Medieval Cathedrals
Medieval cathedrals dominated the skyline of Medieval
England. Cathedrals were far larger than castles - symbolic of
their huge importance to medieval society where religion
dominated the lives of all - be they rich or peasants.
As the photo above of Canterbury Cathedral shows, cathedrals were huge buildings - they were
major long term building projects and their cost was huge.
Medieval Cathedrals were the most obvious sign of the wealth of the church in Medieval England.
Huge cathedrals were found principally at Canterbury and York, and in major cities such as
Lincoln, Worcester, and Chichester. The cost of these buildings was vast – but the money to pay
for these huge buildings came from the people via the many payments
they had to make to the Roman Catholic Church.
How were such huge buildings built? Medieval workers worked with the
most basic of tools and in conditions that modern day health and safety
laws would forbid. But for all this, the most common driving force was to
build a magnificent building for the greater glory of God.
The most obvious starting point was for an architect to be found who
would design a cathedral. An architect would also know who were the
best master craftsmen to employ – and many highly skilled men were
needed.
A master quarryman
A master sculptor
A master mason
A master blacksmith
A master glass maker
A master stone cutter
A master mortar maker
A master carpenter
A master roofer
Each master of his own trade ran a workshop for his own particular trade – so a master mason
would employ a number of masons who were trusted enough to be considered competent to work
on a cathedral as they, themselves, worked towards becoming a master. These were skilled men
and they would not do any laboring – unskilled laborers who lived near to where a cathedral was
being built would do this. Many of the skilled workers relied on other trades to keep them at work.
A master blacksmith made all the metal tools required while skilled carpenters made the wooden
handles for these tools. The number of tools required for such a task as building a cathedral was
remarkably small:
Pickaxe and axe
Hammer
Chisel
Saw
Plane
Brace and Bit
Sledge hammer
Auger
Mathematical dividers
Squares and templates
A chapter was the body that governed how much money could be spent on what. It was the
chapter that would decide on the final design of the cathedral – and it was the chapter that would
instruct the architect on just what they wanted.
Once a plan had been decided, the basic work of building a cathedral’s foundations started. At
Canterbury Cathedral, recent renovation work showed
that the famous cathedral was built over the original
cathedral at Canterbury – i.e. the old cathedral
became part of the foundations of the new one. It was
common for foundations to go as deep as twenty-five
feet underground. The building of the foundations was
a skill in itself as any errors could lead to weaknesses
in the walls above ground – especially when the roof
was added.
While foundations were being laid, skilled craftsmen
worked in quarries and produced blocks of stone that
would be used in the building process. It would not be
unusual for as many as fifty advanced skilled apprentices to work in a quarry along with 250
laborers. They would be supervised by a master quarryman. A master mason would have
provided the master quarryman with templates for the shapes required from the cut quarry stone.
Each stone would be marked to show where it would go once the building started.
Quick-Write #13: Briefly describe the process of building a Medieval Cathedral, and explain
whether or not you (as a serf) would be willing to work on one.