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CATHEDRAL

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 521 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CATHEDRAL , more correctly " cathedral See also:

church " (ecdesia cathedralis), the church which contains the See also:official " seat " or See also:throne of a bishop—cathedra, one. of the Latin names for this, giving us the See also:adjective " cathedral." The adjective has gradually, for briefness of speech, assumed the See also:character of a substantive, but though an instance of this (strictly incorrect) use of the word as a substantive has been found as far back as 1587, it became See also:common only at the end of the 18th, or first See also:half of the 19th, See also:century. One of the earliest instances of the See also:term See also:ecclesia cathedralis is said to occur in the acts of the See also:council of See also:Tarragona in 516. Another name for a cathedral church is ecclesia mater, indicating that it is the See also:mother church. As being the one important church, it was also known as ecclesia See also:major. This is the formal expression used by See also:Archbishop See also:Walter See also:Gray of See also:York (1216–1255), and it is preserved in See also:modern times by the name of " La Majeure," by which the old cathedral church of See also:Marseilles is popularly known. Again, as the See also:chief See also:house of See also:God, the cathedral church was the Domus Dei, and from this name the See also:German Domkirche, or Dom, is derived, as also the See also:Swedish Domkyrka, and the See also:Italian Duomo. See also:History and Organization.—It was See also:early decreed that the cathedra of a See also:bishop was not to be placed in the church of a See also:village, but only in that of a See also:city. There was no difficulty as to this on the See also:continent of See also:Europe, where towns were numerous, and where the cities were the natural centres from which See also:Christianity was diffused among the See also:people who inhabited the surrounding districts. In the See also:British islands, however, the See also:case was different; towns were few, and owing to other causes, instead of exercising See also:jurisdiction over definite areas or districts, many of the bishops were bishops of tribes or peoples, as the bishops of the See also:south See also:Saxons, the See also:west Saxons, the Somersaetas and others. The cathedra of such a bishop was often migratory, and was at times placed in one church, and then another, and sometimes in the church of a village. In 1075 a council was held in See also:London, under the See also:presidency of Archbishop See also:Lanfranc, which, reciting the decrees of the council of See also:Sardica held in 347 and that of See also:Laodicea held in 360 on this See also:matter, ordered the bishop of the south Saxons to remove his see from Selsey to See also:Chichester; the Wilts and See also:Dorset bishop to remove his cathedra from See also:Sherborne to Old Sarum, and the Mercian bishop, whose cathedra was then at See also:Lichfield, to See also:transfer it to See also:Chester. Traces of the tribal and migratory See also:system may still be noted in the designations of the Irish see of See also:Meath (where the result has been that there is now no cathedral church) and See also:Ossory, the cathedral church of which is at See also:Kilkenny.

Some of the Scottish See also:

sees were also migratory. By the See also:canon See also:law the bishop is regarded as the pastor of the cathedral church, the parochia of which is his See also:diocese. In view of this, canonists speak of the cathedral church as the one church of the diocese, and all others are deemed chapels in their relation to it. Occasionally two churches jointly See also:share the distinction of containing the bishop's cathedra. In such case they are said to be See also:con-cathedral in relation to each other. Instances of this occurred in See also:England before the See also:Reformation in the dioceses of See also:Bath and See also:Wells, and of See also:Coventry and Lichfield. Hence the See also:double titles of those dioceses. In See also:Ireland an example occurs at See also:Dublin, where See also:Christ Church and St See also:Patrick's are jointly the cathedral churches of that diocese. In See also:France the bishop of Couserans (a see suppressed at the Revolution) had two con-cathedral churches at St Lizier, and the bishop of Sisteron (a see also suppressed) had a second throne in the church of Forcalquier which is still called " La Con-cathedrale." Other instances might be named. In the case of York the collegiate churches of See also:Beverley, See also:Ripon and See also:Southwell were almost in the same position, but although the archbishop had a See also:stall in each he had no diocesan cathedra in them, and the chapters were not See also:united with that of the metropolitical church in the See also:direct See also:government of the diocese, or the See also:election of the archbishop, nor had they those other rights which were held to denote the cathedral character of a church. Cathedral churches are reckoned as of different degrees of dignity: (r) the See also:simple cathedral church of a diocesan bishop, (2) the metropolitical church to which the other diocesan cathedral churches of a See also:province are See also:suffragan, (3) the primatial church under which are ranged metropolitical churches and their provinces, (4) patriarchal churches to which primatial, metro-See also:political, and simple cathedral churches alike owe See also:allegiance. The See also:title of " See also:primate " was occasionally conferred on metropolitans of sees of See also:great dignity or importance, such as See also:Canterbury, York, See also:Rouen, &c., whose cathedral churches remained simply metropolitical.

See also:

Lyons, where the cathedral church is still known as " La Primatiale," and See also:Lund in See also:Sweden, may be cited as instances of churches which were really primatial. Lyons had the archbishops of See also:Sens and See also:Paris and their provincial dioceses subject to it till the Revolution, and Lund had the archbishop of See also:Upsala and his province subject to it. As with the title of primate, so also that of " See also:patriarch " has been conferred on sees such as See also:Venice and See also:Lisbon, the cathedral churches of which are patriarchal in name alone. The cathedral church of St See also:John Lateran, the cathedral church of the See also:pope as bishop of See also:Rome and patriarch of the West, alone in western Europe possesses potentially a patriarchal character. Its formal designation is " Patriarchalis See also:Basilica, Sacrosancla See also:Romana Cathedralis Ecclesia Lateranensis." The removal of a bishop's cathedra from a church deprives that church of its cathedral dignity, although often the name clings in common speech, as for example at See also:Antwerp, which was deprived of its bishop at the See also:French Revolution. The history of the See also:body of See also:clergy attached to the cathedral church is obscure, and as in each case See also:local considerations affected its development, all that can be attempted is to give a See also:general outline of the See also:main features which were more or less common to all. Originally the bishop and cathedral clergy formed a See also:kind of religious community, which, in no true sense a monastery, was nevertheless often called a monasterium. The word had not the restricted meaning which it afterwards acquired. Hence the apparent See also:anomaly that churches like York and See also:Lincoln, which never had any monks attached to them, have inherited the name of See also:minster or monastery. In these early communities the clergy often lived apart in their own dwellings, and were not infrequently married. In the 8th century, however, Chrodegang, bishop of See also:Metz (743-766), compiled a See also:code of rules for the clergy of the cathedral churches, which, though widely accepted in See also:Germany and other parts of the continent, gained little See also:acceptance in England. According to Chrodegang's See also:rule the cathedral clergy were to live under a common roof, occupy a common See also:dormitory and submit to the authority of a See also:special officer.

The rule of Chrodegang was, in fact, a modification of the See also:

Benedictine rule. Gisa, a native of See also:Lorraine, who was bishop of Wells from io6r to ro88, introduced it into England, and imposed its observance on the clergy of his cathedral church, ebut it was not followed for See also:long there, or elsewhere in England. During the two centuries, roughly bounded by the years 900 and zroo, the cathedral clergy became more definitely organized, and were also divided into two classes. One was that of a monastic See also:establishment of some recognized See also:order of monks, very often that of the See also:Benedictines, while the other class was that of a See also:college of clergy, living in the See also:world, and See also:bound by no vows, except those of their ordination, but governed by a code of statutes or canons. Hence the name of " canon " given to them. In this way arose the distinction between the monastic and See also:secular cathedral churches. In England the monastic cathedral churches were Bath, Canterbury, See also:Carlisle, Coventry, See also:Durham, See also:Ely, See also:Norwich, See also:Rochester, See also:Winchester and See also:Worcester, all of them Benedictine except Carlisle, which was a church of See also:Augustinians. The secular churches were Chichester, See also:Exeter, See also:Hereford, Lichfield, Lincoln, St See also:Paul's (London), See also:Salisbury, Wells, York, and the four Welsh cathedral churches. In Ireland all were secular except Christ Church, Dublin (Augustinian), and Down (Benedictine), and none, even in their earliest days, were ever, it is believed, churches of recognized orders of monks, except the two named. In See also:Scotland St See also:Andrew's was Augustinian, See also:Elgin (or See also:Moray), See also:Glasgow and See also:Aberdeen were always secular, and ordered on the See also:models of Lincoln and Salisbury. See also:Brechin had a community of See also:Culdees till 1372, when a secular See also:chapter was constituted. The cathedral church of See also:Galloway, at See also:Whithorn, of See also:English See also:foundation, was a church of Praemonstratensians.

In Germany, as in England, many of the cathedral churches were monastic. In See also:

Denmark all seem to have been Benedictine at first, except See also:Borglum, which was Praemonstratensian till the Reformation. The others were changed to churches of secular canons. In Sweden, Upsala was originally Benedictine, but was secularized about 1250, and it was ordered that each of the cathedral churches of Sweden should have a chapter of at least fifteen secular canons. In France monastic chapters were very common, but nearly all the monastic cathedral churches there had been changed to churches of secular canons before the 17th century. One of the latest to be so changed was that of Seez, in See also:Normandy, which was Augustinian till 1547, when Pope Paul III. dispensed the members from their vows, and constituted them a chapter of secular canons. The chapter of Senez was monastic till 1647, and others perhaps even later, but the See also:majority were secularized about the See also:time of the Reformation. In the case of monastic cathedral churches there were no dignitaries, the See also:internal government was that of the order to which the chapter belonged, and all the members kept perpetual See also:residence. The See also:reverse of this was the case with the secular chapters; the dignities of See also:provost, See also:dean, See also:precentor, See also:chancellor, treasurer, &c., soon came into being, for the regulation and See also:good order of the church and its services, while the non-residence of the canons, rather than their perpetual residence, became the rule, and led to their duties being performed by a body of " vicars," who officiated for them at the services of the church. Abroad, the earliest See also:head of a secular church seems to have been the provost (praepositus, Probst, &c.), who was charged, not only with the internal regulation of the church, and oversight of the members of the chapter and See also:control of the services, but was also the steward or See also:seneschal of the lands and possessions of the church. The latter often mainly engaged his See also:attention, to the neglect of his domestic and ecclesiastical duties, and complaints were soon raised that the provost was too much mixed in worldly affairs, and was too frequently absent from his spiritual duties. This led, in many cases, to the institution of a new officer called the " dean," who had See also:charge of that portion of the provost's duties which related to the internal discipline of the chapter and the services of the church.

In some cases the See also:

office of provost was abolished, but in others it was continued, the provost, who was also occasionally See also:archdeacon as well, remaining head of the chapter. This arrangement was most commonly followed in Germany. In England the provost was almost unknown. Bishop Gisa introduced a provost as head of the chapter of Wells, but the office was afterwards subordinated to the other dignities, and the provost became simply the steward of certain' of the prebendal lands. The provost of the collegiate church of Beverley was the most notable instance of such an officer in England, but at Beverley he was an See also:external officer with no authority in the government of the church, no stall in the See also:choir and no See also:vote in chapter. The provost of See also:Eton, introduced by See also:Henry VI., occupied a position most nearly approaching that of a See also:foreign cathedral provost. In Germany and in Scandinavia, and in a few of the cathedral churches in the south of France, the provost was the See also:ordinary head of the cathedral chapter, but the office was not common elsewhere. As regards France, of one See also:hundred and See also:thirty-six cathedral churches existing at the Revolution, thirty-eight only, and those either on the See also:borders of Germany or in the extreme south, had a provost as the head of the chapter. In others the provost existed as a subordinate officer. There were two provosts at See also:Autun, and Lyons and See also:Chartres had four each, all as subordinate See also:officers. The normal constitution of the chapter of a secular cathedral church comprised four dignitaries (there might be more), in addition to the canons. The dean (decanus)seems to have derived his designation from the Benedictine dean who had ten monks under his charge.

The dean, as already noted, came into existence to See also:

supply the See also:place of the provost in the internal management of the church and chapter. In England the dean was the head of all the secular cathedral churches, and was originally elected by the chapter and confirmed in office by the bishop. He is See also:president of the chapter, and in church has charge of the due performance of the services, taking specified portions of them by See also:statute on the See also:principal festivals. He sits in the chief stall in the choir, which is usually the first on the right See also:hand on entering the choir at the west. Next to the dean (as a rule) is the precentor (primicerius, cantor, &c.), whose special See also:duty is that of regulating the musical portion of the services He presides in the dean's See also:absence, and occupies the corresponding stall on the See also:left See also:side, although there are exceptions to this rule, where, as at St Paul's, the archdeacon of the cathedral city ranks second and occupies what is usually the precentor's stall. The third dignitary is the chancellor (scholasticus, ecoldtre, capiscol, magistral, &c.), who must not be confounded with the chancellor of the diocese. The chancellor of the cathedral church is charged with the oversight of its See also:schools, ought to read divinity lectures, and superintend the lections in the choir and correct slovenly readers. He is often the secretary and librarian of the chapter. In the absence of the dean and precentor he is president of the chapter. The easternmost stall, on the dean's side of the choir, is usually assigned to him. The See also:fourth dignitary is the treasurer (custos, sacrista, cheficier). He is See also:guardian of the fabric, and of all the See also:furniture and ornaments of the church, and his duty was to provide See also:bread and See also:wine for the See also:eucharist, and candles and See also:incense, and he regulated such matters as the ringing of the bells.

The treasurer's stall is opposite to that of the chancellor. These four dignitaries, occupying the four corner stalls in the choir, are called in many of the statutes the " quatuor majores personae " of the church. In many cathedral churches there were additional dignitaries, as the praelector, subdean, See also:

vice-chancellor, succentor-canonicorum, and others, who came into existence to supply the places of the other absent dignitaries, for non-residence was the fatal blot of the secular churches, and in this they contrasted very badly with themonastic churches, where all the members were in continuous residence. Besides the dignitaries there were the ordinary canons, each of whom, as a rule, held a See also:separate prebend or endowment, besides receiving his share of the common funds of the church. For the most See also:part the canons also speedily became non-See also:resident, and this led to the distinction of residentiary and non-residentiary canons, till 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 his own See also:vicar, who sat in his stall in his absence, and when the canon was See also:present, in the stall immediately below, on the second See also: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. Abroad they were often called demi-prebendaries, and they formed the bas chceur 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. 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 consilium which he was bound to consult on all important matters and without doing so he could not See also:act. Thus, a judicial decision of a bishop needed the See also:confirmation of the chapter before it could be enforced.

He could not See also:

change the service books, or " use " of the church or diocese, without capitular consent, and there are many episcopal acts, such as the See also:appointment of a diocesan chancellor, or vicar general, which still need confirmation by the chapter, but the older theory of the chapter as the bishop's council in ruling the diocese has become a thing of the past, not in England only, but on the continent also. In its corporate capacity the chapter takes charge sede vacante of a diocese. In England, however (except as regards Salisbury and Durham), this See also: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. All the English monastic cathedral chapters were dissolved by Henry VIII., and, except Bath and Coventry, were refounded by him as churches of secular chapters, with a dean as the head, and a certain number of canons ranging from twelve at Canterbury and Durham to four at Carlisle, and with certain subordinate officers as See also:minor canons, gospellers, epistolers, &c. The precentor-See also:ship in these churches of the " New Foundation," as they are called, is not, as in the secular churches of the " Old Foundation," a dignity, but is merely an office held by one of the minor canons. English cathedral churches, at the present See also:day, may be classed under four heads: (I) the old secular cathedral churches of the " Old Foundation," enumerated in the earlier part of this See also:article; (2) the churches of the " New Foundation " of Henry VIII., which are the monastic churches already specified, with the exception of Bath and Coventry; (3) the cathedral churches of bishoprics founded by Henry VIII., viz. See also:Bristol, Chester, See also:Gloucester, See also:Oxford and See also:Peterborough (the constitution of the chapters of which corresponds to those of the New Foundation); (4) modern cathedral churches of sees founded since 1836, viz. (a) See also:Manchester, Ripon and Southwell, formerly collegiate churches of secular canons; (b) St Albans and See also:Southwark, originally monastic churches; (c) See also:Truro, See also:Newcastle and See also:Wakefield, formerly See also:parish churches, (d) See also:Birmingham and See also:Liverpool, originally See also:district churches. The ruined cathedral church of the diocese of Sodor (i.e. the See also:Southern Isles) and See also:Man, at See also:Peel in the latter See also:island, appears never to have had a chapter of clergy attached to it. AVTu0RITIE3 --Frances, De ecclesiis eathedratibus (Venice, 1698) ; Bordenave. L'Estat See also:des eglises cathedrales (Paris, 1643) ; See also:Van Espen, Supplement III., cap.

5 ; Hericourt, See also:

Les Loix ecclesiastiques de France (Paris, 1756) ; La France ecclesiastique (Paris, 1790) ; Daugaard, Om de Danske Klostre i Middelalderen (See also:Copenhagen, 1830) ; See also:Hinschius, Das Kirchenrecht der Katholiken u. Protestanten in Deutschland, ii. (See also:Berlin, 1878) ; See also:Walcott, Cathed,ralia (London, 1865); See also:Freeman, Cathedral Church of Wells (London, 187o) ; See also:Benson, The Cathedral (London, 1878) ; See also:Bradshaw and See also:Wordsworth, Lincoln Cathedral Statutes (Camb., 1894). (T. M. F.) See also:Architecture.—From the architectural point of view there is no special treatment as regards dimensions-or See also:style for a cathedral other than that required for a church or See also:abbey, as there are cases when the former are comparatively small buildings (like the old cathedral at See also:Athens), and some parish churches and abbeys are larger than many cathedrals. In See also:recent times, indeed, some English abbeys or minsters, such as those of Ripon, Manchester, St Albans and Southwell, partly on See also:account of their dimensions, have been raised to the See also:rank of cathedrals, in consequence of the demand for additional sees ; others, such as those of Bristol, Gloucester, Ox-See also:ford, Chester and Peterborough, be-came cathedrals only on the See also:dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.

End of Article: CATHEDRAL

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