Scholasticism in Religious Architecture
Matt Pearson
Professor Ancell
Humanities 201
5 August 2013
Scholasticism in Religious Architecture "Sacred architecture is not, a 'free' art, developed from 'feelings' and 'sentiment', but it is an art strictly tied by and developed from the laws of geometry" (Schneider). This is a governing principle behind the architecture and stained-glass images in Chartres Cathedral: the building wasn’t just built without a plan or the art didn’t just happen, it is a systematic creation using geometry (Crossley 232). Scholasticism is the main contributor to the use of geometry to organize how the Cathedral was built. Briefly described, scholasticism is taking events, concepts, or miracles, that we can’t understand, and organizing a structured argument to provide an explanation. In the Chartres Cathedral, the architecture and art not only display sacred religious events and scenes from the Bible, but also secular events, such as everyday chores like farming or cleaning. There is clearly a union trying to be made here between things of this earthly world – science, philosophy, reason – and things that go beyond the earthly world – faith, theology, revelation. This is where scholasticism is found, because it organizes events and understanding to find God in the secular and sacred. In Chartres Cathedral, the building as a whole is meant to take us from the corruption of this world and into the presence of God, which embodies light. There is great detail in each stained-glass window, specifically in the exactness of the geometry and also in the Biblical stories they portray, which again point us to God, and also show how scholasticism has helped shape the organized design behind many things in the Cathedral. Scholasticism is a “term used to designate both a method and a system. It is applied to theology as well as to philosophy” (Turner). Historically, it came from early Christian institutions. They would have someone as the head of the school that would act as
Professor Ancell
Humanities 201
5 August 2013
Scholasticism in Religious Architecture "Sacred architecture is not, a 'free' art, developed from 'feelings' and 'sentiment', but it is an art strictly tied by and developed from the laws of geometry" (Schneider). This is a governing principle behind the architecture and stained-glass images in Chartres Cathedral: the building wasn’t just built without a plan or the art didn’t just happen, it is a systematic creation using geometry (Crossley 232). Scholasticism is the main contributor to the use of geometry to organize how the Cathedral was built. Briefly described, scholasticism is taking events, concepts, or miracles, that we can’t understand, and organizing a structured argument to provide an explanation. In the Chartres Cathedral, the architecture and art not only display sacred religious events and scenes from the Bible, but also secular events, such as everyday chores like farming or cleaning. There is clearly a union trying to be made here between things of this earthly world – science, philosophy, reason – and things that go beyond the earthly world – faith, theology, revelation. This is where scholasticism is found, because it organizes events and understanding to find God in the secular and sacred. In Chartres Cathedral, the building as a whole is meant to take us from the corruption of this world and into the presence of God, which embodies light. There is great detail in each stained-glass window, specifically in the exactness of the geometry and also in the Biblical stories they portray, which again point us to God, and also show how scholasticism has helped shape the organized design behind many things in the Cathedral. Scholasticism is a “term used to designate both a method and a system. It is applied to theology as well as to philosophy” (Turner). Historically, it came from early Christian institutions. They would have someone as the head of the school that would act as