How Much did the Gothic Churches Cost?

After Notre Dame

An Estimate of Ecclesiastical Building Costs in the Paris Basin between 1100-1250

By Amy Denning

Bachelor’s Thesis, Florida Atlantic University (2012)

Abstract: Several scholars have studied the explicit (tangible) costs of the ecclesiastical buildings constructed in the High Middle Ages. However, no scholar has examined the implicit (opportunity) cost of unskilled labor required for their construction, or tried to estimate the total cost of their building as a percentage of regional GDP.

This thesis examines the implicit costs of building the Gothic churches of the Paris Basin built between 1100-1250, and attempts to estimate the percentage of the regional economy that was devoted to build them. I estimate that over this 150-year period, on average, 21.5 percent of the regional economy was devoted to the construction of these Gothic churches, 1.5 percent of which is directly related to the implicit cost of labor.

Introduction: During the High Middle Ages, Western Europe was plagued with famine, disease, and dismal economic growth. Population was increasing at a rate faster than the (Maddison, 2003), leaving the average person experiencing declining levels of sustenance every year. However, during the period known as the High Middle Ages, between 1100-1250, the Catholic Church built over 1400 Gothic churches in the Paris Basin alone. The lavish ecclesiastical building campaigns of the Church represented a portion of the GDP for the region, but what percentage of GDP does this building campaign represent?

Excerpt from the Pdf:

History and Background

At the start of the High Middle Ages, circa 500 C.E., the Church was in its infancy; however, by 1100 C.E., the Church had grown to possibly the largest private organization the world had seen to date. Today, there are over 1.1 billion Roman Catholics (around 17 percent of the world’s population). After the conversion of Constantine (circa 300 C.E.) and other important political figures, the Catholic Church proliferated throughout Western Europe. During the High Middle Ages and before the Protestant Reformation, the Popes had more power than at any time in history. The Church crowned rulers, such as Charlemagne, created laws, started wars, and served as the supreme authority on salvation and the afterlife. 

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Opportunity costs

The Catholic Church maximized profits by utilizing what was essentially slave labor (Kraus, 1979: 11). This caused the burden of high opportunity costs to plague Western Europe’s economy. Ekelund et al. address opportunity costs and their effect on economic development, reminding us that “economic resources have alternative uses” (2006: 203). The authors estimate that 9 percent of adult men built ecclesiastical buildings in France between 1100 and 1400 C.E. Instead of building churches, they could have built “fences around common areas” or invested in technology, infrastructure, and education (Ekelund et al. 2006: 203).

Cathedrals as an entry barrier for other religions and signalling

In addition to being the seat of a bishop, Ekelund et al. suggests that the cathedrals (and other large churches) operated as both a limit-pricing device and as a signaling device. These two devices functioned as a barrier-to-entry for other competing religions, such as the Muslims and the Gnostics (2006: 198-231). Viewing the Church as a monopoly, the Church’s actions to increase barriers-to-entry allowed it to continue to function as a monopoly by dissuading competition. The medieval Church effectively reduced the threat of competition throughout the High Middle Ages. In fact, it was not until the Protestant Reformation during the 16th century that the Catholic Church lost control of its monopoly. The churches played a large role in the Church’s profit-maximizing agenda.

Another way the Church controlled the market was by “overproducing” goods to ensure that other religions would be unable to compete with it. One way to see the overproduction is by looking at the over 1400 churches built in the Paris Basin in a 150-year period. Large, adorned churches can be viewed as a marketing tool, projecting their market dominance over other possible competitors, and also representing its services to the consumer in order to maintain market share. In this case, the larger churches also functioned as a signaling device by presenting wealth and power to potential rivals of the Church and its general wealth.

How did they finance it?

In order to finance so many churches, the Church had multiple sources of revenue during this time, including “tithes, land rents, donations, bequests, fees charged for judicial services, proceeds from the sale of indulgences, and income derived from the monastic production and marketing of agricultural produce” (Ekelund et al., 1996: 33). These revenue streams created one of the richest and most powerful private organizations in the world. 

The resources needed were enormous

In the 150-year period between 1100-1250 C.E., 1,472 Gothic churches were built in the Paris Basin alone (James, 2003). According to Gimpel, “more stone was quarried in France [from 1050-1350] than in ancient Egypt during its whole history” (1961: 5). In order to understand the immensity of resources required for the Gothic churches, a basic understanding of church architecture and construction is imperative. 

The cost of one cathedral

The unit method developed by James uses the Building Inflation Index, which adjusts for building costs from year to year. He also adjusts for the changes in building techniques by inflating the cost of the units by 70 percent. The overall impact of this adjustment results in each unit being worth almost $73,000 a unit in 2011 dollars. The average unit per church is approximately 205. Thus, Chartres, at 7448 units, would be estimated to be $543 million to build (2011 dollars). The total estimated explicit cost of building these Gothic churches is just under $22 billion (US 2011 dollars). 

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Two questions were raised: What would have happened if the Church had spent less on ecclesiastical buildings and more on schools, infrastructure, or other technologies? Could the low economic growth that plagued the High Middle Ages have ended sooner than it did?  

There is more. Interesting read throughout.