A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the

Requiem Mass A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is u ...

and the

Office of the Dead The Office of the Dead or Office for the Dead (in Latin, Officium Defunctorum) is a prayer cycle of the Canonical Hours in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and Lutheran Church, said for the repose of the soul of a decedent. It is the proper ...

), or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

reserved for the performance of these celebrations. In the

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Era through to the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...

it was commonly believed such liturgies might help atone for misdeeds and assist the soul to obtain eternal peace.

Etymology

The word "chantry" derives from

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

''chanter'' and from the Latin ''cantare'' (to sing). Its medieval derivative ''cantaria'' means "licence to sing mass". The French term for this commemorative institution is ''chapellenie'' (chaplaincy).

Overview

Liturgy for the dead

Firstly, a chantry could mean the prayers and liturgy in the Christian church for the benefit of the dead, as part of the search for atonement for sins committed during their lives. It might include the Mass (liturgy), mass and by extension, the endowment left for the purpose of the continuance of prayers and liturgy. It could be called a type of "

trust fund A trust is a legal relationship in which the owner of property, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the English common law, the party who entrusts the property is k ...

" established during the pre-Reformation medieval era in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

for the purpose of employing one or more

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

to sing a stipulated number of services for the benefit of the soul of a specified deceased person, usually the donor who had established the chantry in his

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

. There could be a stipulated period of time immediately following her/his death. It was believed such masses might help atone for misdeeds and with mercy enable the soul to be granted eternal peace in the presence of God. Chantries were commonly established in England and were endowed with lands, rents from specified properties, and other assets of the donor, usually in his will. The income from these assets maintained the "chantry" priest.

Privately built chapels

Secondly, a chantry chapel is a building on private land or a dedicated area or altar within a

, set aside or built especially for the performance of the "chantry duties" by the priest. A chantry may occupy a single

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

, for example in the side aisle of a church, or an enclosed chapel within a larger church, generally dedicated to the donor's favourite saint. Many chantry altars became richly endowed, often with gold furnishings and valuable

vestments Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially by Eastern Churches, Catholics (of all rites), Lutherans, and Anglicans. Many other groups also make use of liturgical garments; amo ...

. Over the centuries, chantries increased in embellishments, often by attracting new donors and chantry priests. Those

feoffee Under the feudal system in England, a feoffee () is a trustee who holds a fief (or "fee"), that is to say an estate in land, for the use of a beneficial owner. The term is more fully stated as a feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner. The use ...

s who could afford to employ them in many cases enjoyed great wealth. Sometimes this led to corruption of the consecrated life expected of clergymen. It also led in general to an accumulation of great wealth and power in the Church, beyond the feudal control of the Crown. This evident amassing of assets was one of the pretexts used by King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

to order the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England. At the time of the Dissolution, chantries were abolished and their assets were sold or granted to persons at the discretion of Henry and his son King

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

, via the

Court of Augmentations Thomas Cromwell established the Court of Augmentations, also called Augmentation Court or simply The Augmentation in 1536, during the reign of King Henry VIII of England. It operated alongside three lesser courts (those of General Surveyors (1540 ...

. Many Tudor businessmen, such as Thomas Bell (1486–1566) of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

, acquired chantries as financial investments for the afterlife, but yielding income streams in the here and now, derived from chantry rents; or the chantry assets could be "unbundled" and sold on piecemeal at a profit. A surviving free-standing chapel is the

Lovekyn Chapel Kingston Grammar School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day school in Kingston upon Thames, England. The school was founded by royal charter in 1561 but can trace its roots back to at least the 13th century.

at Kingston upon Thames, within what is now Kingston Grammar School. The

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

chapel was founded in 1309 and is no longer used for religious services.

Mass for the dead

The Christian practices of prayer and offering mass for the repose of the

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

of a deceased person are recorded as early as the 3rd and 4th centuries respectively. The custom of having quantities of masses offered for the dead is first recorded in the early 7th century, in connection with the developing understanding of transferable spiritual credit and clerical

stipends A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

. By around the year 700 the practice had emerged across

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

of priests saying multiple masses simultaneously, driving the proliferation of side altars. The most common form was the ''anniversarium'' or ''missa annualis'', a mass said annually on the anniversary of a person's death. At the Council of Attigny in 765, about 40 abbots and bishops agreed to say mass and recite the

psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

for the repose of the souls of their deceased brethren. Ninth-century France and England have records of numerous such undertakings between monasteries and churches, whereby they would offer prayers for the souls of deceased members of each other's communities. Before the year 1000 in Italy, France and England, parishes extended the benefits of such facilities to the

laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...

. Kings and great magnates asked for prayers for their souls in the monasteries they had founded.

Origin of chantries

Current theory described by Colvin (2000) locates the origins of the chantry in the rapid expansion of regular monasteries in the 11th century. The abbey of

Cluny Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon. The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in ...

and its hundreds of daughter houses were central to this: the

Cluniac Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter, Saints Peter and Saint Paul, Paul. The abbey was constructed ...

order emphasised an elaborate liturgy as the centre of its common life, developing an unrivalled liturgy for the dead and offering its benefits to its patrons. By the 1150s, the order had so many demands for masses for the dead that

Peter the Venerable Peter the Venerable ( – 25 December 1156), also known as Peter of Montboissier, was the abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Cluny. He has been honored as a saint though he was never canonized in the Middle Ages. Since in 1862 Pope Pius IX co ...

placed a moratorium on further endowments. Other monastic orders benefited from this movement, but similarly became burdened by commemoration. The history of the Cistercian house of Bordesley (Worcestershire), a royal abbey, demonstrates this: in the mid-12th century, it offered the services of two priest monks, presumably to say mass, for the soul of

Robert de Stafford Robert de Stafford () (''alias'' Robert de Tosny/Toeni, etc.) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, a member of the House of Tosny and the first feudal baron of Stafford in Staffordshire in England, where he probably built a baronial castle. His man ...

; between 1162 and 1173, it offered the services of an additional six monks for the souls of Earl Hugh of Chester and his family. This sort of dedication of prayers towards particular individuals was a step towards the institutional chantry.Colvin, H.A. (2000). "The Origin of Chantries". ''Journal of Medieval History'', ''26'', 163–173. Crouch (2001) points to the parallel development of communities or colleges of secular priests or canons as another theory of influence on the evolution of the chantry. Such communities were not monastic foundations: although members lived a similar lifestyle to monks they differed in that their monastic rule was relaxed to allow preaching and ministry, beyond the confines of their institution, to the population at large. Like the monasteries, they offered dedicated prayers for the dead. An example is the collegiate church of

Marwell Marwell Zoo is a zoo situated in Colden Common near Winchester, in the English county of Hampshire. It is owned and run by the registered charity Marwell Wildlife. The zoo is home to over 500 animals of 145 species. The charity undertakes a ...

(Hampshire), founded by Bishop Henry of Winchester in the early 1160s. The priests of the college were to pray for the souls of the bishops of Winchester and kings of England. Gradually perpetual masses for the dead were delegated to one altar and one secular priest within a greater church.Crouch, D. (2001). "The origin of chantries: Some further Anglo-Norman evidence". ''Journal of Medieval History'', ''27'', 159–180

Royal endowments

The family of King

Henry II of England Henry II () was King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with the ...

(1154–1189) contributed greatly to religious patronage. Henry II founded at least one daily mass for his soul by his gift of the manor of Lingoed in Gwent to

Dore Abbey Dore Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey in the village of Abbey Dore in the Golden Valley, Herefordshire, England. A large part of the original medieval building has been used since the 16th century as the parish church, with remaining parts e ...

in Herefordshire; he provided for the services in perpetuity of four monk-priests. In 1183 the king lost his eldest son,

Henry the Young King Henry the Young King (28 February 1155 – 11 June 1183) was the eldest son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine to survive childhood. In 1170, he became titular King of England, Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and Maine. Henry th ...

. In 1185 his third son,

Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany Geoffrey II (; , ; 23 September 1158 – 19 August 1186) was Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond between 1181 and 1186, through his marriage to Constance, Duchess of Brittany. Geoffrey was the fourth of five sons of Henry II of England and El ...

, died in a

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

near Paris. Henry II commemorated his sons by founding what resembled the classic institutional chantry: he endowed altars and priests at

Rouen Cathedral Rouen Cathedral () is a Catholic church architecture, church in Rouen, Normandy, France. It is the Episcopal see, see of the Archbishop of Rouen, Primate of Normandy. It is famous for its three towers, each in a different style. The cathedral, b ...

in perpetuity for the soul of the young Henry. King Philip II of France endowed priests at the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris for the soul of Duke Geoffrey. John, Count of Mortain, the youngest son of Henry II, also created chantry-like foundations: in 1192 he endowed the collegiate church of

Bakewell Bakewell is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, known for Bakewell pudding. It lies on the River Wye, Derbyshire, River Wye, 15 miles (23 km) south-west of Sheffield. It is the largest se ...

in Derbyshire for the establishment of a

prebend A prebendary is a member of the Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the choir ...

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Chad in Lichfield, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Lichfield, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Lichfield and the principal church of the diocese ...

; the holder was to celebrate mass in perpetuity for John's soul. The concept of the institutional chantry thus developed in the 1180s within English and French royal circles, which were wealthy enough to endow them. In non-royal society, the first perpetual mass was endowed by Richard FitzReiner,

Sheriff of the City of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

, in his private chapel within his manor of Broad Colney in Hertfordshire. He established it by the terms of his last testament in 1191, and the chantry was operational in 1212. A close associate of the Angevin royal court, FitzReiner may have adopted its religious practice.

Provision in later medieval England

Analysis of later medieval wills has shown that the chantry appeared in many forms. A perpetual chantry consisted of one or more priests, in a private free-standing chapel, usually licensed by the local bishop (such as the surviving one at

Noseley Noseley is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 204. The name derives from the Old English ''NOTHWULF'' (male personal name) and ''LEAH'' (woodlan ...

, Leicestershire) or in an aisle of a greater church. If chantries were in religious communities, they were sometimes headed by a warden or archpriest. Such chantries generally had constitutions directing the terms by which priests might be appointed and how they were to be supervised. The perpetual chantry was the most prestigious and expensive option for the wealthy burgess or nobleman. A lesser option was the endowment of a fixed-term chantry, to fund masses sung by one or two priests at a side altar. Terms ranging from one to ten years were more common than the perpetual variety of chantry.

Abolition of Chantries Acts, 1545 and 1547

Following the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

in England initiated by King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement wit ...

, Parliament passed an Act in 1545 which defined chantries as representing misapplied funds and misappropriated lands. The Act provided that all chantries and their properties would thenceforth belong to the King for as long as he should live. In conjunction with the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Act helped to finance the war with France. Because Henry lived for only two years after the Act was passed, few chantries were closed or transferred to him. His young son and successor, King

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his third wife, Jane Se ...

, signed a new Act in 1547, which ended 2,374 chantries and guild chapels and seized their assets; it also instituted inquiries to determine all of their possessions. Although the Act required the money to go to "charitable" ends and the "public good", most of it appears to have gone to friends of the Court. The Crown sold many chantries to private citizens; for example, in 1548 Thomas Bell of Gloucester purchased at least five in his city. The Act provided that the Crown had to guarantee a pension to all chantry priests displaced by its implementation. An example of the fate of an abolished chantry is St Anne's Chapel in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

, Devon: its assets were acquired by the

Mayor of Barnstaple The Mayor of Barnstaple together with the Corporation long governed the historic Borough of Barnstaple, in North Devon, England. The seat of government was the Barnstaple Guildhall. The mayor served a term of one year. He was elected annually on t ...

and others in 1585, some time after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The deed of

feoffment In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of t ...

dated 1 November 1585 exists in the George Grant Francis collection in Swansea, summarised as follows:

(i) Robert Appley the elder, Robert Cade, Hugh Brasyer and Richard Wetheridge of Barnestaple to: (ii) William Plamer, mayor of Barnestaple, Richard Dodderidge, Roger Cade, Symon Monngey, Robert Appley the younger, Robert Pronze (Prouse?), Roger Beaple, George Pyne, gent., Jacob Wescombe, Gilbert Hareys, Robert Marlen, Thomas Mathewe, James Beaple, George Baker, James Downe, William Bayly, John Collybeare, Robert Collybeare, and John Knyll of Barnestaple; 1 Chancery and Chapel of St Anne lately dissolved in Barnestaple with 1 house with land belonging to the late Chancery and Chapel; also 1 house and land in Barnestaple which John Littlestone of Barnestaple, merchant, and John Buddle, potter, granted to (i).

One of the most significant effects of the chantries, and the most significant loss resulting from their suppression, was educational, as chantry priests had provided education.

Katherine, Lady Berkeley Katherine Berkeley, Lady Berkeley (born Katherine de Clevedon; 1300s – 13 March 1385) was an English benefactor and school founder in Gloucestershire. In 1384 she obtained a royal licence for a chantry school that today is called the Kathari ...

had founded the first chantry school in 1384. Since chantry priests were not ordinaries, nor did they offer public masses, they could serve their communities in other ways. When King Edward VI closed the chantries, priests were displaced who had previously taught the urban poor and rural residents; afterwards, local residents suffered greatly diminished access to education for their children. Some of the chantries were converted into

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

s named after King Edward.

Royal peculiar A royal peculiar is a Church of England parish or church exempt from the jurisdiction of the diocese and the province in which it lies, and subject to the direct jurisdiction of the monarch. Definition The church parish system dates from the ea ...

s were not covered by any of the above Acts of Parliament, so were not abolished. Most declined over time, until the jurisdiction of almost all was abolished in the 19th century. Some royal peculiars survive, including

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

and

St George's Chapel, Windsor St George's Chapel, formally titled The King's Free Chapel of the College of St George, Windsor Castle, at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a Royal Peculiar (a church und ...

. Historian A. G. Dickens has concluded: :To Catholic opinion, the problem set by these legal confiscations ... asthe disappearance of a large clerical society from their midst, the silencing of masses, the rupture of both visible and spiritual ties, which over so many centuries have linked rude provincial men with the great world of the Faith. In taking an essentially religious view of these events, these Englishmen seem to the present writer to have had every justification. ... The

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

dissolution exerted its profounder effects in the field of religion. In large part it proved destructive, for while it helped to debar a revival of Catholic devotion it clearly contains elements which injured the reputation of Protestantism.Dickens, A. G. (1964). ''The English Reformation'', p 217

References

Sources

* Burgess, C. (1987). "By quick and by dead: Wills and pious provision in late medieval Bristol". ''English Historical Review'', ''102'', 837–858. * Duffy, E. (1993). ''The Stripping of the Altars'', New Haven, CT. * Chantry, N. ''The House of Odsal''. * Roffey, S. (2007). ''The Medieval Chantry Chapel: an archaeological approach'', Woodbridge: Boydell. * Sicard, D. (1978). "La liturgie de la mort dans l'église latine des origines à la réforme carolingienne". ''Liturgiewissenschaftliche Quellen und Forschungen'', ''63'', 174–202. * Treffort, C. (1996). ''L'église carolingienne et la mort'' Lyon, FR. * Wood-Legh, K.L. (1965). ''Perpetual Chantries in Britain'', Cambridge, UK.

External links

*
"London and Middlesex Chantry Certificate"
Certificate issued in 1548 by King Edward's royal commissioners, preparatory to the dissolution of chantries and similar institutions. {{Authority control Chapels Christianity and death Wills and trusts