Albertus Magnus

Albertus Magnus; Albert the Great. A scholastic philosopher (1205-1280) and Dominican Friar, who lived most of his life at Cologne. Heideloff, in his Housebuilders of the Middle Ages, and several other writers, gave Albertus Magnus credit for creating the Gothic style, and it was even said that he designed the Cathedral at Cologne and altered the constitutions of the Steinmetzen. These statements are probably erroneous and unfounded. Various other churchmen have been given credit for planning or designing Gothic structures, but none of these theories now receives much consideration from students of architecture. The majority view now supports the theory that the Master Masons were the architects and designers.

Macoy Collector's Note: Coil actively debunks the romanticized myth that church ecclesiastics were the true architects of the Gothic era, rightfully returning the credit to the operative Master Masons.