[ABN 505]

Thanks for the information, very interesting. I realize that master architect's and craftsmen were the principles in the construction of these beautiful churches but the majority of the work was the bull work done then as even now by the lower class [peasants if you will]. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC is being constructed in the same manner as was used in medieval times with even the same type of stone masonry tools. They have their own stonemason school and recruit local boys to train in that art.http://www.stjohndivine.org/about/architecture/cathedral-concrete

[Mrs. Don-o]

A stonemasony school! So cool! Really! I wish I could get my younger son into that.

I read somewhere that the great Shrines, Basilicas and Cathedrals of Europe were the first huge, monumental structures in the world which were built without slave labor.

It was free men. Paid, free labor.

Some of it freely volunteered for devotional reasons, but most of it professional, skilled artisans.

Even if the guys who did nothing but carry buckets of bricks were unskilled "peasants," they were paid.