CATHEDRAL PBS VIDEO – WORKSHEET
Name:_______________________________
These questions go more or less in order of the excerpts from the video. We are
not going to watch the whole video, just parts of it.
1. What makes Gothic cathedrals different than Roman & Greek temples?
2. What was the most important force in daily life, according to most Middle Age
society?
3. Why was a cathedral an important center of life in Gothic towns and cities?
<skip section about $ for cathedral>
4. Why was the nave twice as high as before, and what did the walls contain?
5. Describe how Abbot Suget used color and light in his new cathedral design.
6. What functions—aesthetic/design and practical--- did Flying Buttresses
serve? Sketch a flying buttress here.
7. How did flying buttresses evolve beyond the cathedral at Chartres? How did
that affect their appearance? Their cost?
8. What tragedy happened with a medieval cathedral in 1284?
9. What role do pinnacles serve?
10. How did the Gothic cathedral Notre Dame (Paris) symbolize the role of
Paris? Their religious beliefs?
<skip Bishop drama in video>
11. How did relics foster trade & prosperity?
12. We learned about relics in another culture… who built 8 temples with relics
of the body of a famous religious leader??? (HINT: ANCIENT ASIA)
13. How did citizens of France react against heavy construction taxes?
14. What were Gargoyles for?
15. Sketch a Gothic vault and a bay. Label the parts.
16. How and why were Gothic churches decorated?
17. Look up the Sydney Opera House. How does its architecture relate to the
innovations of Gothic churches?