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.
Author(s): Robert A. Scott
Edition: 1
Publisher: University of California Press
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 308
Acknowledgments......Page 10
Introduction: A Personal Journey......Page 16
part one: a grand undertaking......Page 24
1. What Is the Gothic Enterprise?......Page 26
2. How Were the Cathedrals Built?......Page 32
part two: history......Page 60
3. Kings, Feudal Lords, and Great Monasteries......Page 62
4. The Age of Cathedral-Building......Page 80
5. The Initial Vision......Page 91
6. “The Cathedral Crusade”......Page 106
part three: the gothic look......Page 116
7. What Is the Gothic Look?......Page 118
8. An Image of Heaven......Page 136
9. A Pragmatic View of Cathedral-Building......Page 149
part four: the religious experience......Page 160
10. Sacred Force and Sacred Space......Page 162
11. Imagining the Cathedral......Page 186
12. Honoring the Dead......Page 198
part five: the gothic community......Page 224
13. Medieval Living Conditions......Page 226
14. The Spiritual Brokers— Priests and Monarchs......Page 234
15. Cathedrals and Community......Page 248
Conclusion: Learning from Stonehenge......Page 252
Appendix. Terminology......Page 266
Notes......Page 270
Bibliography......Page 284
Illustrations and Credits......Page 294
Index......Page 298
