The Medieval Church in the Isles, Part 9: Chantries and lay piety

Up to the middle of the 14th century, the chief target for the rich to donate their wealth was monasteries.  A series of events and changes in doctrine beginning in mid-13th century led to a switch in practice.  Rome began to place more emphasis on the saving power of the Mass, on the doctrine (not a dogma until 1547) of purgatory, and on the doctrine (not a dogma until 1551) of transubtantiation.  This coupled with these were a series of political and natural upheavals and disasters punctuated by the arrival of the Black Plague in the mid-1300s to bring about the change.

Additional contributing factors were the growth of independent towns and burghs with their merchant and craft guilds and the rise of confraternities and sodalities.

Doctrine of Purgatory

Basically, this doctrine (dogma after 1547) taught that between the Church Militant “here in earth” and the Church Triumphant in heaven, the Church Expectant waited in a waystation called Purgatory to be cleansed of their sins and made pure before joining the Church Triumphant.  Prayers of both the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant could help those in Purgatory on the way, and the best way for people in the Church Militant to do that was to endow a benefice for daily Mass.

On a less cynical note, there was sincere tremendous belief amongst those who established chantries, and this was for them an opportunity to do their part to add to the earthly glory of God.

Enter the chantry or altarage

This type of endowment was called a chantry in England and Ireland, from cantare, the Latin for ‘to sing’.  In Scotland, it was called an altarage.  It paid for, usually, daily Mass to be sung or said (or both, in some cases) on behalf of the benefactor and his, her, or their (some endowments were set up by groups) living relatives and those in purgatory.

These types of endowments had existed long before they were so named as donations to monasteries and at proprietary and bridge chapels, but they were not called chantries.  In addition, their locus switched to cathedrals, collegiate churches, and large parishes, though sometimes they were set up at small parishes to induce a priest’s residence.

Though occasionally establishing a chantry at an already existing altar, a chantry often endowed a new altar, and sometimes a new chapel or aisle for the new altar to stand in, leading to a growth in church architecture.

In the Late Middle Ages, chantry foundations often stipulated funds for grammar schools attached to the corporate religious institution in question, to set up chaplains for hospitals or jails, for a chaplain to serve a cure at a rural or field church or chapel, or for the establishment of an almshouse.

Several historians note that the chantry system in England supported more and better grammar schools than what came after the Reformation.  In addition, while the schools at monasteries primarily served the nobility and other gentry, the chantry schools served mostly the middle and working class students. 

There were more than 300 chantry schools at the time of the Reformation when chantries were abolished along with their schools, which also led to the destruction of the guilds which played so much a part of the civil as well as religious life of the Late Middle Ages.

In the early decades, chantries or altarages were established by lords and barons or secular clergy, but as the Late Middle Ages progressed, non-noble gentry and even impoverished laity came together in guilds, confraternities, and sodalities to accomplish the task collectively.  An excellent example is the Merchant Guild of Edinburgh, which endowed the Holy Blood Aisle with its altar dedicated to the Holy Blood cared for by the Confraternity of the Holy Blood.

Most chantry foundations stipulated being for a single priest, but those for up to four were not unheard of, in some cases even demanding forty on the anniversary of a death.

Difference between chantry and obit

A chantry included daily mass at the very least, and these became more and more intricate until the Reformation, as noted above.  An obit was an endowment for prayer and Mass on the anniversary of death, usually including specification for the singing of Dirige and Placebo (Matins and Vespers from the Office of the Dead).

Types of chantry endowment

The endowment for a chantry or altarage was set up in one of three ways.

This most common way, at least in the beginning, was an endowment of an independent benefice for a chaplain or chaplains in much the same way a parish or prebend was endowed to its parson.

The other way in the early decades was to endow a corporate body (i.e., a cathedral, a collegiate church, or occasionally a parish), which would then pay a stipend to a priest.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, it become more common to endow of a committee of trustees separate from the corporate institution to supervise the dispatch of its instructions.

One might wonder what would lead the corporate body to welcome the cantarist, but all chaplains and altar-thanes were usually required to take part in singing the canonical hours at the church in which their chantry or altarage was established.  Besides, the prebendaries were in some cases themselves the chaplain for a chantry.

Advowson for chantries or altarages

Mercenary:  In this type chantry, the endowment remained separate from the corporate institution and under the control of the founder or his trustees along with the advowson regarding the cantarist, who only received a small stipend for his work.  Often these were set up to last only a limited number of years.

Collative:  In this type chantry, the endowment was made to an institution, with the bishop having the advowson for appointment of its chaplain.

In private patronage:  In this type chantry, the endowment was also to an institution, but with the patron having the advowson for the cantarist.

In cases where the income from a chantry foundation was insufficient for its incumbent, two or even three chantries were united under a single priest.

Lincoln Cathedral

Lincoln Cathedral was the see of the Diocese of Lincoln, the largest in England during the High and Late Middle Ages.  The diocese originated from the union of the (second) Diocese of Dorchester and the Diocese of Lindsey, the two largest divisions of the former Diocese of Mercia.

Seventeen chapels were established by chantry foundations, in alphabetical order by dedication.

1.  Chapel of the Holy Trinity
2.  Chapel of Our Lady
3.  Chapel of St. Andrew
4.  Chapel of St. Anne
5.  Chapel of St. Blaise
6.  Chapel of St. Denys
7.  Chapel of St. Giles
8.  Chapel of St. Hugh
9.  Chapel of St. James
10.  Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene
11.  Chapel of St. Michael
12.  Chapel of St. Katherine
13.  Chapel of St. Peter
14.  Chapel of St. Stephen
15.  Chapel of St. John the Evangelist
16.  Chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr
17.  Longland’s Chapel

The following are the altars of Lincoln Cathedral, beginning with the high altar and its dedication, followed by the auxiliary altars in alphabetical order.

1.  St. Peter and St. Paul
2.  Holy Rood
3.  Holy Trinity
4.  The Irons
5.  Jesus
6.  Our Lady
7.  Peal
8.  St. Andrew
9.  St. Anne
10.  St. Blaise
11.  St. Christopher
12.  St. Denys
13.  St. George
14.  St. Giles
15.  St. Guthlac
16.  St. Hugh
17.  St. James
18.  St. John the Baptist
19.  St. Katharine
20.  St. Lucy
21.  St. Mary Magdalene
22.  St. Michael the Archangel
23.  St. Nicholas
24.  St. Peter
25.  St. Sebastian
26.  St. Stephen
27.  St. John the Evangelist
28.  St. Thomas the Martyr

St. Giles’ Collegiate Church, Edinburgh

The history of St. Giles’ follows in the next part/chapter; here it is sufficient to point out that although physically it may not have been the largest, it had by far the most chapels (21) and auxiliary altars (45) of any church in the Isles, as well as (probably) the most chantries (at least 54) and obits.

At St. Giles, the titles chapel and aisle were apparently apparently used interchangeably, which in the case of the aisles would be okay since they are aisle chapels, but several of those designated aisle were actually chapels closed off or at least definitively separated from the nave and the quire.

1.  Albany Aisle
2.  Chapel of All Saints, St. Thomas of Canterbury, and St. Apollonia (aka Lawson’s Aisle)
3.  Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Lady Aisle)
4.  Chapel of the Holy Cross (Holy Rood Aisle)
5.  Chapel of St. James the Apostle
6.  Chapel of St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist
7.  Chapel of Our Lady and St. Gabriel the Archangel
8.  Chapel of St. Crispin and St. Crispinian
9.  Chapel of St. Duthac
10.  Chapel of St. Eloi
11.  Chapel of St. Ninian
12.  Chepman Aisle (aka Montrose Aisle; dedicated to St. John the Evangelist)
13.  Holy Blood Aisle (aka Caithness Aisle)
14.  Moray Aisle (South Transept)
15.  Preston Aisle (dedicated to St. Thomas the Martyr)
16.  St. Anthony’s Aisle
17.  St. Catherine’s Aisle
18.  St. Salvator’s Aisle
19.  St. Gabriel’s Aisle
20.  St. Nicholas Aisle
21.  St. Stephen’s Aisle

The altars of St. Giles’ stood in almost every section, nook, and cranny of the church.

1.  St. Giles
2.  All Saints, St. Thomas the Apostle, and St. Apollonia the Virgin
3.  The Ascension of Our Lord and St. Erasmus
4.  Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Barnabas
5.  Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Gabriel the Archangel
6.  Holy Blood of Our Lord
7.  Holy Cross
8.  Holy Name of Jesus
9.  Holy Rood
10.  Holy Trinity
11.  Our Lady of Pity and St. Paul
12.  St. Andrew and St. Peter
13.  St. Anne
14.  St. Anthony
15.  St. Bartholomew
16.  St. Blaise, St. Augustine, and the Holy Name of Jesus
17.  St. Catherine
18.  St. Christopher
19.  St. Crispin and St. Crispinian
20.  St. Columba, St. Martin, and St. Thomas of Canterbury
21.  St. Cuthbert
22.  St. Denis
23.  St. Duthac
24.  St. Eloi
25.  St. Fabian and St. Sebastian
26.  St. Francis and St. Patrick
27.  St. Gabriel the Archangel and St. Jerome
28.  St. Hubert
29.  St. James the Apostle and St. Gregory the Great
30.  St. John the Baptist
31.  St. John the Evangelist
32.  St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist
33.  St. Lawrence the Martyr and St. Francis
34.  St. Mark, St. Philip, and St. James
35.  St. Mary Magdalene
36.  St. Michael the Archangel
37.  St. Mungo/Kentigern
38.  St. Nicholas
39.  St. Ninian
40.  St. Paul
41.  St. Salvator*, Holy Cross of Lucano, Holy Blood, St. Vincent of Lerins, and Our Lady of Loretto
42.  St. Sebastian
43.  St. Severin
44.  St. Stephen
45.  St. Thomas the Martyr
46.  The Visitation of the BVM, St. Roche the Confessor, and St. Triduana

*St. Salvator was the name in Scotland for the Holy Savior, an icon of Christ in Beirut which allegedly survived an attempt by a mob to immolate it, leading its attackers to convert.

The altar and chapel of All Saints, St. Thomas the Apostle, and St. Apollonia the Virgin were originally dually dedicated to the latter two, with a chantry dedication to All Saints prefixed later.

The altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Barnabas was originally dedicated only to St. Mary.

The altar of Our Lady of Pity and St. Paul was originally dedicated only to Our Lady of Pity.

The altar of St. Blaise, St. Augustine, and the Holy Name of Jesus came from three separate dedications.

The altar of St. Columba, St. Martin, and St. Thomas of Canterbury was originally dedicated only to the latter two.

The altar of St. Gabriel the Archangel and St. Jerome was originally only dedicated to the archangel.

The altar of St. James the Apostle and St. Gregory the Great was originally dedicated only to St. James.

The altar of St. Lawrence the Martyr and St. Francis was originally dedicated only to St. Lawrence.

The altar of St. Mark, St. Philip, and St. James was originally dedicated just to the latter two.

The altar of St. Salvator, Holy Cross of Lucano, Holy Blood, St. Vincent of Lerins, and Our Lady of Loretto resulted from five separate dedications.

The altar of the Visitation of the BVM, St. Roche the Confessor, and St. Triduana was originally dedicated to just the former two.

Popular religious cults

Cults in medieval Catholicism meant special devotion to a particular saint or certain aspect of the life of Christ.  In the High Middles Ages in Scotland, these centered exclusively on saints such as St. Columba, St. Andrew, St. Fillan, St. Colman, St. Finbar of Cork, St. Finan of Lindisfarne, St. Cuthbert, St. Mungo, St. Magnus, St. Regulus, St. Bride, and St. Margaret.

By the Late Middle Ages, the cults popular in Scotland were more likely to be those shared in other places across western Christendom, like St. Joseph, St. Anne, the Three Kings, the Apostles, the Five Wounds, Our Lady of the Snows, and the Holy Blood, the latter of which probably saw the most devotion in Scotland in this period.

Lay piety and chantries

While many chantries resulted from the foundations of nobility, gentry, or even royalty as well as from church prelates, others came into being as a result of the collective action of the laity, mostly burgesses, merchants, craftspersons, or artisans organized in guilds.  In the Middle Ages, these guilds always had religious and social service components in addition to their mutual benefit purposes.

The social services provided by these guilds included schools, almshouses, orphanages, hospitals, and centers for distributing food and monetary charity.  Religious activities were often carried out through attached confraternities, usually also called guilds in England, either dedicated to a saint, an event in the life of Christ, or some other religious totem.  Some of these included the Guild of the Lord’s Prayer, the Kalendar Guild, the Corpus Christi Guild, the Guild of the Holy Trinity, the Guild of St. Christopher, the Guild of St. George, the Guild of the Holy Cross, etc.  There were also Confraternities of St. Katharine, Confraternities of All Saints, Confraternities of St. John the Baptist, etc.

In Scotland, the term guild was reserved for merchants, such as the Merchants’ Guild of Edinburgh.  Its associations for craftspeople and artisans were designated trade incorporations.  The religious component of both these sets of associations were generally called confraternities, and, like their English counterparts, were open to both men and women, and not just members of their guild or incorporation.

The Merchants’ Guild of Edinburgh came to have a large voice in the city government in the 15th century, which led to craftspeople and artisans organizing into the city’s trade incorporations.

The most influential of the religious associations that rose up in Edinburgh during this time was the Confraternity of the Holy Blood, sponsored by the Merchants’ Guild, partly due to the guild’s power and influence but really more so due to the popularity of the cult itself.

The trade incorporations and their objections of devotion included

Hammermen:  St. Eloi
Candlemakers:  Our Lady of Pity
Tailors:  St. Anne (mother of St. Mary)
Taveners and Vinters:  St. Anthony
Baxters (Bakers):  St. Hubert
Tanners, Cordwainers, and Shoemakers:  St. Crispin and St. Crispinian
Waulkers, Shearers, and Bonnet-makers:  St. Mark
Goldsmiths:  Our Lady of Loretto
Websters (Weavers):  St. Severin
Masons and Wrights:  St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist
Carpenters and Wood-turners:  St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist
Barbers and Surgeons:  St. Mungo
Skinners and Furriers:  St. Christopher
Fleshers:  St. Cuthbert
Coopers:  St. John the Baptist

In addition, mariners and seamen, who were not organized into a guild or trade incorporation, patronized St. Nicholas.

The Medieval Church in the Isles, Part 8: Terminology of Church Buildings, Architectural Features, and Furnishings

Some of the terms used for ecclesiastical buildings share a meaning with temporal uses, others not.  In many instances, eccelsiastical meaning came first, in both cases.

Church main floor plan

From an architectural-ecclesiastical standpoint, the altar and its sanctuary always stand in the east no matter what the church building’s actual geographic orientation.  Thus, the entrance is always in the west, the left side is always north, and the right side always south.

Aisle is the walkway along one or both sides of the nave, usually separated by an arcade.  Also, the seating area, if any, on the opposite side from the that in the nave.  A chapel attached to a large church that was completely open to the main area was also called an aisle.

Ambulatory in the main church is the processional way around the east end behind the chancel, usually separated by a wall.  It is also another name for the covered walkway of a cloister.

Apse is the semicircular or polygonal end of a church building, common in Continental Europe but more rare in the Isles, usually covered with a semi-domed roof.  Its parent is the Roman exedra.

Atrium, in church architecture, is a forecourt often enclosed by walls or colonnades, also called an exonarthex.  In Roman houses and buildings, the atrium was often built in the center entirely surrounded by rooms.

Baptistry in some churches is a room or area (such as the north end of a narthex, for examples) set aside especially for baptisms, in the Middle Ages primarily of infants.

Cantoris is the the Gospel of north side of the quire, so-called from having been the side on which the cantor or precentor sat.

Chapel in this context is a small chamber off  the main part of the church building set aside in honor of a particular saint, sacred object (such as the Holy Blood), or sacred event (such as the Transfiguration), usually either entirely or partially enclosed but sometimes otherwise open, and always with its own altar.  A side chapel (porticus) lay off the nave, aisle, or narthex of the main building.  A Lady chapel was a side chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  An apse chapel (apsidiole) stood off the ambulatory of an apse; usually there were three of these.  A crypt chapel is one in a crypt and an undercroft chapel is one in an undercroft. 

Chancel is the are of a church’s interior set aside for the clergy and other sacred ministers of the Mass.  It includes the quire, the presbyterium (in such exists), and the sanctuary.

Choir loft is a raised part of a church built specially for lay singers, in general a much later development.

Chrismarium, also called consignatorium, is a place set aside in some churches to perform confirmation.  These were rare.

Crossing is the point where the nave, transept, and chancel meet, often underneath an elaborate intertwining of arches.

Crypt is a stone chamber, usually directly underneath the apse or chancel, set aside for burials, relics, or chapels, but often the term is used interchangeably with undercroft.

Decani is the Epistle or south side of the quire, so-called from having been the side where the dean (or other title of the head of the chapter) sits.

Epistle side is the right or south side of a church, so-called from it being the one from which the Epistle is read from the lectern during the Mass.  In medieval churches, men sat on this side.

Galilee was a covered porch which appeared at the beginning of the Romanesque period between the narthex and the atrium, at first intended for audientes and penitentes.  As the Romanesque period flowered, the atrium disappeared while the Galilee grew more prominent and more elaborate.

Gospel side is the left or north side of a church, so-called from it being the one from which the Gospel is read from the pulpit during the Mass.  In medieval churches, women sat on this side.

Narthex it the vestibule of a church, just east of the atrium, if there is one, and west of the nave.

Nave is the main body of the church for the laity, east of the narthex and west of the crossing, transept, or chancel, between the aisles on the north and the south if there are such.  The walkway between the pews on the Epistle side and those on the Gospel side is most often referred to as the center aisle, but its proper name is also the nave.

Presbyterium is (in some churches) the part of the chancel between the quire and the sanctuary and high altar specially reserved for the clergy.  In English cathedrals with two transepts, this lay in the crossing of the second closest to the apse.

Processional is the passage or walkway going behind the high altar used for processions around the inside of the church.

Quire, also spelled choir, is the seating place for choristers and sometimes sacred ministers and clergy for both Mass and canonical hours, generally between the transept and the sanctuary.  The cantoris is the north or Gospel side of the quire facing the decani on the south or Epistle side of the quire.

Retroquire, also called back-choir, is the space behind the high altar between it and the east wall.

Revestiary is a room for storing and changing into sacred vestments used for church services (now called vestry).

Sacristy is the room for storing and caring for sacred vessels and sacred instruments used at Mass and other services.

Sanctuary is the area on the chancel immediately around the high altar, usually atop a bema.

Transept is the area between the nave and the chancel, particularly in a cruciform church, often with one or more side chapels at either end.

Undercroft is the basement of a church, often used for storage and sometimes with a crypt and/or chapels in or off it.

Church architectural features

Altar rail separates the sanctuary, and sometimes entire chancel depending on interior structure of the church, from the rest of the interior.

Ambry is a cabinet recess into the wall of a church for containing the reserved sacrament (in the sanctury, generally in the reredos) or for holy oil (in the sacristy), with a locked door for security.

Ambulatory is a covered walkway, generally around a cloister garth or processional of an apse but can also be used for the walking spaces through a nave or along the aisles.

Apsidiole was one of the two minor apses added to either side of the main apse of a triapsidal church, in addition to being the technical term for an apse chapel.

Apses, as an architectural features, were from the High Middle Ages added to side and apse chapels and to the ends of transepts, though, ecclesiastically, the apse section of a church was at the eastern end behind the quire.

Arcade is a series of adjoining arches, generally supported by columns.

Belfry is the section of a steeple or campanile housing the bell chamber, though it earlier referred to the whole tower.

Bema is the raised platform of a sanctuary and its altar.

Campanile is the proper technical term for a steeple with a belfry, in other words, a bell tower, which is detached from the church.

Cell in the case of church architecture is that of an anchorite (such as a Culdee) adjoining the outer wall of the church with an opening and possibly even a door into the interior of the church.

Chevet is the name for the structure of the church that includes the quire, the apse, and the apsidioles (apse chapels) as a unit.

Clerestory is a line of windows one, two, or three stories above the ground level that allow in light and/or fresh air.

Colonnade a row or series of columns, joined together by an entablature along the entire length.

Entablature is a superstructure of moldings joining a colonnade.

Feretory is the space where a church’s relics are stored; also refers to a portable reliquary.

Lantern is the section of a steeples above the belfry that is open to allow light to reach inside during the day, and in some cases in which to hang a lamp to provide light as a beacon at night.

Matroneum was an interior feature of the Early Gothic period, a gallery similar in form to a triforium.  The standard in the Early Gothic period was aisle, matroneum, triforium, clerestory; the matroneum disappeared in the High Gothic period.

Niche is a recess into the wall of the church or into the reredos that can either be empty or contain statues, flowers, or candles.

Pulpitum is a large, very ornate transverse structure dividing the chancel from the nave, generally of three arches, with the central arch open to allow access to the chancel, the majority being of stone but with many which were made of fine wood.  These usually stood at the east side of the transept, and were primarily a feature of cathedrals.

Reliquary is a container for a relic, where a portable feretory or one embedded within a wall or altar stone.

Reredos is a large screen or wood or stone behind the altar, often with several niches and/or an ambry for the reserved sacrament.  Some are quite large and tall, reaching three stories high.

Rood screen is an addtion that came about in the Late Middle Ages that also divided chancel from nave, usually of wood, at the top of which nearly always stood a cross in the center.  These were more open than a pulpitum, many comprising just a beam that did not reach the ground.  In many cathedrals, these were added in addition to a pulpitum, one bay apart.  Because they were smaller in size and less intricate in design, many were added to parish churches.

Rostrum is the dias supporting a pulpit.

Sediliae are recessed seats on the north side of the chancel, usually three in number for the main ministers at Mass (celebrant, deacon, subdeacon).

Spire is the pointed roof at the top of a steeple.

Steeple is a tower attached to a building, specifically a church in this case and usually (but not always) a bell tower.

Tower is the section of a steeple that forms the base, whether rising up from the ground or just from the roof of the church.

Triforium is the gallery (a balcony in the interior of a building) within a church, generally just below the clerestory, above the aisles and open to the nave, separated by a colonnade or arcade, sometimes wide enough to accommodate seating in addition to a walkway.

Church furnishings

Altar is the large stone (or wood) structure upon which the Sacrifice of the Mass is carried out.

Altar stone is a stone or marble or granite with a reliquary, usually embedded in the mensa of the high altar.

Altar cross, sometimes a crucifix, sits on the altar or atop the tabernacle, except after the stripping of the altar on Maundy Thursday.

Antependium is the proper term for the elaborate frontal hanging for the altar, generally of the color of the season of the church calendar.

Cathedra is the chair for the bishop, originally behind the altar and later moved to the gospel side of the chancel.

Crèche set is a set of statues representing the characters of the Nativity and related events, usually including animals and a model manger, that is used at Christmas time.  Usually, it is set up at the beginning of Advent, with figures added as they come into the story along the calendar, with those representing the Magi added on Epiphany.  In some churches, it is tradition to leave the set up through the Octave of the Epiphany.

Credence table, or credence shelf, is attached to or against the back wall on the Epistle side for holding cruets, bread box, ciborium, lavabo, and often chrismales for use at Mass.

Eucharistic lights are the two candles that sit on the altar during the Mass at opposite ends of the mensa.

Font is the stone or wood foundation holding the basin for holy water which is used in baptism.  Only parish churches were allowed baptismal fonts, along with churches of monasteries in rare special cases.

Herse, also known as a Judas candlestick or rastrum, is a two-branched, fifteen receptacle candelaubrum used during Tenebrae.

Icon is a two-dimensional scene of a Biblical or other sacred event, of Jesus Christ, or of any saints, usually painted and stylized.

Lectern is the stand from which the Epistle and other Lessons are read that stands in the transept before the Epistle or south side of the nave.

Litany desk is exactly the same as a prie-dieu, but stands on the Gospel or north side of the chancel, often in front of the cathedra.

Mass bells hang from the inside of the front wall of the nave to be rung at the start of the Mass (and sometimes for other services).

Mensa is the top of the altar, usually a separate slab of wood or stone.

Missal stand is a brass stand for holding the missal atop the altar.

Office lights are two candleabra with three candles each used during services other than the Mass.

Paschal candle is especially for Easter and the fift days leading up and including Whitsunday.  It is also lit for baptisms, confirmations, and for funerals.

Pavement candles are floor-standing candles standing at the west corners of the bema lit during the Mass.

Pews are the benches or seats for the laity in the nave, always facing toward the liturgical east.

Piscina is a special sink in the sacristy used to cleaning the sacred vessels whose drain runs directly into the ground.

Presence lamp holds a large candle inside ruby-colored glass that signals the presence of the Reserved Sacrement, generally hanging from the ceiling over the altar.

Prie-dieu is a prayer desk with a kneeler, originally for private devotions at home but later brought into churches for the priest, standing before his seat on the south or Epistle side of the chancel.

Pulpit is the stand from which the Gospel is read and the homily or sermon preached that stands in the transept before the Epistle or south side of the nave, often atop a rostrum

Relic, in Christian traditional, is a sacred object connected to a saint or to Christ himself.  A first order relic is a part of a saint’s body; a second order relic is something a saint wore or carried; a third order relic is a piece of some place or thing connected to the saint but not of his or her personal belongings or body.

Retable is a set of one to three steps of shelves behind an altar used for placing flowers and candles.

Rood is, strictly speaking, the True Cross, but in the Late Middle Ages came to be the term for the trio of a Great Crucifix with statues of St. Mary the Virgin and St. John the Apostle.

Stalls are the seats in the chancel for officiating ministers or members of a cathedral, collegiate, or monastic chapter during Mass and other services, always facing toward the center.

Stations of the Cross are a series of icons representing steps along the Way of the Cross hanging on the wall in consecutive order from the east end of the northern wall circumambulating to the east end of the southern wall.

Statues, usually of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and various saints, may stand on the floor or in niches about the interior of the church.

Stoup, usually attached to the wall, holds holy water for dipping one’s fingertips into upon entering or leaving a church.

Tabernacle, also called an ark, is a casket for containing the reserved sacrament, often sitting on top on the altar in the center of the mensa, at least in churches where the altar is against the back wall.

Church auxiliary buildings and rooms

Calefactory is the dayroom of a monastery; more specifically the room in which a fire was allowed.

Chapterhouse is the room in a monastery, cathedral, or collegiate church for meetings of their chapters, whether for business or education.

Cloister is a covered walkway around a green area, usually enclosed on all sides by buildings, with an arcade or colonnade between the garth and the cloister, found in monasteries, cathedrals, and large churches.

Cloister garth is the green area, often a garden, enclosed by a cloister.

Deanery was the residence of a dean.

Dorter is the building housing cells for monastics or rooms for canons and other chapter members of cathedrals and collegiate churches.

Galley is the proper name for the kitchen at any church facility.

Garderobe is the individual closet within a reredorter or necessarium.

Grammar school was often attached to a cathedral, collegiate church, or monastery, with its headmaster a member of the chapter of the first two.

Guesthouse, attached to a monastery or chapterhouse of a cathedral or collegiate church for guests.

Infirmary was where the sick recuperated.

Lavatorium was where monastics washed their hands before meals, the term carrying over to dormitories at cathedrals and collegiate churches.

Library held books and provided study space.

Misericord was a special room for relaxation of monks granted such allowances.

Misericorde was an additional refectory at a monastery in which eating of meat was allowed.

Reredorter, also known as a necessarium, is the proper name for a latrine in a monastery or cathedral or collegiate dormitory, and carried over into modern parish houses for the bathrooms there.

Parish hall, also called a church hall, serves for modern parishes much the same function as chapterhouses and calefactories, with additional influences from village halls in England.  Parish halls first arose in the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries.

Parsonage is the home for a parson of a parish.

Provostry is the home for a provost of a collegiate church.

Rectory is the home for a rector of a parish.

Refectory, also known as a frater, is the dining hall of a monastery or chapterhouse, and of a parish hall.

Scriptorium is the room in which manuscripts and books were produced, mostly in monasteries.

Slype is a short covered passage between two buildings of a large complex, such as between the chapterhouse and the transept of a  chapel or between the calefactory and the galley.

Vicarage is the home of a vicar.

The Medieval Church in the Isles, Part 7: The Parish

The most basic local unit for both civil and religious government was the parish, the boundaries of which were territorial and permanent, or at least not prone to frequent shifts, only changing when split or merged.  This system lasted until the 19th century in all countries of the British Isles, when civil parishes became separate from religious parishes.

Under the feudal system which spread across Europe in the High Middle Ages, the parish was the foundation for the Church’s income.

Parish in the Early Middle Ages

In Ireland and the lands which adopted its form of Christianity, parishes were largely organized along tribal, clan, and sept lines, until the reforms that took place in the 12th century.

In England, by contrast, parishes were nearly all manorial, coextensive with the lands of the lord’s.  The parish church and its parsonage usually stood within the lord’s demense, the lands used for the personal benefit of the lord of the manor.  The lands within the manor set aside for the support of the parish church and its parson, contiguous or not, were called the glebe.  In return, the manor lords charged rent for the parish church building and for its glebe, as well as a fee for appointment of its clergy.  In England, this was already the case with Anglo-Saxon thanes, and was reinforced by Norman lords and barons.

The Gregorian Reforms of the 11th century (named for their proponent, Gregory VII, Pope 1073-1085) ended this system, which was even stronger on the Continent than in the Isles, ordering that each parish own its own land, and that its income be the sole property of its incumbent.  The only power left to the thane, lord, or baron was to nominate the priest.  This did not, however, preclude him from establishing a small proprietary chapel near the manor house served by a stipendiary chaplain (from which the public could not be precluded).

Parish lands and income

Advowson, also known as patronage, was the right of nomination of a candidate to an ecclesiastical benefice, presenting the one so preferred to the bishop for confirmation and appointment or rejection.  The advowson soon came to be treated as a sellable property.

Manse was the clergy house (parsonage, rectory, vicarage, curatage) and the grounds in its immediate vicinity.

Grange originally referred only to outlying farmland, generally with grain silos and other building, held by monasteries, but as the Middle Ages progressed, other religious corporations such as parishes began to acquire them too, more so when collegiate churches sprang up.

Glebe referred to any land belonging to a church for the purpose of providing its incumbent with a direct means of support.  Usually when a land was called “glebe”, it was detached, separated from the immediate grounds of the church, for example, Kingstown Glebe in Omey parish, originally intended to provide a benefice for the incumbent of the Church of Kill nearby, perhaps, or else that of the church on Omey Island.  The benefice-holder could either exploit it directly to provide sustenance for his own use or rent it out.

Termon had a dual meaning, at least in Ireland.  The termon lands are the glebe lands in the immediate vicinity of the church, usually surrounded with a wall or hedge to mark the boundary clearly.  In Ireland, termon lands provided sanctuary for those running from the law or from vengeful persons.  Violation of the termon lands at Kells was the true reason for the Battle of Cul Dhreimhne in 561 rather than an unauthorized psalter.

Benefice is an ecclesiastical office to which guaranteed revenue is attached, most basically those of a parish, in terms of land and the greater and lesser tithes.  The benefice was held for life.  Often the holder would apportion part of the benefice for the upkeep of a vicar, who may himself turn around and pay a cash stipend for a perpetual curate.  In many cases, benefices were held by prebendaries or canons at cathedrals or collegiate churches, or held by a convent.  Starting in the High Middle Ages, kings began passing them out to favorites.

Chancel was that part of the church with the altar, sanctuary, and quire (seating for the clergy).  It and everything used in it (furnishings, altar cloths and frontals, candlesticks, sacred vessels, sacred instruments, vestments) were the responsibility of the rector or parson of the parish for provision and upkeep, at least in terms of financing.

Nave, in broad terms, represented the laity, and was the responsibility of the laity of the parish for upkeep.  In smaller churches, this area was separated from the chancel by a chancel rail, but in larger churches such as collegiate churches and cathedrals, a pulpitum or rood screen. and often both, blocked the chancel from the laity more completely.

Tithe was ten percent of those things “which yield a yearly increase by the act of God”.  In terms of kind, tithes were divided into praedial tithes which came from things that grew from the earth, as in grain, hay, other crops, and wood; mixed tithes, which came from animals and animals products, meat, wool, milk, eggs, etc.; and personal tithes, which meant physical labor directly or those things derived from physical labor such as milling or fishing (flour, meal, fish).

The praedial tithes made up roughly two-thirds of the income, and came to be referred to as the greater tithe, while the mixed and personal tithes which made up the remaining third came to be referred to together as the lesser tithe.  In Scotland, these two portions were referred to as the parsonage and the vicarage, the latter of which was also called the altarage; the Scots word for tithe is teind.

In towns and burghs, artisans and craftsmen had to pay one-tenth of their cash income, while labourers in either rural or urban setting paid nothing because of their poverty.

When first established, the purpose of tithes was to provide for an income for the incumbent priest, upkeep of the church and its property, and alms for the poor.  However, as all other things in the feudal system, they came to be assigned to favorites, traded, or sold.

Altarage in the strict sense meant the income of a parish derived from offerings at the altar, sometimes the entire income of a curate, though even in this case the priest usually received the personal tithes of the parish.  In Scotland, the term also referred to the charge of a chaplain, or altar thane, over a chantry.

Prebend was a form or endowment arising in the High Middle Ages in which the benefice of a parish was appropriated to a cathedral or collegiate church and became the property of its incumbent who held it as the canon of the chapter or college and rector or parson of the parish.

Church buildings

Church:  The basic local building housing the congregation of a parish of any size from tiny to gargantuan, its primary purpose being for celebration of Mass, singing the Divine Offices, and performing pastoral rites such as baptisms, weddings, and funerals.

Cathedral:  The home church of the bishop of a diocese, as well as the administrative offices for the diocese.

Cell:  Living quarters for one to three monastics, either part of a larger building or set apart.

Shrine:  In the Middle Ages, these usually contained a saint’s relics, a tiny altar, and an attached oratory.

Oratory:  A tiny space or building for private prayer of one to a few persons; these were especially common in the Early Irish Church.

Chapel:  This had several meanings in the Middle Ages. 

A chapel-of-ease was an overflow chapel for serving the congregation of a large parish or one erected in an outlying populous area of the parish.  This kind was also called a succursal.

A proprietary chapel was on the land and under the control of the lord or landowner who built it, but was open to the public for Mass and prayer at the canonical hours.

A bridge chapel was built on or immediately adjacent to a bridge; these nearly always sprang from a chantry.

Chantry:  In this context, a special type of proprietary chapel, almost always smaller than the usual, built and endowed to maintain daily prayers for the living relatives and/or requiem masses for the deceased family members of the sponsor.

In the Late Middle Ages, chantries were transferred from private estates and bridges to cathedrals, collegiate churches, and monasteries, often with detailed instructions and excessive demands.

Parish priests

Parson was a fully-beneficed priest, meaning the rector.  The term was sometimes used for a vicar, but never for a perpetual curate.

In the High and Late Middle Ages in Ireland, the parson largely performed the same functions as the earlier erenagh and was not necessarily in orders.

Incumbent in England and Scotland was the same as a parson in its precise definition, meaning the rector.

Rector was the official head of a parish church receiving the full amount of the tithe and of the benefice from the glebe land or endowment.  A rector belonged to the rectory alone, with no superior other than the diocese or convent.  There was no more than one rectory per parish, but a parish did not necessarily have a rectory.  Once appointed to a rectory, its incumbent held it for life and could only be removed by the bishop for serious cause.

The title derives from that of the chief imperial official of a province in the late Roman Empire.

Pluralism, called multiplism in Scotland, was the situation arising in the Late Middle Ages in which a single priest held the benefice of several different parishes.  More about that in the section on cathedrals and collegiate churches.

Vicar (sometimes called vicar-parochial to distinguish this office from several other uses of the term vicar) referred to a priest receiving the lesser tithe, amounting to about one-third of the tithe revenue, to perform the actual day-to-day services to the people for the rector.  The one appointing a vicar could be a secular rector, a monastery which had appropriated the parish, or a cathedral chapter or collegiate church which held the parish as a prebend for one of its canons.  Like the rectory, appointment to a vicarage such as this was for life.

The title derives from that of the chief imperial official over a diocese (a group of provinces) in the late Roman Empire.

In Scotland, the corresponding position was called a vicar portionary  (paid with the vicarage or lesser teind) or a vicar perpetual (because he could only be fired for serious cause, by the bishop).

Curate was a priest who received just the altarage and perhaps a straight cash stipend, usually at a rate far below that of a vicar, not to mention a rector, for his services at the parish which was his cure.  Curates were appointed by vicars or really cheap rectors.  Their tenure was less secure because it had to be renewed annually (for which reason it the position was also called annual chaplain) and it was much easier to dismiss them.

In Scotland, the position was called a vicar pensioner (paid with a fixed stipend) or a chaplain.

At the time of the Reformation, 85% of parishes were in the hands of monasteries, cathedrals, collegiate churches, and universities, with the actually churches served mostly by vicars pensioner with some served by vicars portionary.

In medieval Ireland, the majority of serving parish priests were vicars, while many other parishes served by poorly paid curates.

Chaplain served a proprietary chapel, a chapel-of-ease attached to a large parish, or a chantry in a cathedral or collegiate church.

Altar-thane was, in medieval Scotland, the usual designation for a chantry priest, though the term was also used colloquially for any form of chaplain, including the vicar pensioner.

Cantarist was the proper Latin name for a chantry chaplain or altar-thane, but though widely used on the Continent was scarcely used anywhere in the Isles.

Clerics regular were priests in secular churches who nonetheless lived under a rule, though one less strict than those in contemplative, canonical, or mendicant orders, devoting their life to the duties of their priesthood, preaching, teaching, administering sacraments, etc., but lived in community and were part of an order.  However, these did not arise until the 16th century and were never really part of the churches in the Isles.

The following two orders were not priests but were in holy orders.  Their presence was recommended but not required at parishes, and they were seldom seen at rural churches, though it was not impossible.

Deacon assisted the priest at Mass, when present took charge of the alms and distribution to the poor, and performed defined tasks at Mass.

Subdeacon assisted the deacon and performed defined tasks at Mass.

Parish lay officials

Churchwardens date back to the 12th century and were formerly called church reeves, guardians, or proctors.  These laymen were the lay members of parish government, and though it was not common, they could be female.  Since the 16th century, the senior warden has been appointed by the rector, vicar, or curate, while the junior warden has been selected by the laity of the parish, but before that the laity elected both.  In pre-Reformation Ireland, the laymen who performed the same function for parishes were called procurators.

Parish clerk was a layman who assisted in the administration of a parish, and was usually appointed by the incumbent, although selection by the lay members of the parish was not uncommon.  The parish clerk assisted the priest at services, prepared the altar, carried in procession the aspersorium (holy water bucket), on some occasions performed the asperges, rang the church bells, preceded the priest with taper and bell when visiting the sick, and read the Epistle as Mass.  He also usually headed up the parish grammar school.  The technical term for a parish clerk was aquabajulus (water-bearer).

Page was the name for a boy picked to be the live-in housekeeper at the parsonage.  Often the parsonage housed not just the rector, vicar, or curate, but all the priests, clergy, and other ministers of the parish, if there were more than one.  This position was often the first stepping stone on the path to the priesthood.

Sexton looked after the church building and its graveyard, sometimes even digging the graves himself or at least supervising it being done, and usually served as the bell-ringer.

Beadle was the door-keeper, usher, order-keeper among the laity during church services, and performed other duties during Mass.  His symbol of office was the mace.

In England, the beadle worked with the petty constable of the manor (which later became the parish constable) as well as supervise the night watch of the parish.  In the Early Modern era, the English beadle came to be in charge of distributing charity (orphanages and poorhouses).

In Scotland, the beadle at the parish level performed the same functions as the sexton in England, including as the bell-ringer and with the addition of being the parish crier to notify about deaths, as well as supervising the graveyard.  The office survives in the modern Kirk as an attendant of the minister during service.

Sub-beadle was in the Scottish Church the assistant to the beadle who was the actual gravedigger.

Watchmen patrolled and guarded the parish during night hours under supervision of the parish beadle, rotating the duty between householders with a small stipend. 

Catechist taught basic Church doctrine and dogma to converts and/or to children approaching the age for confirmation.  In small parishes, this function was often performed by the parish clerk.

The Catechumenate

In the ancient Church, catechism led to baptism.  Though the entire period of a proselyte’s time from inquiry to baptism is often called catechumenate, that is in truth just the first stage.  This system existed at a time when all baptisms were presided over by the bishop.

A convert began as an audiente, or ‘hearer’, standing on the steps or in the narthex of the building their church met in.

Once an audiente decided to join the Church, they became a catechumen and were allowed to attend service inside the nave, but only the first part of the Mass ending with the close of the sermon, the Missa catechumenorum (Mass of the Catechumens), sitting in the rear of the church with the penitentes undergoing their period of penance before restoration.

At the beginning of Lent, those catechumens deemed or who deemed themselves ready became candidates for baptism, called variously comptentes, electi, illuminati, or candidati.  Part of this period included daily exorcisms.

Under this system, baptism occurred once during the year, at Easter, unless there were emergency circumstances.  Penitentes were reconciled and accepted back on Maundy Thursday.

Upon baptism, the neophyti became part of the ‘faithful’ and were finally admitted to the Missa fidelium (Mass of the Faithful), their first witnessing of the second part of the Mass at which they received their first Communion.

During the fifty days from Easter through Whitsunday, the neophyti received additional instruction.

The Medieval Church in the Isles, Part 6: Holy Orders

In the West, there were seven holy orders, the minor orders and the major orders of subdeacon, deacon, and priest, with bishops considered as belonging to the order of priest.  In the East, there were seven in most places, eight in others, with deacons, priests, and bishops making up the major orders.

Clerks:  Although this term can be used for those in the major orders, it generally referred to those in the minor orders.

Minor orders:  In the West, these were, in ascending order, porter, lector, exorcist (called ‘bennet’ in the Isles), and acolyte.  In the East, they were door-keeper, reader, cantor (in some cases), exorcist, acolyte, and subdeacon.  Although originally designed to be a permanent office, in the West by the Early Middle Ages, they became merely steps on the ladder to full ordination as a priest.

In the High and Late Middle Ages until the Reformation, an alternate path to the priesthood developed at cathedrals and collegiate churches.  A boy would start as a chorister in the choir.  He would next become a poor clerk, then a junior vicar (lay vicar), followed by subdeacon, deacon, and priest-vicar (minor canon or vicar residential) once ordained priest.  After that, he would aspire to become a prebendary canon.

Subdeacon:  His primary role was confined to Mass, most notably reading the Epistle, taking care of the credence table, and helping distribute Holy Communion.  This too became just a step on the ladder to priesthood.  The word derives from the Latin prefix sub- attached to the Greek word diakonos.

Deacon:  By the end of the 5th century, this former permanent order had become merely a step on the way to the priesthood.  At Mass, he read the Gospel, led the Intercessions, and helped distribute Holy Communion.  The word derives from the Greek diakonos, a term widely used in the Hellenistic world for some officers of civic associations and popular religious societies.

Priest:  The journeyman of the clergy, he alone could celebrate Mass, baptize catechumens (and infants and children), and take charge of a parish or chapel.  Although his functions were closer to those of the Greek sacerdos, the term derives from the Greek word presbyteros, another borrowing from Hellenistic civic and religious groups.

Dean:  In this context, a priest who administrated a rural deanery, or, in some cases in Scotland, a plebania.  The Latin technical term was and is vicar foraneus; anglicized vicar forane, it is the term used in the Roman church for the office.  In the English Church, the office was earlier called archpriest; in the Scottish Church the early term was dean of Christianity and the later term was rural dean, a term that carried south to England.  The term derives from the Latin word decanus, a term in the Roman army for a leader of a contubernium, a squad of ten.

Archdeacon:  Originally the chief deacon of a diocese, during the Middle Ages this office came to be held by a priest, acting as an agent of the bishop for a section of a large or populous diocese.

Archpriest:  Once the chief priest of a diocese, this office fell out of use in the Early Middle Ages, or at least the title did.  It functions were later performed by the dean of the cathedral.  In a few collegiate churches in England, the chief priest was called an archpriest.

Bishop:  In the West, a higher grade of priest presiding over a diocese, a bishop alone could consecrate a church, perform Holy Confirmation, and ordain lower clergy.  The term derives from the Greek word episkopos, a term first used by the Athenians for overseers of colonies sent from the city which was later borrowed by Hellenistic civic and popular religious groups.

Archbishop:  Also called a metropolitan, this was a bishop presiding over a province.  Among other maters reserved to him was the consecrations of his suffragan bishops, with which he had to be assisted by at least two other bishops, usually his suffragans.

Primate:  The ranking bishop of a country, usually an archbishop, but not always, such as the case of the Scottish Church, which had no archbishop until 1472 but whose chief bishop after 1192 was the Bishop (now Archbishop) of St. Andrews.

Patriarch:  A bishop of one of five primary sees ranking about all others of the Ancient Church, those being Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.

Clericals:  Collective name the daily wear of clergy as opposed to the garments worn for Mass and other services, which are called vestments.

Cassock:  a loose-fitting ankle-length robe worn by clerics in daily use, really a clerical but often worn underneath vestments, originally all in black but later in different colors of clerical rank:  black for deacons, priests, and lesser clergy; purple or amaranth for bishops; scarlet for cardinals; and white for the Pope, though white is also worn by members of some orders and by regulars in tropical climates

Mitre:  a peaked hat worn by bishops and some abbots, always white (though liturgically gold and silver count as white), during synods and ceremonies, always removed for prayer

Biretta:  a four-cornered hat in appropriate color topped by three or four peaks generally surmounted by a tuft

Zucchetto:  clerical skullcap similar to a Jewish kippah or yarmulke worn by clerics and seminarians in appropriate color