It would be difficult to describe the building of a cathedral without reference to Christianity, but Macaulay does not focus on the religious motivation of the people of Chutreaux. He balances the idealism of building to glorify God with the universal and more human desire "to build the longest, widest, highest, and most beautiful cathedral" in the country. The text introduces the bishop and the clergymen in charge of the construction, but the book sticks to the business of building thereafter. The references to medieval religious beliefs are presented matter-of-factly and nonjudgmentally. For example, when the chapter runs out of money and decides to raise some by displaying "the remains of Saint Germain," Macaulay simply states, The people of northern France and southern England would gladly pay to see such relics." Macaulay neither belittles nor ignores the religious inspiration, though his book concentrates on the social...