abbatial
Pertaining to an abbacy.
abbot or abbess
The head of an abbey, also known as the superior.
advowson
The patronage of a parish church. The patron
has the right of presentation to the benefice,
that is, to present his or her choice for the parish clergy to the bishop
for appointment. Generally, the patron may expect to receive a small yearly
fee from the parish priest (anywhere from a few pence to a few pounds,
depending upon the income of the benefice) taken from the tithes or other
income of the church. In some parishes, custom dictates that the patron
gets a much more significant pension.
alb
An ecclesiastical linen vestment that runs the full length of the wearer's
body and has long sleeves. It is held in place by a girdle at the waist.
almoner
A monastic official charged with managing the community's charitable
donations to the poor.
antiphony
A liturgical chant that includes opposing parts sung alternately in
response to one another.
apostasy
The act of a religious leaving the monastery
without license, or adopting the clothing of a layperson.
appropriation
The transfer of a parish church, with all its
tithes and income, to a religious house, with the stipulation that the
latter must appoint a vicar to see to the cure
of souls in the parish. Appropriation generally occurs when the previous
holder of advowson presents the monastery as the
new rector of the church. Since the monastery as
a corporate body does not die, this effectively means that it holds the
church permanently.
arable
(1) Suitable or used for the growing of crops. (2) Land
that is so suitable or so used.
arcade
A series of arches supported by columns. This is a common feature in
masonry structures.
archbishop
An ecclesiastical official who rules
an archdiocese, and additionally oversees a province.
As with the office of bishop, a legitimate candidate must at least have been
ordained as a priest. The ecclesiastical duties of an archbishop with respect
to his archdiocese include all those of a bishop in his diocese.
Additionally, an archbishop acts as the superior of the bishops within his province.
Unsurprisingly, an archbishop generally cannot fulfill all of his duties, and
must often appoint a subordinate to which he may delegate some of his responsibilities.
An archbishop's income
is usually at least as extensive as is a bishop's, stemming as it does from
similar sources.
archbishopric
Another term for archdiocese.
archdeacon
An ecclesiastical official who oversees an archdeaconry.
In order to qualify for the post, a candidate must have reached at least
the order of deacon. In addition to advising the diocesan,
an archdeacon is charged with overseeing the rural
deans of his district, ensuring that subordinate priests are caring
for their parishes, confirming newly-presented priests
to their parishes when directed to do so by the bishop, and so forth. He
is also meant to hold a court (known as a senate, synod, or chapter) to
try transgressions of canon law such as sexual
crimes and blasphemy, though serious matters involving marriage law should
be referred to the diocesan's court. Since archdeacons are often given
administrative and diplomatic tasks by the bishop, they are frequently
absent from their archdeaconries; thus, their duties are sometimes delegated
to rural deans. Archdeacons generally derive their income from their own
benefices
and from fines paid by offenders tried in their courts. Sometimes, an archdeacon
receives a portion of the cathedraticum.
archdeaconry
An ecclesiastical administrative unit, comprised of rural
deaneries and just below the diocese, headed
by an archdeacon.
archdiocese
An area of ecclesiastical jurisdiction ruled directly
by an archbishop, made up of archdeaconries.
Note that this is not the same as an archbishop's province.
archidiaconal
Pertaining to or governed by an archdeacon.
archidiaconate
Another term for archdeaconry.
archiepiscopal
Pertaining to or governed by an archbishop.
archiepiscopate
The office or archdiocese of an archbishop.
Augustinian
(1) Living under some
variation of the Rule of St. Augustine.
(2) Generally, any regular canon
or community of such that follows the Rule of St. Augustine, including the Premonstratensians
and others. (3) Specifically, those religious and houses who follow the
Rule of St. Augustine but are not affiliated with an organized order such as
the Premonstratensians.
bailiff
An administrator, either a common freeperson or a noble, charged with
managing a land holding such as a manor for an absentee
lord holding the land in demesne. The bailiff is
either paid a fixed sum and passes the profits of the land onto the lord,
or more rarely, the lord farms the holding out to the
bailiff.
Benedictine
(1) Living under some variation of the Rule
of St. Benedict. (2) Generally, any religious,
monastic community, or religious order that follows the Rule of St. Benedict,
including the Cluniacs, Cistercians,
and others. (3) Specifically, those religious and houses who follow
the Rule of St. Benedict but are not affiliated with an organized order
such as the Cluniacs or Cistercians.
benefice
A position, generally ecclesiastical, that provides income and other
renumeration in return for the fulfillment of duties, e.g. the office of
parish
priest.
bishop
An ecclesiastical official who oversees a diocese.
In order to qualify for the office, a candidate must at least have been
ordained as a priest. The ecclesiastical duties of a bishop include the
holding of synods to correct the faults of parish
priests, make proclamations to the diocesan clergy and laity, and so forth.
A bishop must also appoint priests to vacant benefices,
issue licenses for chapels to be built and authorize the creation of new
parishes, consecrate new churches, ordain priests, visit
monasteries that are not exempt from his authority, supervise the gift
of lands and parishes to monastic houses, oversee the proper execution
of wills, and generally speaking ensure the spiritual health of his diocese.
He also delegates the holding of the consistory court, used to try cases
involving canon law such as questions of legitimacy,
the breaking of vows concerning marriage or debt, and any cases appealed
from a lower Church court. Additionally, since bishops hold extensive estates,
they are expected to fulfill temporal duties to the king as well, sitting
in council with other important lords, supplying knights from their lands
when required, and so forth. In practice, a bishop's many obligations may
prevent him from fulfilling his duties within his see,
and thus he may appoint a suffragan bishop as a deputy. A bishop's income
is usually extensive, since it draws upon the lands of the episcopal
estate, benefices, and fees such as synodals, pentecostals,
and the cathedraticum.
bishopric
Another term for diocese.
black canon or canoness
A religious
who is an Augustinian (2nd or 3rd definition).
black monk or nun
A religious who is a Benedictine
(3rd definition) or a Cluniac.
Blessed Sacrament
The wafer that, according to Church doctrine, becomes the body of Christ
through the miracle of transubstantiation during the celebration of Mass.
Some is to be reserved after Mass so that it may be on hand in the church
in case it is needed for the sick or dying.
borough
A town that has been granted some measure of self-government by its
lord. A borough is usually granted one or more privileges including permission
to hold markets and fairs, the power to appoint citizens as administrative
officials, and the right to convene courts to try certain civil or criminal
cases.
bovate
Land area measurement equivalent to about 15 acres, or one eighth of
a carucate; so called because the plowing of the
latter is traditionally thought to require eight oxen.
burgess
A person who holds land within a borough. The
term generally implies citizenship and thus a variety of rights within
the town as well.
calefactory
The warming room in a monastery, where the inmates may spend brief
periods of time near the fire to warm themselves in cold weather.
canon or canoness
If male, a priest who, together with other canons, forms a college
(if a secular canon) that staffs a cathedral
or a collegiate church, or else (if a regular
canon) is a member of one of the
canonical
orders. If female, an unordained member of one of the canonical orders.
canonical hour
A single set of prayers that makes up a portion of the Divine
Office.
canonical order
A monastic order of regular canons.
cantor
Another term for precentor.
carucate
Land area measurement equivalent to perhaps 120 acres, though the actual
amount varies significantly. A carucate is thought to be the amount of
land that a team of eight oxen may plow annually.
cassock
An ecclesiastical vestment in the form of a long, close-fitting robe
worn under a surplice, scapular,
or other outer garment.
cathedral
A church serving as the see of a bishopric.
A cathedral generally has the bishop's throne in its chancel.
cathedral monastery
A monastic community attached to the church holding the diocesan's
throne. Eight of the sees in England are monastic: Carlisle,
Canterbury, Durham, Ely, Norwich, Rochester, Winchester, and Worcester.
The monastery at Carlisle is Augustinian, and those in the other sees are
unaffiliated Benedictine communities.
cathedral priory
Another term for cathedral monastery.
cathedraticum
A fixed annual payment made by the parish priests
of a diocese to their bishop.
The occasion of payment is sometimes used to cover up illicit demands for
money.
cellarer or cellaress
A monastic official charged with managing the collection and storage
of foodstuffs for his or her community, ensuring that servants and corrodians
have housing, and in general, supervising whatever activities that are
not any other official's responsibility. The position is often the most
important in a religious house after the superior and perhaps the subordinate
prior
or prioress. The term "cellaress" is an alternative
name for a female cellarer.
cenobite
A monk or nun who lives in a community under a superior, as opposed
to an eremite. Communal monks are meant to live,
work, study, and pray together.
census
A payment, generally annual, made to the diocesan
by another ecclesiastical party.
chamberlain
(1) In a monastic house, an official charged with supplying
and maintaining the community's beds, clothing, tools, and other items.
The chamberlain also supplies wood for the calefactory.
(2)
In a household, an official originally responsible for caring for the lord's
chamber, but now often an accountant and treasurer of sorts as well.
chapel (of ease)
A satellite of the
parish church where parishioners who live close by may
participate in most services. The mother church of the parish is generally very
careful to guard its rights to the tithes and other fees rendered by the
parishioners, and thus the chapel is almost never granted the right to perform
ceremonies that involve the worshippers making payments. Since funerals fall
into this category, chapels of ease usually do not feature graveyards.
chapter
(1) A meeting in a monastic house at which members' faults are
proclaimed and corrected, business is discussed, and the religious
advise their superior on administrative and other matters. (2) A
meeting of secular canons to discuss business
and issues facing their college. (3) Those who participate in such
a meeting, taken as a corporate body.
chapter house
A chamber used by a corporate body of religious
or of secular canons when they meet in chapter.
child oblate
A child who is given by his or her parents or guardians to a religious
house as a gift. The child oblate is presented to the monastic community
at the altar, much like a sacrifice. Child oblates, unlike other child
novices,
may not leave the religious life. In the past century of Church reform,
this practice has become extremely unpopular; the fact that such a child
has no choice in the matter is offensive to critics, since religious
should always enter the
cloister voluntarily.
choir religious
Religious who are professed
and are full members of their communities, as opposed to novices
and lay brethren and their female counterparts.
circatore
In some abbeys, a low-ranking monastic official subordinate to the
claustral
prior or prioress who circulates after
dark, looking for religious who are loitering.
Cistercian
(1) Of the Cistercian order.
(2)
A member of the order.
Cistercian order
The monastic order of Citeaux, founded at the close of the eleventh
century. The Cistercians, like the Cluniacs, impose
a super-communal organization upon their member houses. Unlike the Cluniacs,
they do not invest the abbot of Citeaux with supreme power. The Cistercians
pioneered the use of a written constitutional framework that defines the
tools and methods of government. They also led the way in the establishment
of a General Chapter to govern the order. The General Chapter is a body
of representatives from member houses that meets each year in order to
make decisions concerning the order as a whole, and to ensure that discipline
is maintained. Cistercian communities are exempt from diocesan
interference; the General Chapter is responsible for visitations.
Land is generally held by frankalmoin tenure and
is exploited via the grange system.
Lay
brethren perform heavy labor and interact with laypersons,
allowing the choir monks some degree of
isolation from the world. The order does not officially admit female houses,
though some nunneries claim to be members. A form of the Rule
of St. Benedict regulates the lives of choir monks, while lay brethren
are governed by an abbreviated rule known as the Uses. The order was originally
rooted in reformist ideals, but has grown extremely wealthy as a result
of the energy houses have devoted to sheep farming.
claustral
Of the cloister.
claustral prior or prioress
In some monasteries, an official subordinate to either the third
prior or prioress, or the subprior
or subprioress, who is charged with ensuring that
religious
do not loiter in inappropriate places.
clepsydra
Latin term for water clock.
cloister
(1) A rectangular open area of ground known as a garth
generally surrounded on all sides by covered alleyways, a standard feature
of monastic and collegiate complexes. (2) The buildings making up
a monastic complex. (3) The monastic life in general.
Cluniac
(1) Of the Cluniac order. (2)
A member of the order.
Cluniac order
The monastic order of Cluny, a Benedictine
monastery founded in Burgundy in the tenth century. The Cluniac order was
the first organized religious order to emerge; prior to its existence,
monasteries operated relatively independently of one another, unless one
was the daughter house of another. The order
is organized along feudal lines, with each house being overseen by, and
paying an annual fee to, its parent community. It includes both male and female
communities, though the former far outnumber the latter. From the beginning, Cluniacs
were granted exemption from diocesan interference,
as they were placed directly under papal control. The order's houses hold
land by frankalmoin tenure. The Cluniacs spearheaded
monastic reform in their heyday, but in the last century the Cistercians
and other, more austere orders have taken on this role, and the Cluniacs
are now viewed as part of the old guard of wealthy Benedictine houses,
reactionary and disinclined to change. Cluniac houses are known for their
wealth and the complexity and length of their liturgical celebration.
college
A community, generally made up of
secular canons, who are expected to live together
and conduct religious services in a collegiate
church. Unlike a monastery, the members of a college are not confined to
the cloister, nor must they take vows of poverty or
obedience. Thus, they may travel and own personal property, and are not expected
to sublimate their will to a superior. In practice, oftentimes a canon will
reside elsewhere and appoint a subordinate vicar to
fulfill his duties.
collegiate
(1) Pertaining to a
college. (2) A member of a college.
collegiate church
A church staffed
by a college of secular canons,
as opposed to a single priest.
compurgation
A legal process in which the defendant swears a strictly-worded oath
as to the veracity of his or her statements, and summons a number of compurgators
to take oaths as well. If the defendant cannot produce the required number
of compurgators, or the defendant or one of his or her compurgators does
not swear correctly according to the formula of the oath, the oath is said
to have "burst", and the defendant's case is lost.
compurgator
One who swears that he or she sincerely believes that another person
is being truthful in a trial by compurgation.
confrater
A layperson who has entered into an agreement with a monastic community
stating that in return for donations, he or she is to be considered an
honorary member. A confrater derives spiritual benefit from the
relationship, while the religious house profits from the layperson's gifts.
Some agreements stipulate that the confrater has a right to join
the community when he or she is close to death, thus joining the ranks
of the conversi.
confraternity
(1) An agreement between a religious house and a layperson that
designates the latter a confrater. (2)
An agreement between two monasteries to provide mutual spiritual support.
Such an agreement may include temporal aspects, such as the right of members
of each community to a place in the other's chapter.
conventional hours
A system used to measure the time of day that divides the period of
daylight into twelve hours of equal length, as opposed to natural
hours. Since the sun rises and sets at different times each day, conventional
hours vary in length between days, being much shorter in winter than in
summer. This system does not provide a method of measuring the nighttime
between each day and the next. Sundials and some water
clocks are ideally suited to measuring time in conventional hours.
conversi or conversae
(1) Latin term for lay brethren and sisters.
(2)
Those who have turned from the world to the monastic life; a Latin term
for religious who became novices
at a late age. They often lack the intellectual and liturgical skills of
their fellow religious, and may even be illiterate.
cope
Cloak worn as an ecclesiastical vestment, reaching to the wearer's
ankles with a hood, held in place by a metal clasp over the chest.
corrodian
A lay servant of a monastic community who has entered into an agreement
with the latter stating that in return for his or her services, he or she
will be taken care of in old age. In many ways the arrangement amounts
to a retirement plan.
county
Another term for shire.
courts Christian
Church courts, used to hear cases involving breaches of canon
law.
cure of souls
The spiritual care of a priest for his flock, or the responsibility
for such care.
dalmatic
An ecclesiastical vestment in the form of a robe with wide sleeves.
The dalmatic is worn by bishops and some privileged
abbots.
daughter house
A monastic community that was founded by members of another house;
usually implies a subordinate position with respect to the parent. The
parent may be termed the mother house.
day stairs
In a monastery, the stairway
giving access to the dormitory via a claustral
walkway.
demesne
(1) Land that is held by a tenant for his or her own use instead
of granted to a subtenant; the opposite of mesne.
When said of one or more manors or similar holdings,
it means that the land is not subinfeudated.
When said of a portion of a manor, it means that the produce of the land
is worked by laborers for the lord and that its produce is automatically
the lord's property. (2) The state of land held thus.
diocesan
(1) Of the local diocese. (2)
The bishop who heads the local diocese.
diocese
An area of ecclesiastical jurisdiction ruled by a bishop,
made up of archdeaconries.
Divine Office
A set of prayers, canonical hours, that
are recited at certain times of the day and night by both regular
and secular clergy. The form of the Divine
Office varies between different orders, colleges, and so forth. Mass
is not part of the Divine Office.
dormitory
In a monastery, a common room in which the religious
sleep.
dorter
Another term for dormitory.
double monastery
(1) A monastic community that houses both male and female religious.
(2)More
specifically, a community with large contingents of both male and female
religious that are segregated by sex, each with its own cloister.
episcopal
Pertaining to or governed by a bishop.
episcopate
The office or diocese of a bishop.
eremite
A hermit, anchorite or anchoress; a religious
who chooses to live a solitary holy life, as opposed to the communal life
of a cenobite.
excommunication
Exclusion from Church membership. A person who suffers excommunication
is cut off from spiritual salvation and from the world as well, since Christians
are not to speak with or assist an excommunicate.
farm
To provide property, an office, or other privileges to a person or
corporate body in return for a fixed sum paid at regular intervals. The
term may also be used to describe the fixed sum itself, or the land, office,
or privileges that are farmed. Land, royal offices such as shrievalties,
and parishes and other benefices
are commonly farmed.
ferial day
A day that is not a Sunday or a saint's day, that is, one that is not
an occasion for a feast.
frankalmoin
Possession by free alms; a type of ecclesiastical land tenure in which
the tenant holds the land in return for saying prayers to benefit the soul
of the lord granting the holding, though sometimes such grants involve
the rendering of some other type of service by the holder as well. If the
donor grants the land in "pure" alms, the services due should be exclusively
spiritual in nature; if the grant is in "perpetual" alms, the grant is
intended to be in effect forever.
frater
Another term for refectory.
garth
The open area of ground within a cloister.
grange
A form of manor used by certain monastic orders to manage outlying
lands. The grange substitutes a grange complex for the manor house, lay
brethren for the lord or bailiff and his household, and servants for
the free and unfree peasants of an ordinary manor. Since it is wholly controlled
by the monastic house, with no conservative peasants to act as obstacles
to change by citing tradition and precedent, it allows the land to be managed
and worked more efficiently, to the benefit of the holder. The transformation
of a manor into a grange is not necessarily a happy event for the manor's
tenants, since they are usually evicted, sometimes being forced by circumstances
to become the paid servants who work the grange, but with little or no
job security.
guild
An organization found in many boroughs to which
burgesses
who practice certain trades must belong in order to do business in the
town. The guild is intended to protect the rights of local merchants and
artisans at the expense of their "foreign" counterparts (that is, merchants
and artisans from outside the town). Each town may have one or more guilds,
though only the largest have more than one or two. Guild regulations often
set maximum and minimum prices that members may charge for various goods
in order to discourage excessive competition. Many guilds are fraternal
organizations as well, providing financial and legal support to members
who have run afoul of the law or been rendered unable to practice their
crafts. Such guilds will often care for an associate's family in the event
of the member's death.
hagiography
The study of the saints. Books on the lives of the saints are popular
fare in monastic libraries.
horarium
The schedule by which a monastic community lives.
Host
Another term for the Blessed Sacrament.
hosteler
A monastic official charged with providing for the needs of guests.
indulgence
A pardon issued by an ecclesiastical authority for a sin previously
committed.
infirmarian
A monastic official in charge of the infirmary
and its patients.
infirmary
In a monastery, the hall or complex used to house and care for those
religious
who are ill, old, or infirm.
judge-delegate
A clergyman, generally one who has attained the rank of at least bishop
or abbot, appointed by the papacy to judge a specific
case that has been brought before the papal court. The judge-delegate decides
the case locally, allowing him to more easily gather testimony and review
evidence before making his decision.
justiciar
A powerful royal official charged with overseeing judicial and financial
aspects of government. The justiciar may sometimes wield tremendous power,
especially if the king is absent from the country.
kitchener
A monastic official in charge of the kitchen. He or she receives fresh
food from the gardens and staples from the cellarer,
and oversees the preparation of meals.
knight service
A type of military tenure in which the
tenant must serve his lord as a knight for a certain period each year.
laity
The collective body of faithful Christians who are not members of the
ecclesiastical hierarchy, whether regular
or secular.
lavatorium
In a monastery, a washing trough or sink located at the entrance of
a refectory.
lay brother or sister
An illiterate religious drawn from the peasant
class, used by some monastic orders such as the Cistercians
to perform manual labor and menial tasks, or to work with lay persons;
this frees the choir religious from having
to work with their hands or interact with the outside world. Lay brethren
and sisters take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience when they join
a monastery, and are expected to recite a shortened form of the Divine
Office.
legate
A representative of the papacy, usually either a cardinal dispatched
from Rome, an archbishop, or perhaps a bishop. Since
they speak for the pope, legates wield enormous ecclesiastical power. A
person is generally made a legate only temporarily, though the pope may
allow a legate's term of service to go on indefinitely.
liege (lord)
The primary lord of a vassal who holds by military
tenure. The liege lord and vassal each have responsibilities to one
another; the vassal must remain loyal to the liege lord above any other
lords, while the liege is the vassal's principal protector. If a vassal
holds land by such tenure from more than one lord, his or her liege lord
is generally the one from whom he has held the longest.
manor
A group of lands, not necessarily geographically contiguous, managed
as an economic and administrative unit. Typically between 500 and 3000
acres in size, the manor is controlled by a lord who, if not the king,
holds the estate by some form of land tenure from another lord. If this
lord is not the king, he or she in turn holds from yet another lord, and
so on until the second-to-last lord in the chain holds from the king. The
most subordinate lord holds the land in demesne,
while those lords above him or her in the hierarchy hold the land in mesne.
The demesne lord in turn has common tenants, whether free, unfree, or both,
who actually work the land. A manor may encompass only a part of a village,
a whole community, or multiple villages. The lord and tenants each have
a number of interlocking rights and privileges with respect to the use
of cropland, grazing rights, housing, the collection of rents and fees,
the exercising of justice, and so forth.
manorial system
An system of land management whereby lands are divided into manors
for the purposes of economic administration and exploitation.
Mass
The chief Christian religious ritual celebrated through ceremony and
prayer by one or more priests. The highlight of Mass is creation of the
Blessed
Sacrament.
master or mistress of children
A monastic official in charge of child novices,
and perhaps school pupils. The office is often merged with the master
or mistress of novices.
master or mistress of novices
A monastic official in charge of novices. The
office is often merged with the master
or mistress of children.
master or mistress of works
A monastic official who may be appointed to oversee construction efforts.
mesne
(1) Land that is granted by a tenant to subtenants instead of
being reserved for the tenant's direct exploitation; the opposite of demesne.
When said of one or more manors or similar holdings,
it means that the land has been subinfeudated.
When said of a portion of a manor, it means that the land is worked by
peasants and other subtenants, and its produce belongs to the workers.
(2)
The state of land held thus.
metropolitan
(1) Another term
for archbishop. (2) Pertaining to or governed
by an archbishop.
military tenure
Possession by military service; a type of land tenure in which the
tenant holds the land in return for providing men to serve as the lord's
soldiers for a specified period each year.
minster
A collegiate
church that was originally a center of missionary activity when the surrounding
population was being converted to Christianity, and now acts as an important
church within a diocese to which surrounding parishes
often owe some sort of service. A minster may, for example, be treated as a
proxy cathedral if the latter is too far away to be
practical for parishioners to attend annually.
mitre
An ecclesiastical vestment in the form of a pointed cap worn by bishops
and some privileged abbots.
mother house
A monastic community that has provided a portion of its own population
to be the nucleus of a newly-founded religious house. The daughter
house may be to some extent subordinate to the mother house.
natural hours
A system used to measure the time of day that divides each day into
twenty-four hours of equal length, as opposed to conventional
hours. Opinions vary as to when the day starts and ends: morning, midday,
evening, or midnight. Unless otherwise noted, all times given in natural
hours are counted forward from midnight, so that 14:00 is the fourteenth
hour after midnight, or the second hour following midday. Notched
candles and some water clocks are ideally suited
to measuring time in natural hours.
night stairs
In a monastery, the stairway
giving access to the church from the dormitory.
novice
A member of a monastic community who has not yet been professed.
obedientiary
The head of a department in a monastery that employs the obedientiary
system. He or she is charged with managing a subset of the community's
holdings. All profits generated or losses suffered from this management
generally go into or come out of the department's budget. If the obedientiary
holds another office, such as that of cellarer
or precentor, he or she is expectd to use funds
generated to support the office; for example, the precentor would use
profits to purchase and maintain items required for choral liturgy, the
scriptorium, and so forth. Not all obedientiaries hold other offices, however.
obedientiary system
A system used by some monastic communities to manage their holdings,
including land, appropriated churches, and
other property. The holdings are divided amongst the various obedientiaries,
each of whom manages his or her portion. Critics attack the system for
crossing the line between corporate and private monastic property.
ordained
Invested with an office; often used to imply priesthood, though one
may be ordained as a member of the various minor orders of the Church.
pannage
Woodland used for the pasturing of pigs in the autumn. Also, the fees
charged by the holder of the land to allow such pasturing.
parish
An ecclesiastical administrative unit, just below the rural
deanery, containing a part of or an entire community, or sometimes
multiple villages. The laity in each parish are cared
for by the resident priest, whether a vicar or a rector.
The parishioners, in turn, are expected to pay tithes and other fees to
the priest. Each parish has at least one church and possibly one or more
subordinate chapels.
parlor
In a monastery, a room in which religiousare
allowed to speak with one another when silence should otherwise prevail
in the cloister.
parochial
(1) Of, or having to do with, a parish.
(2)
Relating to responsibilities that clergy have towards the laity.
pasture
(1) Plants consumed by animals during grazing. (2) Land
so used.
pentecostal
An annual payment made by clergy and layfolk during their annual visits
to the diocesan cathedral. The pentecostal is received
by either the bishop or the cathedral canons.
perpetual vicarage
A vicarage established by the diocesan
in writing; the holder of such a vicarage may not be removed from the position
as easily as other vicars, and receives a fixed fee or else a fixed portion
of the parish's income. Perpetual vicarages are often
established when a monastery gains
appropriation
of a benefice; this is generally done to block
any attempt by the monastery to cut costs by leaving the parish without
a vicar, or by hiring unsuitable vicars. It is thus a way of ensuring that
a parish will be ministered to appropriately by a priest.
pittance
In a monastery, an extra dish of fish or eggs that is eaten in addition
to the standard dishes specified by the rule under which the community
lives. Pittances are usually served once a day at most.
pittancer
A monastic official charged with providing pittances
to the community.
plainsong
A liturgical chant that is monophonic and has no measure, such as Gregorian
chants.
plow
Land area measurement equivalent to perhaps
120 acres, though the actual amount varies significantly. A plow is meant to
represent the amount of land tilled by a plow team of eight oxen in a year.
polyphony
A liturgical chant that includes a combination of different but harmonizing
melodies, as opposed to plainsong.
precentor or precentrix
A monastic official who is charged with directing choral liturgical
celebrations, and with overseeing the library and scriptorium. The term
"precentrix" is an alternative name for a female precentor.
Premonstratensian
(1) Of
the Premonstratensian order. (2)
A member of the order.
Premonstratensian order
The
order of Premontre, founded circa 1120 A.D., combines the regular
canonical life with many of the customs and practices of the Cistercians.
Like the latter, the Premonstratensians employ a written constitution, and are
governed by a General Chapter that meets each year at the mother house. The
order is responsible for visitations,
and communities are exempt from the authority of the diocesan.
Most land is held by frankalmoin tenure, and lay
brethren perform heavy labor and act as a buffer between the cloister and
the outside world. The order includes some female houses, but the General Chapter
is increasingly leery of maintaining or encouraging women religious. A form
of the Rule of St. Augustine, influenced
by Cistercian ideas, regulates the white canons'
and canonesses' existence. Some communities tend
toward the contemplative life, while others emphasize pastoral work at parish
churches, hospitals, and the like.
prior or prioress
(1) In an abbey, the immediate subordinate of the abbot
or abbess. (2) In a priory, the head of the
house.
prioral
Pertaining to a priorate.
priorate
The office of a prior or prioress.
professed
Having taken vows upon entering a monastic order, or a person who has
done so.
province
An area of ecclesiastical jurisdiction overseen
by an archbishop, generally made up of
the archbishop's own archdiocese and one or more
dioceses of subordinate bishops.
England is divided into two provinces, that of Canterbury and that of York.
quadrivium
Four of the seven scholastic subjects making up the liberal arts: arithmetic,
geometry, astronomy, and music. The other three subjects compose the trivium.
rector
Priest who has the right to the income deriving from a parish
church
benefice. A resident rector tends to the
cure
of souls in the parish, whereas an absentee rector lives elsewhere
and appoints a vicar to act as the parish priest,
but still enjoys most of the profits arising therefrom.
rectory
The office of a rector.
reeve
An unfree tenant of a manor, generally the wealthiest
serf, who is appointed by the lord, or more rarely, elected by the community.
The reeve oversees the day-to-day operation of the manor, supervising the
unfree tenants in their work. He generally is expected to keep track of
expenses so that he may report to the lord holding the manor or his representative,
such as a bailiff. A reeve is usually excused from
labor obligations and is awarded other benefits as well.
refectorer
A monastic official in charge of the refectory.
He or she is responsible for procuring and maintaining furniture, linens,
and so forth.
refectory
In a monastery, the hall in which the religious
take their meals.
regular canon or canoness
A canon who is a member of the regular
clergy who has greater ties to the outside world, much like secular
clergy. Regular canons and canonesses live under a rule in a community,
but unlike most monks and nuns, they also serve the laity
as priests, the staff of hospitals, etc.
regular clergy
Clergy who live by a rule, or regula, typically in a monastic
house, as opposed to secular clergy. Regular
clergy take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience; they may own no property
and must give up their will to their superiors.
religious
Regular clergy.
Rule of St. Augustine
A set of guidelines for monastic communities composed by St. Augustine
of Hippo circa 400 AD. It is shorter and more general than the Rule
of St. Benedict, and thus more adaptable. It is used to govern houses
of a number of orders of regular canons.
Rule of St. Benedict
A set of rules and guidelines for monastic communities that was composed
by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century. Some form of the Rule is used
by most monastic orders to govern their member houses.
rural dean
An ecclesiastical official who oversees a rural
deanery. A rural dean is expected to oversee the parishes
in his district, ensuring that the priests in each are competent and are
providing appropriate services to their flocks. He is sometimes empowered
to hold a court to try minor transgressions of canon
law, such as sexual activity outside of wedlock. Such courts are held
once every few weeks and rotate through the parishes in the deanery. The
right to hold a court is sometimes contested by the dean's archdeacon.
Rural deans generally derive their income from their own benefices
and from fines paid by offenders tried in their courts.
rural deanery
An ecclesiastical administrative unit just below the archdeaconry,
comprised of several parishes and headed by a rural
dean.
sacrist(an) or sacristaness
A monastic official charged with conducting services at the altar of
the church, and with the upkeep of the church in general. A sacrist directs
the ringing of bells, oversees the making of bread for services, ensures
that ceremonial vestments are available and in good repair, and so forth.
The term "sacristaness" is an alternative name for a female sacristan.
scapular
An ecclesiastical vestment commonly worn by regular
clergy. It consists of a long piece of cloth with a hole for the wearer's
head that, when worn, stretches down the front and back of the body and
reaches down to near the feet. Two projections to either side of the hole
drape over the wearer's shoulders.
scriptorium
In a monastery, the cloister walkway or chamber
used for the copying of books.
secular canon or canoness
A canon who is a member of the secular
clergy. Since they are not regular, they
do not live under a rule. The college to which secular canons belong may
form the clerical body of a cathedral, minster, school, hospital, or other
ecclesiastical institution.
secular clergy
Clergy who, unlike regular clergy, do
not live by a rule. They do not take vows of poverty or obedience, only
of chastity. Thus, they may own property, and they do not sign over their
will to a superior.
see
The diocese of a bishop,
or the official seat of authority within the diocese.
sheriff
A royal officer charged with overseeing a shire.
His duties include collecting royal taxes, holding the county court, and
summoning the men of the shire to the king's banner in times of war. The
shrievalty
is commonly farmed out by the king for a fixed annual
sum, in which case the sheriff is free to keep any proceeds of royal taxation
and justice left over after he has paid the necessary amount into the royal
coffers. Shrievalties are sometimes extremely lucrative positions, much
coveted by those who can afford to pay the required fees.
shire
An royal administrative unit comprising a portion of the country, overseen
by a sheriff.
shrievalty
The office of a sheriff.
simony
The act of selling or buying ecclesiastical offices, illegal under
canon
law.
slype
(1) A passageway providing access to a cloister
located in the eastern range of the claustral complex, often between the
chapter
house and the church. (2) More generally, any passageway piercing
a claustral complex so as to allow access to the cloister from outside.
subinfeudation
The process by which a tenant of lands grants some or all of his estate
to one or more subtenants in exchange for services of the latter. Subinfeudation
used to be a common practice when lords flush with land were eager to gain
the services of knights; they would grant the knights portions of their
demesne.
Since most lords have little demesne left, subinfeudation has grown less
popular. The term is also used to describe the lands thus granted.
subordinate prior or prioress
Term used to describe the prior or prioress
of an abbey, or the subprior or subprioress
of a priory.
subprior or subprioress
A monastic official who is subordinate to the prior
or prioress. In an abbey, this official is in charge
of discipline; in a priory, he or she is the superior's deputy.
succentor
A monastic official subordinate to the precentor.
During antiphonal chants, the succentor leads
the northern half of the choir.
suffragan (bishop)
(1) A bishop
subordinate to an archbishop. (2) An assistant
to a diocesan bishop to whom the latter delegates certain
duties.
surplice
An ecclesiastical vestment, generally white, with wide sleeves and
a loose fit that falls to the hips or knees. It is shorter than the alb,
and is never bound at the waist.
synodal
A fee paid by the diocesan clergy to the bishop
during a synod.
third prior or prioress
In some abbeys, an official who is subordinate to the subprior
or subprioress.
trivium
Three of the seven scholastic subjects making up the liberal arts:
grammar (Latin), logic (the dialectic, the art of argument), and rhetoric
(the art of public speaking, again in Latin). The other four subjects compose
the quadrivium.
tunicle
An ecclesiastical vestment in the form of a sleeveless tunic with wide
sleeves, much like the dalmatic. It is worn by
bishops
and some privileged abbots.
vicar
A person who substitutes for another to fulfill the duties of an ecclesiastical
office. Often used to mean the priest who, in return for compensation,
tends to the cure of souls in a parish
for an absentee rector.
vicarage
The office of a vicar.
visitation
An occasion when an external ecclesiastical authority inspects a monastic
community to ensure that the latter is functioning properly. The visitor
corrects members, and sometimes the entire community, when they are found
to be living or behaving inappropriately, and also may enthrone a new superior,
ordain monks who are to become priests, and so forth. Visitations underscore
a house's lack of independence, and consequently the religious
may resent these occasions, especiallly when the visitor is the local bishop.
visitor
The ecclesiastical official with the right of visitation
with respect to a monastic community. He or she may be a member of a parent
house, a representative of the monastery's order, a bishop,
or a papal delegate.
warden of the shrine(s)
A monastic official charged with the safety of the community's shrines
and relics.
wardship
The custody of a tenant and his or her lands while the tenant is underage
or, if a corporate body such as a monastic community, is without a head.
The right of wardship allows the holder to enjoy the profits of the lands
held in custody until the tenant comes of age or the corporate body is
appointed a head, at which point the holder is supposed to return the lands
to the tenant in the same condition in which they were received.
water clock
A device used to measure the passage of time using the steady flow
of water to move a pointer or dial that indicates the hour. Water clocks
may be used to measure either natural or conventional
hours, depending upon their complexity. A water clock that measures
the latter must use some form of mechanism to alter the backing under the
pointer each day as it empties, so that the length of the hours changes
as the year progresses.
weir
(1) A dam or other obstruction in
a stream or river used to channel water for a water mill. (2) A
fence generally consisting of stakes driven into a stream or river bed with
woven material between them. This sort of weir is constructed so as to direct
fish into an enclosure from which they cannot escape.
white canon or canoness
A religious
who is a Premonstratensian.
white monk or nun
A religious
who is a Cistercian.
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Copyright © 2002 Christopher Golden All Rights Reserved. Last modified 5-7-02 |