This month my comrades at ALE and I are working on the theme of cooperation, and I thought a useful thing to think about in that context is not my usual favs of rebellion, or even collective republics, but architecture. In particular, I want to talk about what you could argue are the most important medieval buildings – cathedrals. Cathedrals, from the Latin cathedra meaning “throne of the bishop” are and were enormous and intricate buildings that took centuries to build, and you probably know that. However, we often talk about them as finished projects rather than as a testament to how humans cooperate with each other across time. That’s what we’re gonna do today.
Continue reading “On cathedrals and cooperation”Tag: Prague
On Prague, Preaching, and Brothels
I was back in Prague/on my bullshit and went to go visit the site of Jerusalem – my boy Jan Milíč z Kroměříže’s fourteenth-century community of “repentant prostitutes” and preachers. In this video we talk a little about what that is all about, how sex work changed cities and cities changed sex work, and how Charles IV made Prague into one of Europe’s most important cities and a total tourist trap.
Enjoy!
Going Medieval 