The Medieval Church in the Isles, Part 11: Daily Mass

At parish churches, there were usually a minimum of two daily masses, while at cathedrals and collegiate churches, especially in the Late Middle Ages, there were many times that number.

The first, colloquially known as Morrow Mass, was said after Prime in the summer and after Terce in the winter.  Morrow Mass was generally a Missa privata or Low Mass, with only the priest and a secondary, generally said rather than sung, less formal.  At Lincoln Cathedral, there were three Morrow Masses every day.

The name Missa privata does not mean “private Mass”, though that is a possible translation; often such Masses were celebrated with a large congregation present.  If such a Mass were in a monastic or canonical church, it was also a Missa conventualis; if it were in a secular cathedral or secular collegiate church, it was also a Missa capitula.

Usually at parishes, the Morrow Mass was a Votive Mass, though in the case of a cathedral or collegiate church, that was more often the Mass of a particular chantry.  There were votives assigned to masses every day of the week, in order from Sunday to Saturday (in the Use of Sarum), for the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Salvation of the People, the Holy Ghost, the Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Cross, and the Virgin Mary.

In cathedrals and collegiate churches, the votives were usually celebrated at the Chapter Mass, which was followed immediately by Chapter, at which a chapter of the Rules or other spiritual text was read, followed by any daily business that needed to be discussed.

The second Mass was the Mass of the Day, with the daily propers.  It was a full Solemn High Mass or Missa solemnis with choral singing, incense, bells, and a full procession which included a verger, an asperger, a crucifer, two cerofers, a thurifer, a boat bearer, a sub-deacon, deacon, the celebrant.  Sometimes there were also a clerk (see below) and a salt-bearer.

Without the three ministers of the major orders at the altar (positions taken by members of those orders or all by priests), it is not a Missa solemnis, regardless of singing, chanting, incense, etc., but can be a Missa cantata, or sung Mass.

According to the Regularis Concordia, the Missa solemnis or Solemn High Mass took usually place after Terce during the summer and after Sext during the winter, and during Lent, on Ember Days, and Vigils, after None.

In convents, cathedrals, other collegiate churches, and some parishes, more than one Mass could be celebrated per day, one for a feast, another as a Votive, still another as a Requiem, for example, and in the Late Middle Ages up to dozens of chantry and obit Masses.

The Cathedral at Salisbury and other cathedrals and collegiate churches following the Use of Sarum offered Requiem Mass every day in addition to other Masses of the Day.  A Requiem Mass for the dead was celebrated at the first vacant (no feasts or special observance) day of the month in ordinary parishes throughout the Isles.

In the Use of Lichfield, the Morrow Mass was said before Lauds, the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary after Lauds, and Solemn High Mass after either Sext of None depending on the season of the church year.

At Lincoln Cathedral, including the three Morrow Masses and the Solemn High Mass at ten or eleven o’clock, there were forty-eight Masses every day due to chantries, in addition to a varying number of Masses for obits, and there must have been many, many more at St. Giles’ Collegiate Church in Edinburgh, with forty-six altars, at least fifty-four chantries, plus obits, enough for sixteen canons and seventy-two chaplains to be extremely busy every day just celebrating Mass.

Sacred ministers of Solemn High Mass

Not all these sacred ministers served at every Solemn High Mass, much less every Mass of any kind, but these were their general functions, given here as if all of these were in one party at one Solemn High Mass.

Officiant was the priest (or bishop) as chief minister of the Mass being sung or said.  His most signficant part was saying or singing the Canon of the Mass, also known as the Prayer of Consecration or the Anaphora.

Secondary assisted the priest at Low Mass by performing more or less the tasks of the other sacred ministers at Solemn High Mass.

Deacon could either be an actual deacon or a priest acting as one, chiefly reading the Gospel and assisting the celebrant as needed.

Subdeacon could either be an actual subdeacon or a deacon or a priest acting as one, chiefly reading the Epistle and assisting the deacon.

Beadle in small churches was responsible for keeping order among the laity during Mass; his symbol of office was a mace.

In England, the office of beadle evolved into an officer enforcing minor laws, taking charge of the night watch, and punishing misdemeanors, all under the authority of the parish constable, a civil officer.

In Scotland, where the office under the old Scottish Church had served many of the same functions as a verger in England, the beadle became the chief assistant to the minister in services.

Cantor sang the Introit, led the Psalm(s), and had charge over the choir; there were usually two of these, one for the north side of the quire and one for the south side, also known as rulers.  In the case of cathedral chapters and secular colleges, the chief cantor was the precentor and the junior was the succentor or subchanter.

Choristers were clerics who processed and sang in the choir but performed no other functions at the Mass

Lector in the case of a Mass calling for one or more Readings from the Old Testament or non-Gospel, non-Epistle book of the New Testament, reads those, and may lead the bidding prayers as well.

Verger was responsible for execution of the proper order of the Mass and for orderliness of the clergy; his symbol was a verge.  This office was one that was especially English.

Acolytes

Acolyte was the highest of the minor orders, and also the general collective term for a category sacred ministers at the Mass including the following functions, with many performed by the same persons at a sing service, though theoretically each function could be assigned to unique individuals.

Accensor were the acolytes who light the altar and pavements candles before the Mass and snuffs them out afterwards, usually those who also served as cerofers, though not always.

Asperger was the acolyte who carries the aspersorium and aspergillium.

Boat-bearer is the acolyte who carries the incense boat.

Book-bearer carried the Gospel book and held it for the Deacon.

Cerofers carried the processional torches, candlesticks, or tapers.

Clerk was the chief acolyte in the Mass supervising all others.

Collet was the acolyte also known as the server or altar boy who assisted the Officiant, Deacon, and Subdeacon at the altar and credence table.

Croyser (or crucifer) carried the processional cross or crucifix.

Salt-bearer carried the bowl of salt used in some blessings.

Thurifer carried the thurible and at some points censed congregants or sacred objects other than those censed by the Celebrant.

Sacred vessels

Ampulla is a small cruet usually for holding consecrated wine in the reserved sacrament, though the term is also used for a chrismale.

Bread box is used to hold bread or wafers before Mass.

Chalice is a vessel used for consecrating wine and distributing the sacrament during Mass.

Ciborium contains consecrated wafers used for distribution at Mass and for holding the reserved sacrament.

Cruets hold wine and water to be used for Mass.

Flagons can be used like cruets, but more often are used to hold water to be poured into a font for baptism.

Lunette is two crystal lens joined by a hinge to hold the Blessed Sacrament, a consecrated host.

Monstrance is a device for holding the lunette either to carry in procession or to sit on the altar for adoration.

Paten holds the host for the Eucharist and can also be used for distribution of Holy Communion.

Sacred instruments

Alms basins are round shallow bowls for collecting alms.

Aspergillum is the device for dispersing holy water on things or people to be blessed with it.

Aspersorium is bucket for carrying holy water.

Censer boat holds incense to be blessed and placed in the thurible.

Crewe box is for holding the chrismales or ampullae for oil of the sick (oleum infirmorum; priests could bless), oil of catechumens (oleum catechumenorum; also for ordination of priests), and chrism (oleum chrismatis; baptism, confirmation, and consecration of bishops), marked INF, CAR, and CHR.

Chrismale is a glass or crystal vessels for holy oils.

Chrismatory is a chrismale specifically for chrism, but sometimes also a synonym for crew box.

Emunctorium is the wooden-handled brass stick with a split end holding a taper on one branch and a snuffer on the other.

Lavabo bowl is for catching water poured over the celebrant’s hands to ritually cleanse them immediately before he begins the Canon of the Mass (also known as the anaphora).

Processional cross/crucifix is carried at the head of a church procession; if there are two, one is carried at the head of the procession, the other is carried before the celebrant.

Salt box holds salt for the officiant to use for blessing holy water for baptism and asperges, and in stoups.

Sanctus bell is a set of bells or chimes rung by the collet at the Sanctus and at various points during the Canon of the Mass.

Thurible, also known as a censer or an acerna, is the vessel in which incense burns and smokes.

Sacred vestments

Although to the lay world, vestments is but another term for clothes, in the Church it refers strictly to special garments worn at the celebration of the Mass, particularly by clergy.  The garments worn as daily wear are officially called clericals.

Cassock – loose-fitting ankle-length robe worn by clerics in daily use, really a clerical but often worn underneath vestments, sometimes by those in the quire not part of the party celebrating Mass and by acolytes, 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

Alb – common garb of all ministers taking direct part in the Mass

Amice – a square white cloth worn over the alb at the back of the neck with long ribbons that crisscross in front, then back, and in front again to be tied

Cincture (Girdle) – a really long woven cord worn about the waist over the alb, tied at one side by acolytes, subdeacons, and deacons and at the center by priests and bishops with the ends to either side

Stole – a long strip of cloth draped over the shoulders, over the left shoulder of the deacon and tied on the right side, over both shoulders of the priest then crossed in front and tucked underneath the cincture, over both shoulders of the bishop to hang straight down then tucked underneath the cincture without being crossed

Chasuble – is the outermost sacramental garb of priests and bishops, worn only for Mass, oblong-shapped with a hole cut in the center and draped over the cleric’s body, usually elaborately decorated.  Deacons and subdeacons also wear them for Solemn High Mass in penitential seasons.

Originating from the main garment worn by the lower classes in Rome, in the Early and High Middle Ages, the chasuble was usually white, gold, or silver, but in the Late Middle Ages it came to be more often the color of the season, at least in larger, more affluent churches.  Traditionally, in addition to its other decorations, a chasuble had a vertical orphrey in the center front and back which split into three at mid-chest, between the shoulder blades level to the shoulders.

Orphrey – wide, decorative bands, often floral in design

Dalmatic – much the same as the chasuble only with wide sleeves, worn at Mass by the deacon

In later styles, the dalmatic had two narrow orphreys extending down from either shoulder, later often with two apparels joining them together, as well as orphrey at the cuffs of the sleeves

Apparel – in this conxtext, a type of horizontal decorative band about twice as wide as a orphrey

Tunicle – exactly like a dalmatic, originally differing in the sleeves being narrow rather than wide, which was worn by the subdeacon

Later, the tunicle had a single orphrey extending down the center, or else two orphreys like a dalmatic but only linked by a single apparel

Surplice (Cotta) – a long white tunic with wide sleeves worn over a cassock or habit worn by choir members that derives form the religious habit of Augustinian Canons

Cope – a very ornate cape or cloak worn by clergy for processions, outside ceremonies, canonical hours, benedictions, matins, vespers, and for bishops presiding at but not actually celebrating Mass black for ordinary

Maniple – a much smaller version of the stole worn over the left wrist by all ministers at Mass

The Medieval Church in the Isles, Part 10: Diocesan officers, cathedral chapters, & secular colleges

If the parish is the basic level of the church for both popular life and for production of income, the diocese was the level at which a unit could be said to comprise a whole church.  In the early centuries of the Church, when it was mostly confined to towns and cities with a concentrated population, a complete church had priests and deacons presided over by a bishop, the only cleric allowed to perform all the rites necessary to the full functioning of the Church.

Diocesan officers

While the first two of these held super-diocesan powers, they were also officers of the dioceses which they held as bishop.

Patriarch presided over a patriarchate, one of the five divisions into which the Church in the Roman Empire was divided, along with his own provincial and diocesan duties.  The only patriarch in the West was the Patriarch of Rome, who was also Archbishop of the province of Rome and Bishop of the archdiocese of Rome.

Archbishop, also called metropolitan, was bishop over a province of several dioceses with an archdiocese of his own, as in the Archbishop of the province of Rome also being Bishop of the diocese of Rome.

Bishop was the church prelate presiding over a diocese, as in the Pope being the Bishop of the diocese of Rome.  The bishop of a diocese was also called the ordinary.

Coadjutor was a bishop appointed to assist the ordinary when the latter was unable to fulfill all his duties because of infirmity or duties to the state, often, but not always, with the automatic right of succession should the see become vacant.

Suffragan was the name for diocesan bishops vis-à-vis their metropolitan archbishop.  It was also the name for auxiliary bishops who assisted the ordinary with episcopal functions and were generally made bishop of a titular see of a no-longer or never extant diocese, such as Bishop of Elphin or Bishop of the Isle of Wight, or, before the Reformation (in the churches of the Isles) one of the former Roman cities occupied by the Islamic Empire.

Archdeacon was, in the Early Middle Ages, the bishop’s chief assistant and executive officer who supervised the diocesan clergy, examined candidates for ordination, and made visitations to rural clergy.  In large dioceses spread over much territory, multiple archdeacons served the bishop, each one with his own court of first instance.

Vicar general, at least from the High Middle Ages, had charge of the diocese when the bishop was away and served as acting bishop when the see was vacant, duties which had previously belonged to the archdeacon, along with other executive duties delegated by the bishop.

Sequestrator General was, in the Church of England, the one responsible from ensuring collection of revenue due to the bishop and diocese.  If there were multiple archdeaconries in a diocese, a sequestrator was appointed for each and reported to the sequestrator general.  In the dioceses of York and of Lichfield, the sequestrator general also supervised the rural deans, and in some dioceses (such as Canterbury) this administrative office was combined with the judicial office of commissary general.

Chancellor (of a diocese) was the officer who advised the bishop on matters of canon and civil law, kept the episcopal seal, and supervised the diocesan chancery, its administrative office.

Canon penitentiary, also called vicar penitentiary, was the priest assigned to hear confessions of all the clergy in the diocese, whose duties could not, unlike those of other church positions in the High and Late Middle Ages, be palmed off on a surrogate.

Cathedral chapters

Besides the diocesan officers and those in his household, the officers of the diocese next in rank were those of the cathedral chapter, which formed the bishop’s advisory council, which served as the parliament in the diocese, and which elected a new bishop when the see fell vacant.  Voting was restricted to the four principle persons and the major canons or prebendaries.

Cathedrals and their dioceses in the Middle Ages were governed by a chapter that could be collegiate, composed of canons secular; monastic, composed of monks; or canonical, composed of canons regular.

England:  There were eight collegiate cathedrals:  Chichester, Exeter, Lichfield, Lincoln, London, Salisbury, Wells, and York; seven monastic cathedrals:  Canterbury, Durham, Ely, Norwich, Rochester, Winchester, and Worcester; and one canonical cathedral:  Carlisle.  The monastic cathedrals were all Benedictine, while the canonical cathedral at Carlisle was Arrosian Augustinian.

The chapter at the Cathedral of York Minster were Culdees until the Normans took it over when they rebuilt it after its destruction during the Harrowing of the North by William the Conqueror in 1069.  The Culdess continued to exist, establishing St. Peter’s Hospital in York, later converting into Augustinian Canons Regular and renaming their facility St. Leonard’s.

Wales:  All four cathedrals were collegiate: Bangor, Llandaff, St. David’s, and St. Asaph’s.

Scotland:  There were ten collegiate cathedrals: Aberdeen, Brechin, Dornoch, Dunblane, Dunkeld, Elgin, Fortrose, Glasgow, Kirkwall, and Lismore; two canonical cathedrals:  St. Andrews and Whithorn; and one monastic cathedral:  Iona.  The canons regular at St. Andrews and Dunkeld were Augustinian while those at Whithorn were Norbertine.  The cathedral on Iona belonged to the Cluniac Benedictine abbey.

Eight of the cathedrals in Scotland began with chapters of Columban monks later replaced with Culdees, some chapters of which lasted well into the High Middle Ages.

Until 1297, St. Andrews had a chapter of Augustinian canons regular existing alongside a rival chapter of Culdees, until the first absorbed the second. 

The Culdees at Dunkeld became secular canons who existed for nearly two centuries alongside a chapter of Augustinian canons which later relocated to merge into Inchcolm Abbey. 

The cathedral chapter of Brechin were Culdees until 1372, when they finally became secular canons.

Isle of Mann:  Its sole Cathedral of Pell was always collegiate. 

Ireland:  Thirty of its cathedrals were collegiate:  Achonry, Annaghdown, Ardagh, Ardfert, Armagh, Cashel, Clogher, Clonfert, Clonmacnoise, Cloyne, Cork, Derry, Elphin, Emly, Ferns, Killala, Killaloe, Kildare, Kilfenora, Kilmaduagh, Kilmore (called Breifne or Tirbriuin until 1454), Leighlin, Lismore, Ossory, Raphoe, Ross, St. Patrick’s Dublin, and Tuam; one was canonical:  Christ Church Dublin; one was monastic:  Down; and two had no chapter of any kind, substituting the community of the clergy meeting under the archdeacon:  Meath and Connor (as well as Breifne/Tirbriuin until moving to Kilmore in 1454).  Christ Church Dublin’s canons regular were Augustinian, and Downpatrick’s monks were Benedictine.

Of all Ireland’s dioceses, Ardfert alone had two archdeacons, one of Aghadoe and one of Ardfert.  In Ireland, archdeacons were part of the cathedral chapter, ranking just below the dean, and some Irish chapters included an archpriest.

In the province of Tuam, the title chancellor in its cathedral chapters was replaced with provost.

Dublin was unique in having two cathedrals, both founded with chapters of secular canons.  St. Patrick’s remained so, while Christ Church converted to a priory of Augustinian Canons Regular.

As noted above, the cathedral at Armagh was hybrid, with the four principal persons and a chapter of Culdees.

Secular cathedral chapters

In secular chapters, there were four “principal persons”:  the dean, the precentor, the chancellor (who was often also the subdean), and the treasurer.  In Ireland, the archdeacon was considered part of the cathedral chapter along with his other duties.

The secular chapter at the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lincoln included a dean, a precentor, a chancellor (formerly ‘master of schools’) and subdean, a treasurer, eight archdeacons, fifty-eight prebendaries (major canons), four priest-vicars, eight lay-vicars (professional singers), an organist, seven poor clerks, eight choristers, two sacristans, two clerks of the vestry, a sub-chanter (deputy, a sub-chancellor (or vice-chancellor), a president (or provost) of the canons, a headmaster of the grammar school, a porter, a clock-keeper, two keepers of the church, four vergers, four bell-ringers, a clerk of the common chamber, a chapter clerk, and an auditor of causes who was also warden of the altar of St. Peter.

That is without counting the vicars residential (or minor canons) for each of the fifty-eight prebendaries (fifteen of whom held chantries in addition to their stipend or portion) and the thirty-three additional chantry chaplains for the other twenty chantries at the cathedral (counting the high altar, there were twenty-eight altars in medieval Lincoln Cathedral, with seventeen of the auxiliary altars having their own chapels).

Nor does it consider the Bishop of Lincoln and his personal staff at the Bishop’s Palace and the staff relating to other than liturgical and clerical duties, such as cleaners, housekeepers, cooking staff, etc. 

Of course, as the third largest in all of Western Europe in the Late Middle Ages, Lincoln Cathedral was by far the largest cathedral in the British Isles; but this list gives an idea of the size and scale of a cathedral college (often called a chapter in daily speech).

York Minster Cathedral’s secular chapter included the four principals, thirty-six secular canons, thirty-six vicars choral, twenty-plus cantarists, six deacons, five thurifers, seven choristers, three sacrists, and two vergers.

The chapter of the Cathedral of St. Mungo in Glasgow included a dean, a precentor, a chancellor, a treasurer, a subdean (in this case a separate individual), two archdeacons, a subchanter, a sacrist, twenty-six prebendaries, a chaplain for each of thirty auxiliary altars (twenty-two at the ground level, eight in the crypt), plus an additional ten chantry priests, vicars residential for each of the twenty-six prebendaries, and probably other officers not included in contemporary lists.

The Cathedral of St. Patrick in Armagh was technically secular, with the standard four principal persons, but the remainder of its stalls were filled by the last surviving Irish chapter of Culdees.  These twelve and their prior formed a chapter within a chapter until the Reformation, upon which its sitting prior became precentor and its individual monks vicars choral.

For comparison, Durham Cathedral’s monastic priory included sixty-nine Benedictine monks, making it the largest Benedictine establishment in medieval England.  And Carlisle Cathedral’s Augustinian canonry counted twenty-three members at the time of the Dissolution in 1540.

Officers of a secular cathedral

The four principales personae, principal persons, of a secular cathedral chapter included the dean, the precentor (provost in the Province of Tuam), the chancellor, and the treasurer.  Many of the positions in secular cathedral chapters also occupied places in the hierarchy of collegiate churches.

Dean was the head of the chapter and chief priest of a secular cathedral; the title was the same as that of dean of Christianity or rural dean, though the office was different.

Prior was the head of a monastic or canonical cathedral chapter.

Subdean was the substitute for the dean when the latter was away, often, as at Lincoln, the same person as the chancellor, but otherwise not one of the principal persons.

Precentor (also called a Cantor) was the chief deputy of the dean as well as being director of all the music and ritual in the various services.

Succentor, or subchanter, was the substitute for the precentor when the latter was away; not one of the principal persons.

Chancellor (of a secular cathedral or collegiate church) was principal of the grammar school, though the daily routine duties for this were almost always delegated to another priest as headmaster (as at Lincoln), as well as supervising the chancery and archives of the corporation.

Vice-chancellor, or sub-chancellor, was the substitute for the chancellor when the latter was away; not one of the principal persons.

Treasurer was cathedral chapter or secular college officer responsible for the treasury as well as the sacred vessels instruments, vestments, and everything else in the chancel.

Sacristan performed the routine daily duties maintenance of the sacred vessels, insturments, etc. of the cathedral or collegiate church chancel.  He also served as substitute for the treasurer when the latter was away, though he was not one of the principal persons; the case of cathderals were there were more than one sacrist, this function belonged to the most senior.

Archdeacons, whether one or more, were all voting members of the cathedral chapter, though explicitly one of the four principal officers thereof only in Ireland.

Secular canons, also called major canons and prebendaries, were the priests who held a prebend and were voting members of the chapter or college.  In theory, secular canons lived together in one house, but without adhering to a monastic rule.  The office was so-called to distinguish it from canon regular.  Each was required to provide a vicar for daily performance at Masses and canonical hours and to ensure parish of his prebend was served by a vicar or curate.

The major canons were divided into canons residentiary, who chose to live at and work in the cathedral for most of the year, and non-residentiary canons, who chose ostensibly to live in and serve the parish of their prebend, although as time progressed most of these were canons in name only but retaining their vote (unless given to a proxy).

Vicars choral were the stipendary substitutes for the prebendary canons for celebrating daily Masses and singing canonical hours.  They could be priests, deacons, subdeacons, and laymen with specific numbers of each, as at Lichfield Cathedral, though the majority of chapters and colleges only had priest-vicars and lay vicars, as in the cases of Lincoln Cathedral and the Collegiate Church of St. Giles in Edinburgh.

Vicars residential (also known as vicars stallari, minor canons, vicars of the choir, and chaplains of the choir) were substitutes for the prebendary canons at regular cathedral and collegiate church services (canonical hours and the daily Masses of the church) who were members of the major orders (priest, deacon, subdeacon).  They were not voting members of the cathedral chapter.  Also called senior vicars.

Lay vicars or lay clerks were adult laymen paid to sing in a cathedral or collegiate church, usually in one of the minor orders, i.e., acolyte, exorcist, lector, porter.  Also called junior vicars.

Vicars procuratores were the designated proxies of the prebendaries for voting purposes when the latter were absent from major chapter meetings, often but not always one of the four principales personae, or else one of the canons residentiary.

President (provost) of canons (vicars) managed the revenues and administered the business of the chapter.

Cathedral clerk maintained the cemetery.

Auditor of causes presided over the adjudication of matters of discipline and crimes deemed within the jurisdiction of the dean and chapter.

Archiacolutus was the chief acolyte; in the case of a cathedral or collegiate church, this was always a priest, usually one of the canons.

Verger, also called master of the fabric, looked after the interior and fabrics of the cathedral or church under the treasurer and the sacristan, and was also responsible for keeping order during the services.  His symbol of office was the verge.

Poor clerk was an unbeneficed priest at a cathedral chapter or collegiate church for whom provisions were made by bishop and chapter or by the monastery, usually in the form of a stipend.  Later “poor clerk” was also a stage from chorister to the priesthood at a cathedral or collegiate church, generally referring to someone in the minor orders who had the same duties as a parish clerk.

Secondaries were clerks in the late medieval period whose main function of was to assist the chantry chaplains with their daily Masses.  Called poor clerks at Lincoln, they were usually chosen from among the choristers of a cathedral, often as a step on the ladder to the priesthood.

Choristers were boys employed to sing in the choir at canonical hours and daily Masses, in the Late Middle Ages becoming the first step on the path to the priesthood.

Canon predicant was a priest hired specifically as a preacher because of his extent and depth of knowledge, effective writing, and/or locquacious speaking ability, usually not one of the major canons and almost always exempt from ordinary duties at the cathedral or collegiate church.

Cantarists, commonly known as chantry chaplains and in Scotland as altar-thanes, were the designated chaplains of an endowed chantry.

Bedesmen were almsmen employed to pray for the quick and the dead, attend daily service, ring the bells, and sweep the church, mostly at cathedrals and collegiate churches.  Bedeswomen were their female counterpart.  To cite a few examples:  the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas in Biggar, Lanarkshire, listed eight bedesmen as part of its college; Trinity Collegiate Church and Hospital called for appointment of thirteen bedesmen; and St. Katharine’s Hospital in London included ten bedeswomen.

Collegiate churches

Closely akin in structure to secular cathedral chapters were secular colleges of parish churches which had become large and/or important enough to warrant such.  Approval of collegiate status lay with Rome alone, though recommendations came from monarchs.

England had by far the most at eighty-six, twenty-seven of which were formed from groups of chantries and some of which had survived from the early days of the Anglo-Saxon church where they originated as minsters.  Scotland had fourty-four, one of which was very short-lived.  Ireland had three.  Wales had one.

The proper technical Latin term for these was praepostura, from which was derived the English term provostry, so-called from the office of provost, the most common term for the head of a secular college.

Howden was the English term for a secular college of priests, most often used in Scotland and northern England.

Almost all larger parish churches in the Late Middle Ages housed numerous chantries whose priests might be organised into a college even though the parish church itself might not have been legally appropriated for collegiate use nor appropriated the benefices of other parishes to its priests.

Prebendaries at secular colleges were canons just like in cathedral chapters whose incomes were based on a prebend, an endowment derived from a parish whose benefice was appropriated for that purpose.

Portioners at secular colleges were canons whose income from prebends and/or other endowments was pooled so that a distinct and mostly equitable income could be provided to each canon.

Fellows at secular colleges were canons with incomes based on individual chantry endowments.

Provost was the usual title of the head of a secular college in both England and Scotland.

Dean was the title of the head of a secular college in dozens of cases in England; in Scotland at St. Bega’s in Dunbar, St. Triduana’s in Restalrig, and at Coldingham Priory during its brief existence as a collegiate church 1472-1488; and in Ireland at St. Peter & St. Paul’s in Kilmallock, Co. Limerick.

Warden was another rare title of the head of a secular college, as at St. Nicholas Church in Galway City post-1485 and St. Mary’s in Youghal; five  English churches: St. Boniface in Bunbury, Cheshire; St. Mary, St. Denys, and St. George in Manchester; St. Mary’s in Ottery Mary, Devon; St. John the Baptist in Shottesbrook; and one in Wales:  St. Peter’s in Ruthin.

Archpriest was a very rare title of the head of a secular college, and differs from the early use of the title.  It is found as such at St. Andrew’s in Bere Ferrers, Devon, and at St Michael Penkevil in Cornwall.  At the Collegiate Church of St. Bega in Dunbar, Scotland, it was the title of the second in rank to the dean.

Master was the title for the head of the majority of chantry colleges in England, as well as for most hospitals. 

Rector was used by just two heads of collegiate churches, Chumleigh, Devon, and Lowthorpe, Yorkshire.

Prior was the title for the heads of All Saints’ Collegiate Church in Bristol and St. John the Baptist’s Collegiate Church in Corstorphine.

The other officers and positions at collegiate churches were much the same as those at secular cathedrals, except that there were not as many of those officers in the colleges.

St. Giles’ Collegiate Church, Edinburgh

The original Church of St. Giles was a daughter of the nearby 8th century church dedicated to St. Cuthbert.  In 1124, it became the chapel of St. Giles’ Hospital of the Order of Brother and Soldiers of the Hospital of the Lepers of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Lazarists or the Knights of St. Lazarus.  It was an outreach of the Lazarist foundation at Harehope, Northumberland, just north of Eglingham.

The Lazarists were a hospitaller order founded at the establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem after the First Crusade; its military wing came much later and was always a minor component, one shed after the fall of Acre, the last territory of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in Palestine, in 1291.

During the Second Scottish War for Independence (1332-1357), Lazarists of the Hospital of St. Giles were sympathetic to, if not outright supportive of (however relunctantly, mostly because the headquarters of their order in the Isles was at Burton Lazars in Leicestershire), the English cause, so David II seized the hospital and expelled the Lazarists in 1341.

In 1376, David II gave the hospital, its chapel, and its grounds to his son John, later to become Robert III in 1390.  As such, he gave St. Giles to the Abbey of Scone (Augustinian Canons Regular) in 1393, but the transfer never completed.  His son James I made it a hostel for pilgrims, also to serve as parish church for Edinburgh.

St. Giles’ achieved collegiate status in 1467, with the Town Council of Edinburgh holding its patronage (advowson), in much the same arrangement later followed for the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas in Galway City.  The town council met by that time in the Old Tolbooth, the pretorium in which the Scottish Parliament also met.

In 1470, St. Giles’ was exempted from the authority of the provincial See of St. Andrews (whose incumbent was elevated to archbishop in 1472).  From 1633 to 1690, St. Giles’ served as the cathedral of the short-lived Diocese of Edinburgh, which was based on the former Archdeaconry of Lothian.

The college of St. Giles’ included a provost, a sacristan, a minister of the choir, a perpetual vicar for the parish (who was also subprovost), a parish clerk (under the sacristan), a beadle (under the minister of the choir), sixteen prebendary canons, four choristers, sixteen vicars stallari, and approximately seventy-two chantry chaplains.

Other collegiate churches in Scotland

To demonstrate other organizations of other, smaller, collegiate churches.

The Collegiate Church of St. Bega in Dunbar, the first collegiate church in all of Scotland established in 1342, was headed by a dean, with an archpriest as his deputy, plus eight prebendary canons.  Already a plebania with several dependent chapels at the time of its incorporation, its patronage belonged to the Earl of March.

The Collegiate Church of St. John the Baptist in Corstorphine, a satellite village of Edinburgh, founded in 1429, was an example of a chantry college in Scotland, with a chapter headed by a provost including eight chantry chaplains and 2 choristers.

The Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas in Biggar, Lanarkshire, the last collegiate church in Scotland in 1545, included a provost, eight prebendary canons (one of whom was sacristan and one who was chaplain of the nuns), four choristers, six poor nuns, and eight bedesmen.  In addition to their spiritual duties, the nuns ran an attached hospital.

Hospital collegiate churches

In the Middle Ages, all hospitals were Church-run, often by religious orders such as the Lazarites, the Augustinians, the Order of St. John, etc., but others had their own specially-dedicated monks, nuns, or other clerks.

The Royal Hospital of St. Katharine by the Tower of London as originally founded in 1147 was attached to nearby Augustinian Priory of the Holy Trinity.  Its initial charter came from Queen Matilda, wife of Henry I.  In 1273, it was rechartered by Queen Eleanor, first wife of Edward I, as an independent foundation with a chapter of a master, three priest-brothers, three sisters, six poor clerks, and ten bedeswomen, plus (later) two chantry chaplains.  It was quite unique in that its founding charter gave equal voting rights to the sisters vis-à-vis the brothers.  In 1442, it became designated a collegiate church, but without change of personnel billets, probably possible since none of its regular clergy were members of major orders.

Trinity College Church and Hospital, Edinburgh, was founded in 1460 by Mary of Guelders (Queen Consort of James II and Regent for James III) on the basis of the Hospital of the Holy Trinity in Soltray (Soutra), Midlothian, a collapsed Augustinian establishment.  Its college included a provost (also rector of Soltray), eight prebendaries (one of whom was master of the Hospital of the Holy Trinity and another sacristan), two clerks or choristers, and a perpetual vicar of Soltray.  There were no vicars choral as the provost and prebendaries were all required to be residential.  The hospitallers on-site in Soltray included both men and women.

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.