John James has studied medieval construction for the past 68 years. He practiced as an architect before following his true love of Gothic. Over the years he has published a dozen books and almost a hundred articles and studies, all on the architecture he loves. At the same time he founded and ran the Crucible Centre in the mountains west of Sydney to fulfil his personal longing for the sacred, and it is utterly appropriate that this last book should amalgamate these two strands of his life, hard as it was for him to complete the last chapter

• Chapter 1 - From Glory to Suppression 1Chapter 2 - Set and Setting 5The experience 6In practice 9Can words express this experience? 12Pilgrimage13Crusades 14The Cistercians 16Cistercian lords of war 18Chapter 3 - A visionary theology 21Consequences of meeting the east 22Centralised spaces for group worship25The Glory axis 28The Glory axis takes priority 29The Way was not direct 30To summarise 30Chapter 4 - Darkness and the worship of the dead 33Darkness enhanced the light 34The sepulchre and the bones 36Chapter 5- Architecture - the story in the masonry 39Architecture with purpose 40The evidence for the story 41The mysterium on the cross axis 44Notre-Dame and the First Gothic 48Chapter 6 - Politics - the promise and the reality 61Consequences of the second crusade 64All gone by 1200 65Singular journey or spiral labyrinth? 66What was their heresy? 67Whitewashing heresy 68The end of the commune 69Chapter 7 - Sculpture and sculptors 67Workshop methods 69Organisation of the data 71Defining stylistic boundaries 71The Transition of the 1170s 73Chapter 8 - Construction 75Concerning mortar and measure76Concerning campaigns 78Concerning geometry 79Crusades impact on construction 81Chapter 9 - Dating and the model 83Building campaigns in the model 84Concerning precise dates 86Chapter 10 - The First Church 89Three small remnants 91Chancel in front of the apse 92Entry into the south aisle 94Cornices in the sky 96Size of the east tower 100How old is the ossuary? 101The First Church 102Two stories on the western tower 103Chapter 11 - Interlude 1 - Papillon a local carver 111Chapter 12 - Second Church I - the nave 113Summary of the nave 115Nave arcade, first phase 115Nave arcade, second phase to 1113 118The "Cistercian" bases 1114 121Concerning stability of the nave 1115 122South aisle 1113-1116 124Misplaced south doubleau 1113-1116 124North aisle 1116-1118 126Maintaining services while building 128South clerestory wall 1116-1118 128North clerestory wall 1117-1119 130The strut 1118 132Transverse arches and groin vaults 1118-1121 132Building the groin vaults 138Junction between tower and nave 139Chapter13 - Second Church II - the lesser chamber 141Lower chamber and the canon's door 143Straighten the aisle entry 1114 144Sepulchre window, the "Glory" 147The sepulchre 1115 149North aisle: the other wide windows 1115 151North clerestory window 1119 154Chapter 14 - Second Church III - pilasters-S and -N 159Pilaster-S 164Pilaster-N 167West pilaster 171Chapter 15 - Second Church IV - the choir 179Priority to the chamber 1128-1135 180Two bays in the choir 182Pilaster-E 1126-1131 184To separate or to merge? 185Choir paused at the clerestory 1129 187Concerning stability in the choir 1128 190Chapter 16 - Second Church V - the greater chamber 193Cornices under the roof <1090 and 1132 194Vault over the east crossing 1132-35 196Demolish the eastern tower 197Leadership and decision-making 198The roofs 200Master Plans 201An unlikely alternative 201The church when Louis and Eleanor arrived 202Chapter 17 - Interlude 2 - Palmier carver and master 203Controlling details as well as templates 205Mature work 206Look-alikes 207Palmier as master mason 209Chapter 18 - Third Church I - portal and alignments 211Two axes, not one 213Erecting the south portal 1137-1140± 217Discrepancies in the portal 219The obstruction dates the portal 221The lost column figures 224Chapter 19 - Third Church II - masonry 227Site conditions 1137-1144± 228Rate of construction 229Complexity in a season 230Join the north to the south 1138-42± 230Rubble walls covered 231THE BASESFor groins in the east 1138± 232For ribs in the transepts 1138± 233Band of gold 1138-1141± 234Decorated bases 236Compound piers, drums and canopy of paradise 237North chamber buttresses 1135-1138± 238THE CHAPELSSouth boundary crossed 239Eastern chapels 1138-44± 239Changed plan for southern chapels 1142-45± 241Chapel walls and arcades 242The Mysterium 1139± 242The consoles in s3 246South transept door 1143± 248Chapter 20 -Third Church III- capitals and vaults 251When were the choir capitals carved? 252Concerning the choir capitals 1124± or 1129± 254North vaults 1143-46± 257North vaults and adjacent choir ribs 258Placiong the choir capitals 258Explanations 260Chapter 21 - Third Church IV - after the crusade 263Rate of construction 264Rib vaults everywhere 267Two roses 270Plated capitals, mid-1150s± 270The roofs 1160s and later 272Decision-making and multiple contracting 272Chapter 22 - Fourth Church - the Restoration 275Blocking the mysterium with two vaults 276Blocking the inner Camino 282Consequences 288The westworks 289Opening the nave clerestory 293Symbols of triumph - the spire 295Symbols of triumph - the fortress 295Later saints 296A historical coda 296A personal coda 297Chapter 23 - Bibliography 299