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Mega-structures of the Middle Ages: the construction of religious buildings in Europe and Asia, c.1000–1500*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2011

Maarten Prak
Affiliation:
Department of History and Art History, Utrecht University, Drift 10, 3512 BS Utrecht, the Netherlands E-mail: m.prak@uu.nl

Abstract

How did medieval builders manage to construct some of the tallest structures in the world without access to modern engineering theories? Construction drawings were limited to details and, with only a handful exceptions, manuals for builders only appeared in the late fifteenth century. By implication, the relevant knowledge had to be transferred on a personal basis. Its underlying principles must therefore have been reasonably simple. This article shows how a modular design, combined with on-site experimentation, guided much of the construction work on large projects such as European cathedrals, Middle Eastern mosques, Indian temples, and Chinese pagoda towers.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © London School of Economics and Political Science 2011

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