Notre-Dame, Cathedral of Amiens

the long version

Notre Dame, Cathedral of Amiens: The power of Change in Gothic is a comprehensive study of one of the most ambitious building programs of the High Middle Ages. Offering a new approach to the traditional building monograph, Stephen Murray critically reexamines the documentary, archaeological, and historiographical evidence; contemporary theological debates; as well as the social, political, and economic contexts in which Amiens was conceived and erected. By integrating these various data, Murray proposes a new chronology for the cathedral and, moreover, reconceptualizes our understanding of the nature of medieval building campaigns, emphasizing the dynamics of change that occurred during the course of construction. This revisionist study includes a newly surveyed plan of Amiens, transcripts of key documents, and 195 black-and-white illustrations, many made especially for this edition.