Were the builders of Gothic cathedrals really anonymous?

Not entirely. The picture of nameless medieval workers building cathedrals out of pure faith is only partly true. For some cathedrals we know the names of the master masons, and at Reims those names were even set into the building itself.

The clearest case is Reims. Unusually, the names of its successive architects up to the completion of the structure in 1275 are known. A labyrinth built into the nave floor at the time of construction, or shortly after, listed four master masons, Jean d'Orbais, Jean-le-Loup, Gaucher of Reims and Bernard de Soissons, and the number of years each worked there. Art historians still disagree over who built which parts, and the labyrinth was destroyed in 1779, but 18th-century drawings preserved its inscriptions. The tomb of another architect, Hugues Libergier (d. 1268), shows him holding a model of his church, an honour formerly reserved for noble donors.

Other masons did stay anonymous. At Saint-Denis, two master masons worked on the 12th-century rebuilding, and both remain anonymous, although their work can be told apart by style.

What is a master mason? A central figure leading a project, combining the roles of an expert carpenter, site supervisor and architect or engineer. They were trained through lengthy apprenticeships, often beginning in boyhood, and their secrets were jealously guarded. So the better answer is that cathedral builders were not nameless by rule: it depended on the site, and on whether anyone wrote the name down.