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Christopher R. Whittle

Professor Jill Anderson

ART 111 Sec 01: A History of Art I

December 16, 2010

Summary on The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral; “The Religious Experience” unit by Robert A.

Scott

The people in the medieval period turned toward the Gothic cathedral

to escape the harsh and brutal secular world that they resided in (Scott

152), where God was available in the sacred space and objects of the

building (Scott 147). The chief object in the church was the high altar, the

most sacred object, was the location of the celebration of Mass (Scott 149).

The altar stone, or mensa, which is consecrated by a bishop, is placed on

the altar with a least one relic of a saint, the minimum being for whom the

church was dedicated to (Daily Missal). Side altars or shirnes also contained

relics, and are named appropriately after the relic(s) of the saint in that

particular altar. Pilgrims, or people travelling for religious piety, venerated

these relics and offering votives (Scott 189).

All medieval churches had saintly relics housed either in altars or

reliquaries since this practice was (and still is) the teaching and discipline

of the Roman Catholic Church (Scott 164). A first class relic is a physical

relic of the saint’s body, a second class relic an article that the saint

touched, and a third class relic is an item that touched a first or second

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class relic (Klein 433). “Tradition has made saints the protectors or patrons

of various aspects of human life…” (Giorgi), where miracles were performed

at these medieval shrines (Scott 199). In order to become a saint, you must

meet the requirements for canonization, which include death, holiness, and

the performance of two miracles while in heaven. When a case is opened,

the person is a “Venerable Servant of God”. When he or she performs the

first miracle, the person is “Blessed”. After the second and subsequent

miracles, the person is canonized a “Saint” (Klein 432). Originally, only

martyrs outside of the Bible could be canonized, but that is no longer the

case (Scott 204). With the decree from Pope Innocent III during the Lateran

IV Council in 1215, only the pope can canonize saints. Prior to that,

individual bishops could do so (Scott 205).

For the clergy in medieval times there were nine services that

monasteries followed most indeed, with some cathedrals following suit.

They were Lauds, Prime, Mass, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline, and

Matins (Klein 316). Matins was the most difficult service to perform because

it was said in the dark of night without any lights! (Scott 166). These

services were said in the sanctuary, or presbytery, obstructed by the rood

screen from the laity in the nave viewing the services (Scott 158). At that

time there were 35 different versions of the Roman Missal (Scott 165), often

times written by bishops for their cathedral, based on the architecture of

the building. For example, the Sarum Rite (Use of Salisbury) processions on

Palm Sunday and Corpus Christi used all parish grounds (Scott 169).

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Ordinary parts of the service were memorized the monks using

iconographic memory and mnemonics, which is a major reason there are so

many statues and artwork are in Catholic churches (Scott 174).

The cathedral building projects, which in some cases lasted centuries,

were paid for by bequeaths from parishioners (Scott 183), indulgences, and

loans (Scott 191). As soon as the Soul Bell rang when the casket was

brought to the church for the Requiem Mass (Klein 112), it was then the

social responsibility of the widow to request Masses for the dead, and to

pray for the repose for her husband’s soul (Scott 185).

Works Cited

Giorgi, Rosa. Saints: A Year in Faith and Art. New York: Abrams, 2006:7; Print.

Klein, Peter. The Catholic Source Book, 3rd ed. Dubuque: Harcourt Religion Publishers, 2000; Print.

Roman Catholic Daily Missal 1962. Kansas City: Angelus Press, 2004: 127; Print.

Scott, Robert A. The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003: 147-205; Print.