all of their artistic, engineering and craft-based creative impulses to create the finest space of which they were capable. Doing so allowed them to make manifest a highly personal expression of their piety and devotion, one that belonged to their community alone. To attract the divine to the cathedral, medieval designers aimed to demarcate the realms of the sacred and the secular, and show that the sacred would be protected from adulteration. The physical layout of the building clearly reflects this intent, beginning with massive walls that form the boundary separating the sacred from the profane. Entrance into the walled-off enclosure of sacred space is gained through the great doors of the enormous west front, often referred to as the "Gates of Heaven".
On entering a Gothic cathedral, however, a person does not confront the full essence of the sacred immediately. Instead, the cathedrals interior space is divided into zones of successively more concentrated sacredness from the westernmost to the easternmost end of the building. The transition from one zone to the next is always marked in some way, most commonly by one or more steps, which signal an increase in the degree of hallowedness. The part of the nave where one enters at the western end of the cathedral is customarily the lowest level of the main interior space. Typically, at the eastern end fo the nave, up one or more steps, a massive stone screen separates the nave from the eastern arm of the building. Called a "choir screen", it marks the western perimeter of the building's sacred core, which was enclosed by walls on the other three sides. The choir screen denotes a new zone of sacredness, denser in concentration than that found in the nave. Within this area is another set of steps marking off the high altar. The high altar is the most sacred of all spaces within a great church's inner sanctum, the place where the power and concentration of the sacred force are said to be most intense. For this reason, it is reserved for the holiest of sacred objects, such as the image of Christ affixed to the cross.
The movement of the Gothic enterprise began in the first half of the 12th century in the Greater Paris Basin. It continued for the next 400 years throughout Europe. This was clearly the greatest, most sustained ecclesiastical building campaign in the history of Christendom.
The earliest Gothic great church was the Abbey Church of St. Denis, located 7 miles north of Paris. The Greater Paris Basin proved fertile ground for Gothic cathedral-building for good reason. Unlike other regions in France such as Flanders, Burgundy and Champagne, where powerful counts supported the construction of monasteries and cathedrals, the civility of Paris had seen precious little church-building during the previous century because the general weakness and financial impoverishment of the monarchy. But once the monarchy began to gain strength, the absence of a recent regional style, combined with the fact that most abbeys and cathedrals in the Greater Paris Basin were old and in disrepair, created an opportunity for wholesale renewal of churches that could not have arisen elsewhere.
What propelled and sustained Gothic cathedrals was the realization by bishops, abbots, kings and others that the Gothic cathedral was a powerful theological and political symbol. Because a main aim of the Gothic style was to flood the interior with light, it was important to construct vaults, buttresses and arches that would allow them to open the side walls for windows.
Men who acquired power took a keen interest in developing new artistic styles that would identify them and distinguish them from those over whom they had triumphed. As new groups came to power, they tended to develop and embrace artistic styles of their own, including, most especially, distinctive styles of architecture. With the introduction and gradual spread of Christianity throughout the West, a class of specialists -priests- emerged who proclaimed themselves "masters of the sacred". Increasingly they challenged the hold of kings on this role and taught that the portion of the king's wealth reserved for sacrifice should be turned over to them, sot hat they could use it more appropriately to venerate God. In their minds, wealth was best spent for "the Glory of God" which, among other things, meant building grand basilicas appropriate for enacting their rounds of prayers and liturgical worship.
Cathedrals have been part of Christianity from the time of Constantine. Their design and architectural styles have varied from one historical era to another, but in one important respect they are alike: all cathedrals display a distinctive geometric regularity in their design. This quality reached a high point in the Gothic style, reflecting an effort to achieve a rational, harmonious and proportional result. Appreciating the role of geometry in their design is fundamental to understanding Gothic cathedrals.
The quest for geometric uniformity, when followed consistently, gives Gothic cathedrals their characteristic organic unity. Every part of the building is linked logically, harmoniously and proportionally to the whole. The design of a great church, then, reflects a desire to abide a series of precise, geometrically related components, each part deriving its definition from the building as a whole, each subpart deriving its measurements from the element to which it belongs. One practical result is that the components of the building are more or less identical repetitions of each other. If geometric regularity is a feature of all great churches, what distinguishes Gothic cathedrals from others? The key to this is the central defining element of the Gothic style - light. All of the features we associate with Gothic architecture - pointed arches, flying buttresses, ribbed vaults, soaring ceilings, stained glass windows, pinnacles and turrets - were developed in the service of the desire to flood the interior space with as much light as possible. The wall of Gothic cathedrals appear almost porous as light permeates the interior and merges with every aspect of it, as though no segment of inner space should be allowed to remain in darkness, undefined by light.
Flying buttresses, ribbed vaults and pointed arches all worked together to permit larger windows and to open up the interior spaces, allowing the increased light to penetrate the building more completely. Light generally requires height, and to get it, designers had to find ways to siphon off the weight of the roof and high vaults, other than onto interior walls, which had been opened up and "thinned out" by the extensive use of pointed arches.
The most important part of a Gothic cathedral is its interior space. Here the emphases on geometry and light fuse to create an image of God's house. Of course, the outside appearance of the building mattered, but the primary goal in building these cathedrals was the illumination of interior spaces. At this point one may wonder why geometry and light were so important in designing great churches. Is there a connection to ecclesiastical, theological and philosophical precepts of the time? In 1144 a ceremony was held to dedicate the newly completed Gothic choir of the Abbey Church of St. Denis. Otto von Simson writes that the renovated choir was an embodiment of the "mystical vision of harmony that divine reason has established throughout the cosmos". The choir was portrayed as a place where heaven touched earth, a space where the living could glimpse heaven. This description expresses the conception that have rise to the Gothic style of architecture. The Gothic cathedral was intended as a space where people could get a taste of heaven. But how could a space located on earth and created using ordinary materials become magically transformed into a heavenly enclave? The answer lies in the belief of medieval theologians that all visible objects contain within them the potential to reveal the divine - indeed, that through the contemplation of material objects, we can gain a direct experience of God. These were thus regarded as stepping stones to heaven. And the quality that unleashed their intrinsic potential for experiencing God was light.
In order to construct images of heaven out of ordinary materials, a designer must first picture what heaven is like. It is here that geometry comes into play. Augustine inferred that the defining quality of divine order is precise mathematical relationships. Given his belief that true beauty must be rooted in metaphysical reality, Augustine concluded that the fundamental quality of true beauty is what he termed "proper modulation". based on arithmetic ratios. Augustine's ideas about geometry were reflected in every aspect of medieval sacred design, probably because they were taught in the 12th century cathedral schools whose students became the bishops, abbots and master builders of the 12, 13 and 14th centuries. Augustine's philosophy of beauty became part of a powerful intellectual movement in France, especially among the group of eminent Platonists assembled at the Cathedral School of Chartres. They believed that geometry was means for linking human beings to God, that mathematics was a vehicle for revealing to humankind the innermost secrets of heaven.
The idea behind the importance of light in Gothic architecture is that as the most noble of natural phenomena, the least material, the closest approximation to pure form, light can mediate between what is bodiless and what is corporeal. It became essential in Gothic architecture because it was capable of revealing the divine reality that Gothic churches were meant to disclose. To serve their intended purpose, sanctuaries demanded that light penetrate every corner of the interior space. The quest to achieve greater openings to admit more light necessitated piercing the walls, which led to a concern with points of support, and this led builders to perfect the coordinated interplay between ribbed vaults, pointed arches, and flying buttresses that distinguished the Gothic style. In essence, new structures and forms were invented to solve problems created by theological purposes. At the same time, these new expanses of glass could be used for another purpose, namely, to adorn the interior or the newly created Heavenly Jerusalem.
In the medieval world, a sacred space demanded art - not just any art, but the most beautiful, exquisite and refined expressions of human artistic endeavour available. The very existence of art made it imperative to use it in decorating sacred spaces. People feared that a failure to use the best of human creativity might be interpreted by the divine as a slight, an indication of something less than full devotion. Therefore, medieval people felt compelled to draw on all of their artistic, engineering and craft-based creative impulses to create the finest space of which they were capable. Doing so allowed them to make manifest a highly personal expression of their piety and devotion, one that belonged to their community alone. To attract the divine to the cathedral, medieval designers aimed to demarcate the realms of the sacred and the secular, and show that the sacred would be protected from adulteration. The physical layout of the building clearly reflects this intent, beginning with massive walls that form the boundary separating the sacred from the profane. Entrance into the walled-off enclosure of sacred space is gained through the great doors of the enormous west front, often referred to as the "Gates of Heaven".
On entering a Gothic cathedral, however, a person does not confront the full essence of the sacred immediately. Instead, the cathedrals interior space is divided into zones of successively more concentrated sacredness from the westernmost to the easternmost end of the building. The transition from one zone to the next is always marked in some way, most commonly by one or more steps, which signal an increase in the degree of hallowedness. The part of the nave where one enters at the western end of the cathedral is customarily the lowest level of the main interior space. Typically, at the eastern end fo the nave, up one or more steps, a massive stone screen separates the nave from the eastern arm of the building. Called a "choir screen", it marks the western perimeter of the building's sacred core, which was enclosed by walls on the other three sides. The choir screen denotes a new zone of sacredness, denser in concentration than that found in the nave. Within this area is another set of steps marking off the high altar. The high altar is the most sacred of all spaces within a great church's inner sanctum, the place where the power and concentration of the sacred force are said to be most intense. For this reason, it is reserved for the holiest of sacred objects, such as the image of Christ affixed to the cross.
March 21, 2020
All in all, an enjoyable, breezy read. The first half-dozen chapters are probably the best of the bunch. Scott approaches cathedrals with a layman's curiosity: how were they built? Why were they built? He does a good job of answering these questions in tangible ways while also sketching out the broader cultural and historical forces that came together to create the Gothic movement. The latter half of the book veers a bit too much into Scott's anthropological background; the writing bogs down as he explores the minutae of medieval society. Still, this is a very accessible book that will deepen your appreciation for Gothic cathedrals and the unique cultural and historical moment in which they were built.
January 12, 2013
This is not at all a gripping or poetic book, but it is quite accessible, and I think I understand the how and why of cathedrals much better having read it. Some helpful diagrams were included, but the black and white pictures did sad injustice to the majesty of the Gothic enterprise.
Scott addresses the philosophical, social, religious, economic, and scientific backdrop to cathedrals and the tremendous project of making them. He self-consciously analyzes cathedrals from both a theological (what do they symbolize? what do they mean?) and a "pragmatic" (how were they built? how were they paid for?) point of view. A typical postmodern scholar, he tries too hard to be detached and objective--as if a cathedral's mystical ability to communicate the cosmos, inspire our worship, and preview heaven was merely interesting historical data.
I did love chapter 8 ("An Image of Heaven") and 11 ("Imagining the Cathedral"). In ch. 8, Scott explains that the cathedral was meant to be an "embodiment of the mystical vision of harmony that divine reason has established throughout the cosmos." In other words, a cathedral is an image of the universe as perfectly conceived as possible. Scott helpfully explains the medieval understanding of "image": an imitation, a "literal copying of a natural form." The medievals believed that all materials contained pointers to God, and a well-carved bit of stone or wood would reveal something about the divine. Cathedrals are essentially scholasticism in stone: a framework in which everything true about God and His world could be beautifully expressed and related. "Cathedrals are applied theology."
Scott's digression in ch. 11 into the relationship between imagination and memory in the medieval mind was delightful. In a culture where paper was scarce and illiteracy plentiful, memory was everything, and elaborate imaginary architectural structures were constructed mentally as mnemonics. Cathedrals are those imaginary mnemonics come to life. I think I was gripped by this section mostly because I have been contemplating the nature and role of "memory work" in a classical school. (If only we viewed and practiced memory like the medievals!)
One last thought: this is a good book to help you understand cathedrals if you already know and love them, but don't read this book before spending some hours wandering in awe beneath the soaring arches and spires of a few real cathedrals.
Scott addresses the philosophical, social, religious, economic, and scientific backdrop to cathedrals and the tremendous project of making them. He self-consciously analyzes cathedrals from both a theological (what do they symbolize? what do they mean?) and a "pragmatic" (how were they built? how were they paid for?) point of view. A typical postmodern scholar, he tries too hard to be detached and objective--as if a cathedral's mystical ability to communicate the cosmos, inspire our worship, and preview heaven was merely interesting historical data.
I did love chapter 8 ("An Image of Heaven") and 11 ("Imagining the Cathedral"). In ch. 8, Scott explains that the cathedral was meant to be an "embodiment of the mystical vision of harmony that divine reason has established throughout the cosmos." In other words, a cathedral is an image of the universe as perfectly conceived as possible. Scott helpfully explains the medieval understanding of "image": an imitation, a "literal copying of a natural form." The medievals believed that all materials contained pointers to God, and a well-carved bit of stone or wood would reveal something about the divine. Cathedrals are essentially scholasticism in stone: a framework in which everything true about God and His world could be beautifully expressed and related. "Cathedrals are applied theology."
Scott's digression in ch. 11 into the relationship between imagination and memory in the medieval mind was delightful. In a culture where paper was scarce and illiteracy plentiful, memory was everything, and elaborate imaginary architectural structures were constructed mentally as mnemonics. Cathedrals are those imaginary mnemonics come to life. I think I was gripped by this section mostly because I have been contemplating the nature and role of "memory work" in a classical school. (If only we viewed and practiced memory like the medievals!)
One last thought: this is a good book to help you understand cathedrals if you already know and love them, but don't read this book before spending some hours wandering in awe beneath the soaring arches and spires of a few real cathedrals.
December 29, 2015
The Gothic Enterprise is the unfortunate result you end up with if you have a sociologist write a book about architectural history. Robert Scott decided, apparently as the result of his love of visiting gothic cathedrals on vacation, to write a book on the subject. Every aspect of it. In 250 pages including numerous illustrations. The Gothic Enterprise touches on everything from the role of a cathedral in a community’s economy to the evolution of decorative schemes to discussions of the engineering involved in ensuring your cathedral didn’t collapse before finished. Some parts are interesting, and provide a very different perspective than a standard architectural history piece on the subject. Other sections are either overly simplistic or at tangential (like his long tangent about relics and sainthood that then wanders further off track to death in medieval society). However, underlining all of this is the fact that Robert Scott doesn’t really know his subject matter. On several occasions, he offhandedly makes a blanket statement going against about some basic aspect of architectural history, and when you follow the footnotes, they point to a single, not widely accepted, source. I guess he simply read a selection of books and went with what he found, but this is academically lazy to say the least. When looking at the footnotes, it seems long parts of chapters are simply summarizing one or two longer texts. Moreover, when you examine the cathedrals discussed, it becomes apparent he really only looked at a few cathedrals in small geographic areas, and as a result, he’s not really talking about the gothic as a whole, but about Salisbury Cathedral (his favorite) and a limited area in France. Again, if that was what he was going to do, he should actually say so. I only noticed because partway through I started jotting down cathedrals he spent time discussing and looking them up, after I was surprised at which ones weren’t being mentioned. In one case, he’s discussing the sweeping trends in gothic architecture using two cathedrals a few miles apart as proof. Finally, he goes off track and starts discussing Stonehenge and somehow trying to make that a proto-gothic cathedral at the end, which is where he lost me. If you’re knowledgeable on the subject, this provides some interesting perspectives, but you’ll soon find yourself cringing at his uneven discussion and omissions.
March 29, 2011
My husband and I enjoy visiting Gothic cathedrals whenever we take a trip to Europe. The very first, and one of the oldest, cathedrals that we experienced was in Salisbury, England. I'll never forget the sense of awe that emanated from the magnificent structure, stemming from its age, its architecture and design, and its size. Since that first sojourn, we've never failed to recapture those feelings in any of the cathedrals we've seen in England, France, or Italy. It's evident that Robert A. Scott has experienced the same emotions, and in The Gothic Enterprise, he pours his enthusiasm into describing the social phenomena that lead to the construction of these wonderful places.
The first section of the book explores the whos, whats and hows, with respect to the planners and builders, materials and methods, and settings. Because completion of such colossal buildings could take a century or more, all of these factors were subject to change as the project progressed. Scott then moves onto the history, studying the social, philosophical, religious, and intellectual underpinnings. Of particular interest is the discussion of monasteries, and the role that the abbots and brothers played in fostering the impulse toward the grandeur of the enterprise. The third sections focuses upon architectural elements, moving beyond the stones themselves to use of light as a metaphor for God. Next, the uses that clergy and the populous made of their cathedrals are explored, with information about liturgy, finances, relics, and the power of the dead in the minds of the living. Finally, those who made up the community that surrounded cathedral centers are described, in terms of living conditions, social strata, collective identity, and the interdependence of church, government, and laity.
The Gothic Enterprise is a valuable addition to the book shelves of anyone who appreciates these wonderful cathedrals.
The first section of the book explores the whos, whats and hows, with respect to the planners and builders, materials and methods, and settings. Because completion of such colossal buildings could take a century or more, all of these factors were subject to change as the project progressed. Scott then moves onto the history, studying the social, philosophical, religious, and intellectual underpinnings. Of particular interest is the discussion of monasteries, and the role that the abbots and brothers played in fostering the impulse toward the grandeur of the enterprise. The third sections focuses upon architectural elements, moving beyond the stones themselves to use of light as a metaphor for God. Next, the uses that clergy and the populous made of their cathedrals are explored, with information about liturgy, finances, relics, and the power of the dead in the minds of the living. Finally, those who made up the community that surrounded cathedral centers are described, in terms of living conditions, social strata, collective identity, and the interdependence of church, government, and laity.
The Gothic Enterprise is a valuable addition to the book shelves of anyone who appreciates these wonderful cathedrals.
November 24, 2022
The book details a myriad of attributes during the Gothic Enterprise, but one of Scott’s major teachings is the major role of human determination within not just the groundwork of Gothic cathedrals, but history as a whole. From climatic disasters to hours of daylight, a multitude of issues were prevalent during the enterprise, forcing mankind to persevere throughout. The text outwardly examines numerous projects at the beginning and during the Gothic Enterprise but also teaches the importance of religion, perseverance, and patience in medieval societies, painting a neat framework for how civilizations came together then, and what inspired the cathedrals known and cherished by societies today. The book is a bit slow but has a number of likable qualities as it presents a detailed account of the 12th-16th centuries in a way that is both informative and easy to understand. Scott pieces different facets of history to get his main point across, which makes itself apparent in the final chapters, when Scott compares the enterprise to other projects, like Stonehenge. Some portions of the book ran longer than others, such as Scott’s own experience within the cathedrals, which may have distracted from the crux of the text. Regardless, The Gothic Enterprise is informative, well-organized, and a meaningful interpretation of one of the most influential time periods in European history
July 7, 2013
I have mixed feelings about this book (and I actually enjoy talking more about those types of books.)
So, positively I really enjoyed some exposure to the medieval subtlety and drive that produced the cathedrals as well as displayed their stunning beauty. Repressed peasants humbug! I also liked the historical balance of theory and actuality--sort of thing some people wouldn't do bad to read for a history class.
On the other hand, a lot of technical stuff that I really could care less about and, more problematically, the author is not a Christian. As my teacher said, wouldn't it be interesting if sociologists wrote about sociologists and how they turn everything into nothing?
So, positively I really enjoyed some exposure to the medieval subtlety and drive that produced the cathedrals as well as displayed their stunning beauty. Repressed peasants humbug! I also liked the historical balance of theory and actuality--sort of thing some people wouldn't do bad to read for a history class.
On the other hand, a lot of technical stuff that I really could care less about and, more problematically, the author is not a Christian. As my teacher said, wouldn't it be interesting if sociologists wrote about sociologists and how they turn everything into nothing?
April 19, 2010
Hmmm. I have rather mixed feelings about this one. Perhaps this book is a fine example of what happens when sociologists try to write about something outside their field. Though the first few chapters contain many facts about medieval cathedral building, most of the book is social commentary and interpretation. Overall: interesting and thought-provoking, but his obvious lack of knowledge concerning the medieval church tarnishes his perspective. Read Erwin Panofsky's "Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism" instead.
April 4, 2013
The kind of book that you finish and then promptly wish you could have your time back. Basically a history of cathedrals written by a secularist through a psychology of religion lens. Scott set out to explain the “hows” and “whys” of cathedral building, and he did so with a very unsympathetic view of medievals. The “hows” were interesting, but the “whys” were incomplete and rang hollow. Still some good material here, and a partial antidote to cathedral fan-boyism.
February 20, 2025
At times the book is pompous, superflous, inarticulate and a pain to read. Other times informative, inspirational, and enjoyable. In the end, the author needs a better editor.
The discussion in Chapter 7 is a mismash and does not address the physical attributes of the time, such as being able to hear and see the speaker. Rather a clumsey seach for a golden rule about building height and length of the nave.
I concluded that the author did not have a firm grasp on the subject, but did understand that his travel could well be tax deductible.
The discussion in Chapter 7 is a mismash and does not address the physical attributes of the time, such as being able to hear and see the speaker. Rather a clumsey seach for a golden rule about building height and length of the nave.
I concluded that the author did not have a firm grasp on the subject, but did understand that his travel could well be tax deductible.
September 13, 2019
Superb, exciting exploration of the material and social interactions that turned cathedral building into a craze that swept across the cities of Europe. Much more compelling view of the social phenomenon that such prolonged and expensive enterprises require than is typically found by aesthetic, historical or cultural analyses alone. Anyone who loves cathedrals will love this refreshing and very readable book.
September 29, 2022
Why is there a chapter about Stonehenge but not a chapter about, I don’t know, the different eras of the gothic? Or perhaps regional variations in the style? Or like, what the different parts of the cathedral are (define tympanum please)? Or the common sculptural programs and stained glass iconography? Hello? Hello???
Also, Robert Scott admit that medieval clergy and aristocracy actually believed things and didn’t just do things because of POWER challenge.
Also, Robert Scott admit that medieval clergy and aristocracy actually believed things and didn’t just do things because of POWER challenge.
November 25, 2019
An exploration of the why behind Gothic cathedrals. Scott posits that Cathedrals reflected the desire of the communities to be closer to God and the Saints, the only guardians of the community. The more glorious the cathedral, the more Saints and God would be pleased and protect the community.
Nice followup to my tour of the Cathedrals of England.
Nice followup to my tour of the Cathedrals of England.
August 31, 2019
This book is a good introduction to the symbolic role that cathedrals played in medieval culture and society. A good description of how their construction and their cult were central pieces in what we may called “the medieval mind”. A very readable book for non specialists.
January 29, 2025
SUCH a fascinating read, not only about the architecture and main elements that make up a Gothic church/cathedral, but the historical and sociological elements that go into building such an impressive structure. Totally a niche book, but since I'm in the niche it was fantastic.
December 2, 2019
This is 3.5 stars.
Read
February 11, 2020Read for ARH 234: The Age of the Cathedrals
June 24, 2022
Solid introduction to Gothic architecture. At times it seemed repetitive, but that may have been because I read it out of order.
May 4, 2024
been researching gothic & archaeic art and buildings recently - this book talked alot about the sacredness & reasoning behind certain cathedrals - and the history of communities building them
September 14, 2024
Very, very good! After touring in Europe this read really helped to reframe my experiences and give clarity to what we saw. The book is dense, comprehensive, and yet easy to read.
March 24, 2025
Interesting sociological approach to archaeology but not the type of book that is hard to put down.
May 28, 2008
An excellent, readable and compelling overview of the incredible idea and task of building cathedrals in a time when lives were short, disease was rampant and resources were scarce. As a sociolologist, the author brings a unique insight into the genesis of these monumental structures, whereas a typical architectural overview would have likely completely missed the point--how and why did humans, and human society, come to spend such an immense amount of effort building such works?
January 16, 2013
It was amazing to find all of this information about building the great gothic cathedrals all in one remarkable source. I expected descriptions of a few cathedrals, but no! The author explores a comprehensive slate of social, economic, political, scientific and religious trends that came together during this period. I didn't give it 5-stars because it is actually a bit overwhelming at times. Nonetheless, a stunning achievement.
March 30, 2013
Fascinating ideas about Gothic churches and medieval thought (the parts about scholastic influences and mnemonics were fascinating), but Scott is not a church historian, an architect, or an architectural historian--he's a sociologist. So the book is just as much about the medievals as it is about their creations, and Scott has some outmoded ideas about the medievals. But a great read, nonetheless.
October 10, 2014
An entertaining and accessible book on the building of the medieval cathedrals. I picked it up primarily because it had jacket reveiw blurb by Ken Follet. Gained a greater appreciation of cathedrals after hearing realizing how much time and resources medieval society poured into them. I liked the author's personal story of how he, a sociologist, became interested in the architecture of cathedrals.
September 4, 2009
Extremely well document book on the history of the medieval cathedraland the times. Good history of Erupe in this period and good architectural information.
June 4, 2010
Very engaging read on why the Gothic cathedrals were built. Even the proportions of the book are like a cathedral: it's tall and thin.
March 27, 2014
A survey style overview of how and why Gothic Cathedrals were built, an enjoyable read.
February 16, 2014
It was fantastic! I am so interested in Gothic architecture and this took a much-needed holistic approach to the time and gothic enterprise. It is much more than just a book about cathedrals.
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