{"product_id":"the-gothic-enterprise-a-guide-to-understanding-the-medieval-cathedral","title":"The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 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 travelers 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.  Scotts 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 wouldnt 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44985856360501,"sku":"ByrdShop_0520231775","price":27.86,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780520231771.jpg?v=1770874271","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-gothic-enterprise-a-guide-to-understanding-the-medieval-cathedral","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}