Heavenly places

Heaven on Earth: The Lives and Legacies of the World’s Greatest Cathedrals

Emma J. Wells

(Head of Zeus, £40)

EUROPE’S cathedrals are its most uplifting treasures. They towered over their own age and have towered over ages ever since. They embody architecture’s capacity to inspire devotion and awe in people of all faiths and none. Although today’s churches are faltering, cathedrals are as popular as ever, for both worship and admiration. They seem to offer a timeless consolation to all comers.

Cathedrals were assertions of the temporal authority of the church and its bishops. Throughout the Middle Ages, as kingdoms rose and fell, they were centres of continuity and stability. As custodian of the afterlife, the Church defied royal authority. Its wealth was unequalled and, in return, it offered Europe administration, education, welfare and licensed travel, winning widespread loyalty beyond that of transient rulers. The Church could call on armies, summon crusades and ordain pilgrimages.