Synopsis: A thoroughly immersive read and a remarkable feat of imagination, Cathedral tells a sweeping story about obsession, mysticism, art, and earthly desire in gripping prose. It deftly combines historical fiction and a tale of adventure and intrigue.
At the center of this story is the Cathedral. Its design and construction in the 12th and 13th centuries in the town of Hagenburg unites a vast array of unforgettable characters whose fortunes are inseparable from the shifting political factions and economic interests vying for supremacy. Around this narrative center, Ben Hopkins has constructed his own monumental edifice, a novel that is rich with the vicissitudes of mercantilism, politics, religion, and human enterprise.
Ben Hopkins' "Cathedral" is definitely one for readers of The Pillars of the Earth and Cathedral of the Sea, both of which I have and love, so it's a no-brainer that this tome will be joining them on my book shelves. Like those two tomes mentioned, Hopkins' "Cathedral" has a carefully constructed and engaging narrative, a mix of first and third person, of the citizens of Hagenberg and is told against the backdrop of the construction of the city's Cathedral, their lives intersecting across the pages as the years progress. And like the two aforementioned tomes, "Cathedral" may also be worthy of a mini-series of its own
Hopkins' "Cathedral" deftly taps into the psyche of the people associated with its construction - the masters, the guilds, the merchants, the Church, the nobles, whilst exploring the complexity of the mores and prejudices, the political and religious discord of the time. Many of the cathedral workforce was itinerant, moving from one job to another, and so new social elements or social / religious groups would be introduced into these often small, insular communities.
When I read historical fiction I love to know if events were based on real people, places and events - and to that end I go in search of the "back story". I am now going to touch on some of the themes within the narrative that fascinated me.
Medieval Cathedral Building
The building of monumental cathedrals in the middle ages was a reflection of faith and the channel for much of the creative energy of medieval European society. As cathedrals took decades, and often even centuries to complete, few people who worked on them expected to see them finished during their lifetimes. Being involved in the construction of a cathedral, even as the building patron, required a willingness to be part of a process that was larger than oneself. As architectural technology developed further, greater expanses of glass became possible. This led to stained glass becoming an important decorative medium in religious buildings
The most obvious starting point was for an architect to be found who would design a cathedral. An architect would also know who were the best master craftsmen to employ – and many highly skilled men were needed. Each master of his own trade ran a workshop for his own particular trade - these were skilled men and they would not do any labouring – unskilled labourers who lived near to where a cathedral was being built would do this. Many of the skilled workers relied on other trades to keep them at work.
It was typically the Cathedral Chapter that determined how much money could be spent on what. It was the Chapter that would decide on the final design of the cathedral – and it was the Chapter that would instruct the architect on just what they wanted. The cost of these buildings was vast – but the money to pay for these huge buildings came from the people via the many payments they had to make to the Roman Catholic Church in Medieval times.
Holy Roman Empire & Habsburgs
Alsace and Strasbourg have been the object of rival claims by France and Germany up until the very recent past and have experienced multiple changes of possession. Alsace experienced great prosperity during the 12th and 13th centuries under Hohenstaufen emperors. Frederick I set up Alsace as a province to be ruled by ministeriales, a non-noble class of civil servants. The idea was that such men would be more tractable and less likely to alienate the fief from the crown out of their own greed. The province had a single provincial court and a central administration. The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II designated the Bishop of Strasbourg to administer Alsace, but the authority of the bishop was challenged by Count Rudolf of Habsburg, who received his rights from Frederick II's son Conrad IV.
Cathedral of Hagenberg or Strasbourg
Unlike the actual city of Hagenberg (located in Austria), our fictional city is located along the Rhine, and - to my mind anyway - the fictional Cathedral of Our Lady of Hagenberg seems to have much in common with the Strasbourg's Notre Dame Cathedral (or Cathedral of Our Lady).
The Cathedral of Strasbourg was founded in 1015 on the remains of a previous cathedral. This wooden structure burnt down in 1176-177 and was replaced by a new, Gothic stone building was being built from 1220. Its construction was financed by the free city of Strasbourg , a rich merchant and financial republic. It is also one of two contemporary structures that made use of architectural drawings.
Strasbourg began to grow to become the most populous and commercially important town in the region. Until 1200, the development was limited to the island, which was covered with a grid of narrow streets and lanes. As the economy flourished, the original medieval city began expanding.
France and Germany had a long history of "warrior bishops". These bishops in medieval Germany were born into aristocratic or knightly families which prided themselves upon their proficiency in warfare. It appears that Hopkins tapped into this as inspiration for one of the components of his nove1. The city of Strasburg rose in defence of its rights against the new bishop, Walter of Hohengeroldseck (r. 1260 - 1263), in 1261. Benjamin Arnold as written a fascinating piece on this phenomenon entitled "German Bishops and their Military Retinues in the Medieval Empire" as has Nicholas Friend in his thesis entitled "Holy Warriors and Bellicose Bishops: The Church and Warfare in Early Medieval Germany". After this long struggle, its citizens gained the status of a free imperial city in 1262.
Church & Inquisition in Germany
In 13th cent Germany & France, the Inquisition was alive and well. Their focus was on the Waldensians and Albigensians or Cathars. Conrad of Marpurg, Inquisitor General over Germany sought them out with impugnity in the 1230s, after Pope Gregory IX began to commission Dominicans and Franciscans in Germany, France,Spain and Italy as delegated judges tasked with the prosecution of heresy in 1231.
The bishops were, by default, responsible for the purity of faith in their dioceses. The de-cretal Ad abolendam of Lucius III (1184) ordered that bishops and archbishops, acting either in their own person or through their archdeacon, should conduct an inquiry once or twice a year within those parishes in which any form of heresy had begun to circulate, If there was an indication of heresy, the suspects were to be called to the bishop or to the archdeacon to exculpate themselves through oath. Those who might defy oath-taking,fail to exculpate themselves, or relapse into heresy after purgation, were to be judged by the bishop and handed over to the secular arm. (source: Bishops and the inquisition of heresy in late medieval Germany by Reima Välimäki in Dominus Episcopus Medieval Bishops between Diocese and Court).
Cathars
The Cathars were largely local, Western European/Latin Christian phenomena, springing up in the Rhineland cities (particularly Cologne) in the mid-12th century, northern France around the same time, and particularly the Languedoc—and the northern Italian cities in the mid-late 12th century.
The Inquisition was established in 1233 to uproot the remaining Cathars. Repentant lay believers were punished, but their lives were spared as long as they did not relapse. Having recanted, they were obliged to sew yellow crosses onto their outdoor clothing and to live apart from other Catholics, at least for a while. Those Cathars who refused to recant or relapsed were hanged, or burnt at the stake. Hunted by the Inquisition and deserted by the once supportive nobles of their districts, the Cathars became elusive, scattered fugitives.
In the Languedoc and northern Italy, the Cathars attained their greatest popularity, surviving in the Languedoc, in much reduced form, up to around 1325 and in the Italian cities until the Inquisitions of the 14th century finally extirpated them.
Medieval Jewish Community
Into our small fictional community, many arrive looking for work - as do our main characters of Rettich and Emmle Schaffer. The arrival of new transient groups also exposes the community to new thoughts and ideas - and different religious beliefs (see above for the Cathars).
Early on we are introduced to the resident Jewish population, and the role assigned to them by the dictates of the day - finance. Because pre-modern Christianity did not permit money-lending for interest and because Jews generally could not own land, they played a vital role as money-lenders and traders. As European commerce grew in the late Middle Ages, some Jews became prominent in trade, banking, and moneylending, and Jews’ economic and cultural successes tended to arouse the envy of the populace.
Jews were denied citizenship and its rights, barred from holding posts in government and the military, and excluded from membership in guilds and the professions. However, where they were permitted to participate in the larger society or were merely tolerated, Jews thrived.
The history of the Jews in Alsace is assumed to dates back to around the year 1000. Although Jewish life in Alsace was often disrupted by outbreaks of pogroms, at least during the Middle Ages, and reined in by harsh restrictions on business and movement, it has had a continuous existence ever since it was first recorded. The city-dwelling Jews of the Middle Ages, lived in walled-up, segregated ghetto districts, which naturally aroused suspicion. Jews were subsequently forbidden to settle in the town and were reminded every evening at 10 o'clock by a Cathedral bell and a municipal herald blowing the "Grüselhorn" to leave.
The outbreak of plague became the trigger for Black Death persecutions. in 1349, Jews of Alsace were wrongfully accused of poisoning the wells with plague. On February 14, Saint Valentine's day, several hundred Jews were massacred during the Strasbourg pogrom - either burned at the stake, or rounded up in synagogues and private houses that were then set aflame. This mass slaughter of German Jews saw them flee in large numbers to Poland. You can read more about this in "Jews in the Medieval German Kingdom" by Alfred Haverkamp
The Characters
Throughout Hopkins' complex narrative of political and religious discord, the fictional characters develop as the story and the cathedral building progresses. All are linked by money which sees personal ambitions and fortunes rise and fall, as the city of Hagenberg expands and becomes possibly a distorted image of that which originally aspired to be.
Verdict: Immense, immersive, imaginative, indelible, impressive.
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