Cathedral Building as an Entry-Deterring Device

Brighita Bercea, Robert B. Ekelund () and Robert Tollison ()

Kyklos, 2005, vol. 58, issue 4, pages 453-465

Abstract: This paper suggests that, while medieval cathedrals served many purposes and, indeed, were some of the greatest technical achievements of their time, they served a rational economic purpose as well. Protestant entry into the market for Christian religion finally materialized in the early sixteenth century. The Roman Catholic Church did not make a 'mistake' in failing to forestall entry. We argue that the Church made a conscious rational effort to do so by supplying excess capacity and particular forms of capital in medieval cathedrals. While the attempt to forestall entry was ultimately unsuccessful, the extent of cathedral building helps explain why some areas of Europe remained Catholic and alternative forms of Christianity took hold in other locales. Copyright 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd..

Date: 2005
View citations in EconPapers

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.0023-5962.2005.00297.x link to full text (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:kyklos:v:58:y:2005:i:4:p:453-465

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0023-5962

Access Statistics for this article

Kyklos is edited by Rene L. Frey

More articles in Kyklos from Blackwell Publishing
Series data maintained by Christopher F. Baum ().