Which of the following job titles of today could be applied to a gothic master builder?
a. superintendent of construction
b. construction worker
c. architect
d. all of the above

The correct answer is c. architect

Explanation:

Architects were present in many cultures, since ancient times. They have been creating and planning many complex buildings that are still remaining today. Although, the architect figure has got status only during the Italian Renaissance. Bruneleschi, Alberti, Michelangelo, and Palladio have become the Masters of Architecture of that historical period.

In Medieval times, mainly during the Gothic Period, which comprehends the artistic manifestations during the High Middle Ages, the role that was supposed to be made by architects was performed by the Master Builders.

Differently from the modern architects, the Masters didn’t have a high skilled formation. They’re knowledge was traditional passed by master to master, in a regime similar to the guilds.

Guilds were craftsman cooperatives, where know-how was acquired by experiencing solutions that the masters have found out. Solution is the best way to describe that way of production, as there weren’t treats and thesis behind the masters' job.

While in the Renaissance job was a result of scientific acquiring, when the role of artist, architect, and inventor was mixed, and everything was registered in books; the craftsmen in the Gothic Period guided their pupils by oral tradition and the processes of trial and error.  

When they started a building, they invented methods that were specified to that specific moment, rebuilding after every collapse and using other constructions as examples to follow.

That’s why a few gothic architects are renamed, most of them were members of religious communities. Beside the Master Builders were ahead of the construction, having to solve all issues of them, the guild was recognized as the responsible. Usually, we may find that a building was attributed to a master because it’s hard to specify who was behind that project. The written registers would only appear by the Late Gothic.