Cathedral Chapter
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According to both
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a
college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
and, in the case of a vacancy of the
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in some countries, to govern the
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during the vacancy. In the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
their creation is the purview of the
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. They can be "numbered", in which case they are provided with a fixed " prebend", or "unnumbered", in which case the bishop indicates the number of canons according to the rents. These chapters are made up of canons and other officers, while in the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
chapters now include a number of lay appointees. In some Church of England cathedrals there are two such bodies, the lesser and greater chapters, which have different functions. The smaller body usually consists of the residentiary members and is included in the larger one. Originally, it referred to a section of a
monastic rule A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practic ...
that was read out daily during the assembly of a group of canons or other clergy attached to a
cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
or
collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...
. Later it came to be applied to the group of clergy itself.Coredon ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms'' p. 68.


Roles within a cathedral

Typical roles within England's cathedrals have included:


Relationship of chapter and bishop

Historically, there was no distinction between the monastic cathedral chapters and those of the secular canons, in their relation to the bishop or diocese. In both cases the chapter was the bishop's concilium or council, which he was bound to consult on all important matters and without doing so he could not act. Thus, a judicial decision of a bishop needed the confirmation of the chapter before it could be enforced. He could not change the service books, or "use" of the church or diocese, without capitular consent, and there are episcopal acts, such as the appointment of a diocesan chancellor, or vicar general, which still need confirmation by the chapter. In its corporate capacity the chapter takes charge ''sede vacante'' of a diocese. In England, however (except as regards
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
and
Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
), this custom has never obtained, the two archbishops having, from time immemorial, taken charge of the vacant dioceses in their respective provinces. When, however, either of the sees of Canterbury or York is vacant the chapters of those churches take charge, not only of the diocese, but of the province as well, and incidentally, therefore, of any of the dioceses of the province which may be vacant at the same time.


Secular chapter

The normal constitution of the chapter of a secular cathedral church comprised four officers (there might be more), in addition to the canons. These are the dean, the precentor, the chancellor and the treasurer. These four officers, occupying the four corner stalls in the choir, are called in many of the statutes the ''quatuor majores personae'' of the church.


Dean

A dean (''decanus'') seems to have derived the designation from the
Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...
"deans" who had ten monks under their charge. The dean came into existence to supply the place of the provost in the internal management of the church and chapter. In England every secular cathedral church was headed by a dean who was originally elected by the chapter and confirmed in office by the bishop. The dean is president of the chapter and within the cathedral has charge of the celebration of the services, taking specified portions of them by statute on the principal festivals. Deans sit in the principal stall in the choir, which is usually the first on the right hand on entering the choir at the west.


Precentor

Next to the dean (as a rule) is the precentor (''primicerius'', cantor, etc.), whose special duty is that of regulating the musical portion of the services. Precentors preside in the dean's absence and occupy the corresponding stall on the left side, although there are exceptions to this rule, where, as at
St Paul's Cathedral, London St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
, the archdeacon of the cathedral city ranks second and occupies what is usually the precentor's stall.


Chancellor

The third officer is the chancellor (''scholasticus'', ''écoldtre'', ''capiscol'', ''magistral'', etc.) (not to be confused with the chancellor of the diocese). The chancellor of the cathedral church is charged with the oversight of its schools, ought to read theology lectures and superintend the lections in the choir and correct slovenly readers. Chancellors are often the secretary and librarian of the chapter. In the absence of the dean and precentor the chancellor is president of the chapter. The easternmost stall, on the dean's side of the choir, is usually assigned to the chancellor.


Treasurer

The fourth officer is the treasurer (''custos'', ''sacrisla'', ''cheficier''). They are guardians of the fabric and all the furniture and ornaments of the church. It was their duty to provide bread and wine for the
Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
and candles and incense. They also regulated such matters as the ringing of the bells. The treasurer's stall is opposite to that of the chancellor.


Additional clergy

In many cathedral churches there are additional officers, such as the praelector, subdean, vice-chancellor, succentor-canonicorum, whose roles came into existence to supply the places of the other absent officers, for non-residence was the fatal blot of the secular churches, and in this they contrasted very badly with the monastic churches, where all the members were in continuous residence. There were also ordinary canons, each of whom, as a rule, held a separate prebend or endowment, besides receiving their share of the common funds of the church. For the most part the canons also speedily became non-resident, and this led to the distinction of residentiary and non-residentiary canons, until in most churches the number of resident canons became definitely limited in number and the non-residentiary canons, who no longer shared in the common funds, became generally known as prebendaries only, although by their non-residence they did not forfeit their position as canons and retained their votes in chapter like the others. This system of non-residence led also to the institution of vicars choral, each canon having their own vicar, who sat in their stall in their absence and, when the canon was present, in the stall immediately below on the second form. The vicars had no place or vote in chapter and, though irremovable except for offences, were the servants of their absent canons whose stalls they occupied and whose duties they performed. Outside of Britain they were often called demi-prebendaries and they formed the bachcrur of the French churches. As time went on the vicars were themselves often incorporated as a kind of lesser chapter, or college, under the supervision of the dean and chapter. In contemporary cathedral chapters, the most common roles besides dean include precentor, pastor, sub-dean/vice-dean, chancellor, archdeacon, treasurer and missioner, although there is also a wide variety of roles which each occur only once or twice.


Church of England

In
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
cathedrals, under the
Cathedrals Measure 1999 A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...
, the Church Commissioners fund two Canons Residentiary per cathedral (sometimes called Commissioners' Canons) who must be "engaged exclusively on cathedral duties". Further residentiary canons beyond those two are funded from other sources and often called Diocesan Canons, since they typically also hold a senior diocesan post (such as
Diocesan Director of Ordinands Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform v ...
or Director of
Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
).legislation.gov.uk — Cathedrals Measure 1999
(Accessed 18 January 2018)


See also

* Chapter house


References


Sources

* {{short description, Group of monks or other clergy who staff and administer a bishop's cathedral Catholic canonical structures Canon law of the Anglican Communion it:Capitolo (canonici)