The Wise Master Builder

Platonic Geometry in Plans of Medieval Abbeys and Cathederals

Nigel Hiscock

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9781138715820
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351769747
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

This title was first published in 2000: Did the plan of medieval churches have any underlying symbolic meaning? This work re-opens the debate about the importance of geometry and symbolism in medieval architectural design and argues the case for attributing an intellectual meaning to the planning of abbeys and cathedrals. In challenging prevailing claims for the use of arithmetical rations in architectural design, notably those based on the square root of two, Dr Hiscock advances a perspective consisting of proportions derived from the figures of Platonic geometry - the square, the equilateral triangle and the pentagon - and provides evidence for the symbolic interpretation of these figures. The investigation further reveals whole series of geometric relationships between some of England's most celebrated Norman cathedrals, such as Norwich or Durham, together with a wide sample from the Continent, from Old St Peter's in Rome to Chartres Cathedral, and sets out a comprehensive design method in each case. Hiscock first demonstrates the proposition that the ideas of Christian Platonism, including number and geometry, remained current and were employed in the thought of the early Middle Ages. In particular, he argues that they can be associated with the leading persons in the 10th-century revival of monasticism and that they found expression in the "white mantle of churches" that spread across Western Europe at the end of the first millennium AD. The book then provides a detailed analysis of the geometric proportions of church plans between the 9th and 12th centuries in Germany, France and in England. This research seeks to demonstrate that a coherent sequence of geometric forms can be seen in thse plans, forms which correspond to the key figures of Platonic geometry as understood in the context of Christian Platonist thought. In conclusion, the author shows how the system of design proposed could be set out on site using the known working methods of medieval masons.

PART ONE

Introduction

Introduction

Abbeys and cathedrals increasingly provide the focus for many of the disciplines to be found in the field of medieval studies. Research continues to expand existing knowledge and understanding of the foundations, life and work of these institutions and the ideas and techniques underlying building construction, sculpture, stained glass, painting and the associated artefacts of metal workshops and scriptoria, as well as the composition and performance of sacred music and the liturgy. Yet it remains the case that little is known for certain about how master masons actually devised the layouts of their vast structures in the first place.

Countless theories have been put forward as to how this may have been achieved, including one in which the present study partly originated.¹ This consisted of an application of a geometric system to cathedral plans, accompanied by an attempted historical justification for the symbolical use of such a system, and is similar in approach to many other design theories. However, it is an approach that has also attracted strong objections, firstly because it is claimed there is no evidence that masons used geometry in expression of theological or philosophical beliefs or that their education even equipped them to do so. Secondly, the methods of demonstrating particular design theories by overlaying plans with geometric constructions are criticized for an inherent likelihood of inaccuracy or of an ability to prove almost anything provided sufficient lines are drawn over the plan in question. Instead, a counter-claim is made that, whilst geometry was used by medieval masons, it was a purely practical procedure devoid of any symbolic intent, despite the fact that other aspects of religious art and architecture clearly do express religious beliefs. A variant of this counter-claim is that geometry may have been used in architectural planning in such a way that could correspond to sets of numerical ratios for conversion into dimensions.

At present, it appears that both positions are still being perpetuated, each in the conviction of its own validity, with work on each proceeding independently of the other and with little effective discourse taking place between the two. This may be partly explained by a possible difference in outlook in that, whilst a common objection to some design theories has quite justifiably been a lack of historical rigour, the purely academic approach sometimes appears to have difficulty in understanding design as an activity that is both visual and expressive. The starting-point of this investigation, therefore, is to evaluate and draw upon both positions in the hope of encouraging discourse and extending current thinking on the design of medieval abbey and cathedral churches.

Existing theories

Design theories posited as the basis of medieval religious architecture date back at least to the late eighteenth century, coinciding with the revival of interest in Gothic architecture among German Romantics.² Numerous nineteenth-century studies were included in a survey by Gwilt³ and they have continued to proliferate, with competing theories dividing protagonists and antagonists into various camps. The purpose of this summary, however, is not to chart the course of this debate but to classify the different types of theory and, in so doing, try to ensure that this investigation benefits from the valuable work done by others. Accordingly, the main types of theory may be identified as numerological, metrological and geometrical, either separately or in combination.

Numerological

There is abundant authority for attaching meanings to numbers. Ancient civilizations commonly did so, Pythagorean number theory was transmitted successively through various transformations and there is ample biblical authority besides.⁴ The specification and dimensions of Noah’s Ark, Moses’ Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple⁵ are quoted in detail, according to Augustine and Bede, with symbolic intent. Likewise the recurrence of 7 in the Revelation of St John is mystical, not accidental.⁶

Because the letters of the Greek and Hebrew alphabets also functioned as numerals, an elaboration of number theory arose in the form of gematria, in which the individual digits of numbers were taken as the initials of sacred phrases.⁷ This has also been applied to architectural investigations.⁸ For example, certain modules construed in the layout of Chartres Cathedral, when expressed in Roman feet, have been advanced as referring to Mary, 112 feet for instance standing for Maria Mater Dei. However, interpretations using gematria were questioned even at the time it was practised among Gnostics in the second century. Irenaeus wrote:

It is therefore more certain and less hazardous to await the fulfillment of the prophecy than to be making surmises, and casting about for any names that may present themselves, inasmuch as many names can be found possessing the number mentioned; and the same question will after all remain unsolved.

Adversus Haereses V.30, in Hopper 64–5

In his seminal study, Krautheimer set number symbolism, supported by textual authority, beside architectural symbolism such as is evident in round and cruciform plans. Moreover, by demonstrating a correlation between the occurrence of the number 8, its recorded associations with re-birth and the octagonal geometry of baptisteries, numerology can also be seen as extending into geometric expressionism. Yet Krautheimer stops short of claiming a systematic connection, seeing instead only ‘uncertain connotation dimly visible’ and different interpretations sometimes made by later observers.⁹ A more recent study has applied his ideas to Anglo-Saxon architecture, suggesting similar correlations for certain religious buildings with function, dedication, number theory and, once again, shape as seen in round and cruciform layouts.¹⁰ Beseler, on the other hand, claims a mixture of Platonic and sacramental meaning for certain numbers posited for St Michael’s Abbey at Hildesheim. He argues that because arithmetic is anterior to geometry and because the irrational numbers produced by geometry would have been problematic in setting out a building, it was number that was significant, geometry being relegated to a purely practical position.¹¹

Metrological

Akin to this is the suggestion that dimensions were so devised that they occur in numbers that are themselves significant.¹² For example, Horn sets the dimension of 40 feet, as stated on the ninth-century parchment Plan of St Gall, alongside the 40 years of the Hebrews in the desert and the days spent by Moses on Sinai and by Christ in the wilderness.¹³

An opposing view is that buildings were organized solely according to the units of measure used,¹⁴ although identifying which measures these might have been is rarely easy. With so many cities in Europe possessing their own yardsticks, each often stipulating differing values for the same unit of measure, and with evidence of royal feet and local feet in use simultaneously,¹⁵ serious problems continue to be posed for studies in medieval building metrology. On the one hand, the identification of specific units of measure is often accompanied by uncertainty or imprecision as to their particular values for the locality, or their documented use in building construction at the time and place in question¹⁶ while, on the other hand, analysis of the buildings often resolves itself into units of measure similarly without independent corroboration as to their likely use at that time and place.¹⁷ The consequent lack of direct connection between design and dimension undoubtedly explains why medieval drawing...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• List of figures and plates
• Acknowledgements
• Part One: Introduction
• Part Two: The historical context
• Part Three: The geometric investigation
• Part Four: Conclusions
• Appendices
• Bibliography
• Index