The Late Middle Ages

There are some fine links to material on medieval cathedrals. A good place to start is this list of virtual tours of cathedrals. You should visit, in particular, the site on Amiens Cathedral. This is an ambitious site, and not everything works perfectly, but you should at least take a look at the slide gallery.

Another very impressive cathedral site, giving you many fine choices, is Gothic Dreams. You may choose to start there instead.

Clocks and the history of timekeeping also are represented on the Web. Check out the Horology web site and the Walk through Time site of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

OPTIONAL: Finally, note that one of the great historical works on the Renaissance is available in its entirety on the Web. This is The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy by Jacob Burckhardt. This is worth taking at least a quick look at--look, for example, at Burckhardt's discussion of the status of natural science in Renaissance Italy.

 

 


*For your section meeting, you should bring a print-out of your cathedral exploration, accompanied by a paragraph explaining the technological contributions illustrated by your choice. Be prepared to discuss other aspects of late medieval technological development, particularly the development of the clock.



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