Like a Rollercoaster

In the latest section there have been many ups and downs in the building of the Kingsbridge cathedral. As a result of the burning of the town Prior Philip has lost faith in God's will to have the cathedral built. He, the Aliena, and all the townspeople lost something in the massacre by William Hamleigh. Tom Builder, one of Philip's closest friends, was murdered by the Earl of Shiring himself. Aliena, one of the biggest wool merchants in the county, had all her wool burned and her hair as well. Not a single family in the town was free of a loss, a husband, a wife, a child. With the burning of the fleece fair dame a huge loss of money as well. All these factors, lack of interest, lack of workers, and lack of money, contributed to the decision to suspend construction.

A similar set of obstacles forced the suspension of construction on Cologne Cathedral in the 16th century. Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, took the remains of the Three Wise Men from Milan. The emperor decided to build a church to house these momentous Biblical relics, and chose to have a cathedral built in Cologne, in what is now Germany. It was started shortly after the relics were brought from Milan in 1164, but was stopped in the 16th century. This was due to lack of interest in the cathedral, and also lack of money, similar to Kingsbridge in the story.

In the case of Cologne Cathedral building was restarted in the 19th century. This was due to a rediscovered interest in medieval times. The rest of the church--nearly half--was finished in a record 38 years (1842-1880). Kingsbridge Cathedral also began to start rebuilding after more money began to come in and interest of people and workers was renewed. In the story, however, things weren't as smooth as in Cologne. There were other events such as a worker's strike and political pressures that stood in the way of Kingsbridge's dream of becoming a cathedral town.