"This study enables us to appreciate more fully the technical expertise and improvements which enabled the creative spirit of the day to find such splendid embodiment". -- James Lingwood, Oxford Art Journal Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Gothic cathedrals are monuments to God, witnesses to the historic power of the Church, and symbols of the faith of the thousands of believers who contributed to their creation. They are also astonishing feats of construction and engineering, from a period before steel-making, machine tools and computer simulation; breathtaking in their scale and grandeur even hundreds of years after the religious impulse that produced them has largely faded away.How to Build a Cathedral is a visual exploration of the building of these masterpieces, from the initial groundplan to the topping out of the spire. Illustrated throughout with beautiful engravings, it looks at each element of the structure in turn, explaining the process of construction and the methods that were used. At intervals though the book, special gatefold pages offer a detailed snapshot of the evolution of the building as it rises into the heavens. A 16-page colour section allows for appreciation of stained glass and decorative stonework. With text written by a leading architectural historian, How to Build a Cathedral is an illuminating portrait of the genius of the medieval architect.

Cross the threshold into the world of the High Middle Ages and explore the illuminating wisdom, beauty and art of the Gothic cathedrals, stunning wonders of the medieval era for all to see today. From bejewelled stained glass windows to a pilgrimage “on the road” to Compostela, the wonders of Gothic architecture continue to inspire many worldwide. From the 12th century, the Gothic architectural style continued to spread throughout Europe. Highly-regarded medievalist Dr. Karen Ralls explores the legacy of this exquisite architectural period, whose artistic beauty and expert craftsmanship have served for centuries to inspire feelings of spiritual reverence and aesthetic wonder. She details the relationship between architecture, geometry, and music; explores the concept of the labyrinth; pilgrimage; Black Madonnas; astronomical calculations in the design and location of cathedrals; stone and wood carvings; gargoyles; the teachings of Pythagoras and the later Neo-Platonists, and more. For the general reader and specialist alike, Dr. Ralls guides the reader through the history, places, art, and symbolism of these unique "books in stone", providing a lively portal and solid resource for all. Lavishly illustrated with color photographs, a recommended reading section, lists of the major European cathedral sites and a full Bibliography, Gothic Cathedrals is a fascinating showcase of the mystic and spiritual symbolism found in these great structures of Europe, information that will help modern readers visit these sites and share in the energy of the sacred they continue to radiate.

Otto von Simson undertakes an interpretation of the Gothic cathedral as an image of supernatural reality. ... The author explores the influence of the religious experience on the style as well as the technique and practice of medieval art. -- Book jacket.

This magisterial study of Gothic architecture traces the meaning and development of the Gothic style through medieval churches across Europe. Ranging geographically from Poland to Portugal and from Sicily to Scotland and chronologically from 1093 to 1530, the book analyzes changes from Romanesque to Gothic as well as the evolution within the Gothic style and places these changes in the context of the creative spirit of the Middle Ages. In its breadth of outlook, its command of detail, and its theoretical enterprise, Frankl's book has few equals in the ambitious Pelican History of Art series. It is single-minded in its pursuit of the general principles that informed all aspects of Gothic architecture and its culture. In this edition Paul Crossley has revised the original text to take into account the proliferation of recent literature--books, reviews, exhibition catalogues, and periodicals--that have emerged in a variety of languages. New illustrations have also been included.

This volume is a study of the people who commissioned, designed, and built the great cathedrals of Europe, from the eleventh through the sixteenth centuries. Historian Francois Icher has written a lively, detailed account of the process by which these masterpieces of world architecture came to be - from their commissioning by a bishop or wealthy patron, to the hiring of an architect and mastercraftsmen, to the daily labor on the construction site. Supplementing the author's highly readable narrative are many stories and anecdotes about particular cathedrals and their construction; an appendix of archival documents that furnish additional details about the construction process at various sites; and a bibliography.

The description for this book, The Gothic Cathedral: Origins of Gothic Architecture and the Medieval Concept of Order, will be forthcoming.

Gothic architecture is the most visible and striking product of medieval European civilization. Jean Bony, whose reputation as a medievalist is worldwide, presents its development as an adventure of the imagination allied with radical technical advances—the result of a continuining quest for new ways of handling space and light as well as experimenting with the mechanics of stone construction. He shows how the new architecture came unexpectedly to be invented in the Paris region around 1140 and follows its history—in the great cathedrals of northern France and dozens of other key buildings—to the end of the thirteenth century, when profound changes occurred in the whole fabric of medieval civilization. Rich illustrations, including comprehensive maps, enhance the text and themselves constitute an exceptionally valuable documenation. Despite its evident scholarly intention, this book is not meant for specialists alone, but is conceived as a progressive infiltration into the complexities of history at work, revealing its unpredictable vitality to the uninitiated curious mind.

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.