Cathedrals

From Medieval Wiki

By Ella Andrew

This is a drawing of Canterbury Cathedral. Source: An Ella Original

Medieval Cathedrals

A cathedral is a Christian church that holds the seat of a bishop. A bishop is a high-ranking Christian cleric that is usually in charge of a diocese.In medieval times cathedrals were very incredible, with their remarkable details and Architecture. There are 4 main style groups that certain cathedrals fit into. They are: Byzatine, Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance. Another interesting fact of all cathedrals of the medieval time was that all people donated whatever they had, to their "neighborhood" cathedral. Wealthy donated lots of money, middle class brought themselves-skilled artisans- and the peasants gave unskilled labor.

English Cathedrals

This is the stunning Canterbury Cathedral

In England cathedrals were very important, they showed wealth. They played a huge part in everyone's daily life.England got the money to build these amazing structures from the funds Roman Catholic Church. These huge churches were mostly in the major cities: Canterbury, York, Lincoln, Worcester, and Chichester. These and well-known structures are amazing, but were still used with basic tools like chisels and hammers made by blacksmiths. The workers had to build in horrible conditions, that would mortify our health laws today. To build a cathedral it would take 50 apprentices and 250 laborers. All citizens had to pay taxes on the cathedrals, which at the time was 10% of what people make in a year.

An example of an English cathedral is Canterbury Cathedral. This amazing Romanesque monument played a role in the spread of Christianity. This Cathedral started in 597 when Saint Augustine baptized the Saxon King Ethelbert.In 602 it was dedicated to Christ the Savior. This cathedral also housed the Archbishop of Canterbury who was a huge religious figure. The cathedral was built by Lanfranc with a huge 235 ft. tower named Bell Harry tower, which was known as one of the greatest medieval victories-(done for the glory of god). This cathedral was burnt down and "hurt" in so many ways. In 1011, the Danes (like many other places in England) burnt down the cathedral and the city of Canterbury. The Dane also held the archbishop of the time Alphege and beat him to death because they didn't get a ransom. Later the church was put to fire in 1067 too. Another horrible historic happening was the murder of St. Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop.

French Cathedrals

"All over France, in every city there stand cathedrals like this one, triumphant monuments of the past."- Sonya Levien France is the most well known for their stunning cathedrals. They were known for having great stained glass pieces and sculptures, which told the story of famous bible images."...the origin of the stained glass window, with which Gothic cathedrals are adorned, in the colors of the western sky..."- Ralph Waldo Emmerson One of the most famous cathedrals was Notre Dame, in Paris. At first Notre Dame was just an "amazing church" in 597. Later in 1163, during the reign of Louis 7th they started construction of the cathedral. Like most cathedrals, the construction took over 100 years to complete. From 1163-1345 Notre Dame was being built. Notre Dame was French Gothic and had many beautiful stained glass pieces.

Another amazing French cathedral was Chartes Cathedral. This cathedral had an unlucky past. It burnt down twice even with a tunic blessed by Saint Mary and given to the cathedral by Charlamange. The first time this land mark burnt down was in 1020. The second time was in 1194, and was rebuilt in 1220. Another time the city was in flames but missed the cathedral in 1134. Later in 1260, the cathedral was dedicated to King Louis 9th and his family.

Italian Cathedrals

Italian cathedrals are stuffed full of breath-taking Art. One famous cathedral in Italy was the Cathedral of Pisa. Pisa was in a Romanesque style that was very popular among the Italians. This cathedral was started in 1093 with the architect Buschetto. It is made of beautiful white marble. Unlike `cathedrals in other countries Italian ones had many art pieces inside. Another famous grand Italian cathedral in Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore. Translated it means Saint Mary of the Flower, referring to the symbol of Florence-a lily. This cathedral is known as the Duomo. If you look at pictures, this cathedral has a very distinctive octagonal dome. It is the only one in history with out wood beams for support! Like it looks it was very complicated-It took over 200 years to complete! This cathedral was originally designed by Arnolfo di Cambio (who died in 1302). They started construction in 1296 and finished the nave in 1380. Still the dome wasn't completed, so they started work on it in 1420, and the cathedral was finally finished in 1436. Later that year on March 25, 1436 The first Pope (named Eugenius the 4th) was consecrated in the new cathedral.