Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction: "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macauley

For these blessings and to help insure that He would continue to favor them, the city of Chutreaux wished to thank God. The people began to dream of building Him a new cathedral.

A new cathedral would offer a worthy resting place for the sacred remains of Saint Germain, a knight of the First Crusade whose skull and forefinger had later been sent back from Constantinople by Louis IX. Such relics as these were worshipped by people throughout Europe.

A new cathedral would offer a worthy resting place for the sacred remains of Saint Germain, a knight of the First Crusade whose skull and forefinger had later been sent back from Constantinople by Louis IX. Such relics as these were worshipped by people throughout Europe.

So he was summoned by the chapter to design and supervise the construction of the new cathedral, and to hire the master craftsmen who would work under him.

The craftsmen were the master quarryman, the master stone cutter, the master sculptor, the master mortar maker, the master mason, the master carpenter, the master blacksmith, the master roofer, and the master glass maker.

The craftsmen were the master quarryman, the master stone cutter, the master sculptor, the master mortar maker, the master mason, the master carpenter, the master blacksmith, the master roofer, and the master glass maker.

Each master craftsman ran a workshop for his own particular trade. He had many apprentices or assistants who were learning the trade in hopes of one day becoming masters themselves.

Once the design had been approved, the master carpenter and his apprentices, along with one hundred and fifty laborers, were sent into the forest of Chantilly. Here the master carpenter supervised the cutting of timber for the construction of scaffolding, workshops, and machines.

A workshop was built for the stone cutters along with a forge, where the blacksmith could make new tools to replace the old ones as they wore out.

Laborers helped the stone cutters lift large pieces of stone out of the quarry. Then the stone was cut, chiseled, and hammered by the stone cutters so it would match the patterns or templates supplied by the master mason.

Laborers helped the stone cutters lift large pieces of stone out of the quarry. Then the stone was cut, chiseled, and hammered by the stone cutters so it would match the patterns or templates supplied by the master mason.

Laborers helped the stone cutters lift large pieces of stone out of the quarry. Then the stone was cut, chiseled, and hammered by the stone cutters so it would match the patterns or templates supplied by the master mason.

Each stone was marked three times, once to show its future location in the cathedral, once to show which quarry it came from—so that the quarry man would be paid for every stone he extracted—and once to show which stone cutter had actually cut the stone, so that he would be paid as well.

The ruins of the old cathedral were demolished except for the crypt, where the former bishops of Chutreaux lay buried.

Once the east end of the site had been cleared, the location of the apse and choir was marked out with wooden stakes.

Soon the wood and stone, which had been floated down the river from the quarry, began to arrive at the city’s port. They were hoisted out of the boats with derricks and windlasses built by the carpenters and put into waiting carts that carried them through the town to the site.

By mid November the foundation hole for the apse and choir had been completely excavated.

Laborers carried the mortar down the ladders to the masons who would lay the stones on top of each other, troweling a layer of mortar between each stone and each layer of stones.

The architect knew that buttresses had to be built to relieve the pressure the vault would place on the piers.

In Gothic cathedrals the arched vault tended to push the piers outward. This force was transferred through the flying buttress to the buttress itself and then down to the foundation. In this way the main piers could remain quite thin in proportion to their height, allowing more space for the windows between them.

The roof was made up of a series of triangular frames or trusses.

After test assembling every part the truss was dismantled and hoisted piece by piece to the top of the walls.

The stone cutters and sculptors carved the stone gutters and down spouts that were to be installed in the buttresses. These down spouts, through which the water from the roof fell to the ground, were carved to look like frightening creatures. They were called gargoyles and, when it rained, they would appear to be spitting water onto the ground below.

By 1280 the choir was ready for the construction of the vaulted ceiling and the foundation of the transept was begun.

Two teams, each with a mason and a carpenter, worked simultaneously from both sides of a vault—installing first the lagging and then the webbing.

Finding one’s way to the center of the maze was considered as worthy of God’s blessing as making the long pilgrimage through the countryside that so many had to make in order to worship in a cathedral such as Chutreaux’s.

It wasn’t until 1330 that the nave was finally completed.

At the foundry in Chutreaux four large bells were cast in bronze.

Voussoirs were carved to form the arched gables over each of the three front doors and a tympanum—a semicircular sculptured panel—was carved to go above each of the doors.

By midsummer of 1338, the last pieces of sculpture had been hoisted into their niches.