medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Robert A. Scott's "The Gothic Enterprise, A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral" (2003), though not written by a trained medievalist, is well researched, makes some sound judgments, I think, and deals directly with some of the questions you raise.
Best,
John
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John Shinners
Professor of Humanistic Studies
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
Phone: 574-284-4494 or 574-284-4534
Fax: 284-4855
www.saintmarys.edu/~hust
"Learn everything. Afterwards you will see that nothing is superfluous." -- Hugh of St. Victor (d. 1141)
----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Cartwright <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:26:37 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [M-R] How did medieval churches function?
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Colleagues,
Every year I teach a survey course on the history of western humanities, from the ancient world through the Middles Ages--sort of Western Civ without the politics, economics, etc. I get to spend three precious weeks on medieval arts, ideas, and culture. This includes discussing medieval church architecture, particularly church architecture. For years I've been discussing the differences between Romanesque and Gothic, and showing pictures of the various styles, the stained glass, the sculptures, etc., and putting them into the context of the allegorical world view of medieval Europeans. But I've always felt something has been missing, namely, just how all the bits and pieces of a medieval church--the sculptural program, the stained glass program, the layout, the sacred geometry, etc., all fit together into an ultimate combination of form and function.
What I want to discuss with my students is just how a medieval church building "functioned," or worked, namely, when a medieval churchgoer or pilgrim entered a church and saw the whole thing, what did s/he think? How did the building *as an integrated whole* function to teach or inspire a worshipper? I'm going for the Gestalt here. I already discuss such things as the "mysticism of light," the church building as a microcosm of the universe, an allegory of salvation, and a foretaste of heaven. I want to discuss more fully how that entire, complex form functioned, how it all affected the medieval churchgoer.
Thanks for any suggestions you might have about this!
Steve Cartwright
Western Michigan University
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