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A cathedral, more correctly "cathedral church" (ecclesia cathedralis), is the church which contains the official "seat" or throne of a bishop. Cathedra, one of the Latin names for this, gives us the adjective "cathedral". The adjective has gradually, for briefness of speech, assumed the character of a substantive. One of the earliest instances of the term ecclesia cathedralis is said to occur in the acts of the council of Tarragona in 516. Another name for a cathedral church is ecclesia mater, indicating that it is the mother church of a diocese. As the one important church, it was also known as ecclesia major. Again, as the chief house of God in a region, the cathedral church was called the Domus Dei, and from this name the German Domkirche, or Dom, is derived, as also the Swedish Domkyrka, and the Italian Duomo.

History and Organization

It was early decreed that the cathedra of a bishop was not to be placed in the church of a village, but only in that of a city. There was no difficulty as to this on the continent of Europe, where towns were numerous, and where the cities were the natural centres from which Christianity was diffused among the people who inhabited the surrounding districts. In the British islands, however, the case was different; towns were few, and owing to other causes, instead of exercising jurisdiction over definite areas or districts, many of the bishops were bishops of tribes or peoples, as the bishops of the south Saxons, the West Saxons, the Somersaetas and others. The cathedra of such a bishop was often migratory, and was at times placed in one church, and then another, and sometimes in the church of a village. In 1075 a council was held in London, under the presidency of Archbishop Lanfranc, which, reciting the decrees of the council of Sardica held in 347 and that of Laodicea held in 360 on this matter, ordered the bishop of the south Saxons to remove his see from Selsey to Chichester; the Wiltshire and Dorset bishop to remove his cathedra from Sherborne to Old Sarum, and the Mercian bishop, whose cathedra was then at Lichfield, to transfer it to Chester. Traces of the tribal and migratory system may still be noted in the designations of the Irish see of Meath (where the result has been that there is now no cathedral church) and Ossoiy, the cathedral church of which is at Kilkenny. Some of the Scottish sees were also migratory.

By the canon law the bishop is regarded as the pastor of the cathedral church, the parochia of which is his diocese. In view of this, canonists speak of the cathedral church as the one church of the diocese, and all others are deemed chapels in their relation to it.

Occasionally two churches jointly share the distinction of containing the bishop's cathedra. In such case they are said to be con-cathedral in relation to each other. Instances of this occurred in England before the Protestant Reformation in the dioceses of Bath and Wells, and of Coventry and Lichfield. Hence the double titles of those dioceses. In Ireland an example occurs at Dublin, where Christ Church and St Patrick's are jointly the cathedral churches of that diocese. In France the bishop of Couserans (a see suppressed at the Revolution) had two con-cathedral churches at St Lizier, and the bishop of Sisteron (a see also suppressed) had a second throne in the church of Forcalquier which is still called La Con-cathédrale. Other instances might be named. In the case of York the collegiate churches of Beverley, Ripon and Southwell were almost in the same position, but although the archbishop had a stall in each he had no diocesan cathedra in them, and the chapters were not united with that of the metropolitical church in the direct government of the diocese, or the election of the archbishop, nor had they those other rights which were held to denote the cathedral character of a church.

Cathedral churches are reckoned as of different degrees of dignity:

  1. the simple cathedral church of a diocesan bishop,
  2. the metropolitical church to which the other diocesan cathedral churches of a province are suffragan,
  3. the primatial church under which are ranged metropolitical churches and their provinces,
  4. patriarchal churches to which primatial, metropolitical, and simple cathedral churches alike owe allegiance.

The title of "primate" was occasionally conferred on metropolitans of sees of great dignity or importance, such as Canterbury, York, Rouen, whose cathedral churches remained simply metropolitical. Lyons, where the cathedral church is still known as La Primatiale, and Lund in Sweden, may be cited as instances of churches which were really primatial. Lyons had the archbishops of Sens and Paris and their provincial dioceses subject to it till the Revolution, and Lund had the archbishop of Uppsala and his province subject to it. As with the title of primate, so also that of "patriarch" has been conferred on sees such as Venice and Lisbon, the cathedral churches of which are patriarchal in name alone. The cathedral church of St John Lateran, the cathedral church of the pope as bishop of Rome and patriarch of the West, alone in Western Europe possesses potentially a patriarchal character. Its formal designation is Patriarchalis Basilica, Sacrosancta Romana Cathedralis Ecclesia Lateranensis.

The removal of a bishop's cathedra from a church deprives that church of its cathedral dignity, although often the name clings in common speech, as for example at Antwerp, which was deprived of its bishop at the French Revolution.

The history of the body of clergy attached to the cathedral church is obscure, and as in each case local considerations affected its development, all that can be attempted is to give a general outline of the main features which were more or less common to all. Originally the bishop and cathedral clergy formed a kind of religious community, which, in no true sense a monastery, was nevertheless often called a monasterium. The word did not have the restricted meaning which it afterwards acquired. Hence the apparent anomaly that churches like York and Lincoln, which never had any monks attached to them, have inherited the name of minster or monastery. In these early communities the clergy often lived apart in their own dwellings, and were not infrequently married. In the 8th century, however, Chrodegang, bishop of Metz (743-766), compiled a code of rules for the clergy of the cathedral churches, which, though widely accepted in Germany and other parts of the continent, gained little acceptance in England. According to Chrodegang's rule, the cathedral clergy were to live under a common roof, occupy a common dormitory and submit to the authority of a special officer. The rule of Chrodegang was, in fact, a modification of the Benedictine rule. Gisa, a native of Lorraine, who was bishop of Wells from 1061 to 1088, introduced it into England, and imposed its observance on the clergy of his cathedral church, but it was not followed for long there, or elsewhere in England.

During the two centuries roughly bounded by the years 900 and 1100, the cathedral clergy became more definitely organized, and were also divided into two classes. One was that of a monastic establishment of some recognized order of monks, very often that of the Benedictines, while the other class was that of a college of clergy, living in the world, and bound by no vows, except those of their ordination, but governed by a code of statutes or canons. Hence the name of "canon" given to them. In this way arose the distinction between the monastic and secular cathedral churches. In England the monastic cathedral churches were

all of them Benedictine except Carlisle, which was a church of Augustinians. The secular churches were

and the four Welsh cathedral churches. In Ireland all were secular except Christ Church, Dublin (Augustinian), and Down (Benedictine), and none, even in their earliest days, were ever, it is believed, churches of recognized orders of monks, except the two named. In Scotland

In Germany, as in England, many of the cathedral churches were monastic. In Denmark all seem to have been Benedictine at first, except Børglum, which was Praemonstratensian till the Reformation. The others were changed to churches of secular canons. In Sweden, Uppsala was originally Benedictine, but was secularized about 1250, and it was ordered that each of the cathedral churches of Sweden should have a chapter of at least fifteen secular canons. In France monastic chapters were very common, but nearly all the monastic cathedral churches there had been changed to churches of secular canons before the 17th century. One of the latest to be so changed was that of Seez, in Normandy, which was Augustinian till 1547, when Pope Paul III dispensed the members from their vows, and constituted them a chapter of secular canons. The chapter of Senez was monastic till 1647, and others perhaps even later, but the majority were secularized about the time of the Reformation.

In the case of monastic cathedral churches there were no Dignitaries, the internal government was that of the order to which the chapter belonged, and all the members kept perpetual residence. The reverse of this was the case with the secular chapters; the dignities of provost, dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer, etc., soon came into being, for the regulation and good Order of the church and its services, while the non-residence of he canons, rather than their perpetual residence, became the rule, and led to their duties being performed by a body of "vicars", who officiated for them at the services of the church. Abroad, the earliest head of a secular church seems to have been the provost (praepositus, Probst, etc.), who was charged, not only with the internal regulation of the church, and oversight of the members of the chapter and control of the services, but was also the steward or seneschal of the lands and possessions of the church. The latter often mainly engaged his attention, to the neglect of his domestic and ecclesiastical duties, and complaints were soon raised that the provost was too much mixed in worldly affairs, and was too frequently absent from his spiritual duties. This led, in many cases, to the institution of a new officer called the "dean", who had charge of that portion of the provost's duties which related to the internal discipline of the chapter and

the services of the church. In some cases the office of provost was abolished, but in others it was continued, the provost, who was occasionally archdeacon as well, remaining head of the chapter. This arrangement was most commonly followed in Germany. In England the provost was almost unknown. Bishop Gisa introduced a provost as head of the chapter of Wells, but the office was afterwards subordinated to the other dignities, and the provost became simply the steward of certain of the prebendal lands. The provost of the collegiate church of Beverley was the most notable instance of such an officer in England, but at Beverley he was an external officer with authority in the government of the church, no stall in the choir and no vote in chapter. The provost of Eton, introduced by Henry VI of England, occupied a position most nearly approaching that of a foreign cathedral provost. In Germany and in Scandinavia, and in a few of the cathedral churches in the south of France, the provost was the ordinary head of the cathedral chapter, but the office was not common elsewhere. As regards France, of one hundred and thirty-six cathedral churches existing at the Revolution, thirty-eight only, and those either on the borders of Germany or in the extreme south, had a provost as the head of the chapter. In others the provost existed as a subordinate officer. There were two provosts at Autun, and Lyons and Chartres had four each, all as subordinate officers.

The normal constitution of the chapter of a secular cathedral church comprised four dignitaries (there might be more), in addition to the canons. The dean (decanus) seems to have derived his designation from the Benedictine dean who had ten monks under his charge. The dean, as already noted, came into existence to supply the place of the provost in the internal management of the church and chapter. In England the dean was the head of all the secular cathedral churches, and was originally elected by the chapter and confirmed in office by the bishop. He is president of the chapter, and in church has charge of the due performance of the services, taking specified portions of them by statute on the principal festivals. He sits in the chief stall in the choir, which is usually the first on the right hand on entering the choir at the west. Next to the dean (as a rule) is the precentor (primicerius, cantor, etc.), whose special duty is that of regulating the musical portion of the services. He presides in the dean's absence, and occupies the corresponding stall on the left side, although there are exceptions to this rule, where, as at St Paul's, the archdeacon of the cathedral city ranks second and occupies what is usually the precentor's stall. The third dignitary is the chancellor (scholasticus, écoldtre, capiscol, magistral, etc.), who must not be confounded with the chancellor of the diocese. The chancellor of the cathedral church is charged with the oversight of its schools, ought to read divinity lectures, and superintend the lections in the choir and correct slovenly readers. He is often the secretary and librarian of the chapter. In the absence of the dean and precentor he is president of the chapter. The easternmost stall, on the dean's side of the choir, is usually assigned to him. The fourth dignitary is the treasurer (custos, sacrisla, cheficier). He is guardian of the fabric, and of all the furniture and ornaments of the church, and his duty was to provide bread and wine for the eucharist, and candles and incense, and he regulated such matters as the ringing of the bells. The treasurer's stall is opposite to that of the chancellor. These four dignitaries, occupying the four corner stalls in the choir, are called in many of the statutes the quatuor majores personae of the church. In many cathedral churches there were additional dignitaries, as the praelector, subdean, vice-chancellor, succentor-canonicorum, and others, who came into existence to supply the places of the other absent dignitaries, for non-residence was the fatal blot of the secular churches, and in this they contrasted very badly with the monastic churches, where all the members were in continuous residence. Besides the dignitaries there were the ordinary canons, each of whom, as a rule, held a separate prebend or endowment, besides receiving his share of the common funds of the church.

For the most part the canons also speedily became non-resident, and this led to the distinction of residentiary and non-residentiary canons, till in most churches the numberof resident canons became definitely limited in number, and the non-residentiary canons, who no longer shared in the common funds, became generally known as prebendaries only, although by their non-residence they did not forfeit their position as canons, and retained their votes in chapter like the others. This system of non-residence led also to the institution of vicars choral, each canon having his own vicar, who sat in his stall in his absence, and when the canon was present, in the stall immediately below, on the second form. The vicars had no place or vote in chapter, and, though irremovable except for offences, were the servants of their absent canons whose stalls they occupied, and whose duties they performed. Abroad they were often called demi-prebendaries, and they formed the bachcrur of the French churches. As time went on the vicars were themselves often incorporated as a kind of lesser chapter, or college, under the supervision of the dean and chapter.

There was no distinction between the monastic cathedral chapters and those of the secular canons, in their relation to the bishop or diocese. In both cases the chapter was the bishop's consilium which he was bound to consult on all important matters and without doing so he could not act. Thus, a judicial decision of a bishop needed the confirmation of the chapter before it could be enforced. He could not change the service books, or "use" of the church or diocese, without capitular consent, and there are many episcopal acts, such as the appointment of a diocesan chancellor, or vicar general, which still need confirmation by the chapter, but the older theory of the chapter as the bishop's council in ruling the diocese has become a thing of the past, not in England only, but on the continent also. In its corporate capacity the chapter takes charge sede vacante of a diocese. In England, however (except as regards Salisbury and Durham), this custom has never obtained, the two archbishops having, from time immemorial, taken charge of the vacant dioceses in their respective provinces. When, however, either of the sees of Canterbury or York is vacant the chapters of those churches take charge, not only of the diocese, but of the province as well, and incidentally, therefore, of any of the dioceses of the province which may be vacant at the same time.

All the English monastic cathedral chapters were dissolved by Henry VIII, and, except Bath and Coventry, were refounded by him as churches of secular chapters, with a dean as the head, and a certain number of canons ranging from twelve at Canterbury and Durham to four at Carlisle, and with certain subordinate officers as minor canons, gospellers, epistolers, etc. The precentorship in these churches of the "New Foundation", as they are called, is not, as in the secular churches of the "Old Foundation", a dignity, but is merely an office held by one of the minor canons.

English cathedral churches, at the present day, may be classed under four heads:

  • the old secular cathedral churches of the "Old Foundation", enumerated in the earlier part of this article;
  • the churches of the "New Foundation" of Henry VIII, which are the monastic churches already specified, with the exception of Bath and Coventry;
  • the cathedral churches of bishoprics founded by Henry VIII, viz.
  • modern cathedral churches of sees founded since 1836, viz.

Architecture

File:Cologne cathedral.png Cologne cathedral

From the architectural point of view there is special treatment as regards dimensions and style for a cathedral church other than that required for a church or abbey, as there are cases when the former are comparatively small buildings (like the old cathedral at Athens), and some parish churches and abbeys are larger than many cathedrals. In recent times, indeed, some ul english abbeys or minsters, such as those of Ripon, Manchester, St Albans and Southwell, partly on account of their dimensions, have been raised to the rank of cathedrals, in consequence of the demand for additional sees. Others, such as those of Bristol, Gloucester, Oxford, Chester and Peterborough, became cathedrals only on the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII of England.


Under the headings Nave, Aisle, Choir, Apse, Chevet, and Lady-Chapel the principal arrangements of the plan of a cathedral are dealt with, and its architectural features, such as Porch, Triforxum, Clerestory and Vault are separate articles.

The evolution of the various styles in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, is set forth. It is only necessary here to deal with the development of the eastern end of English and foreign cathedrals, as it was in those that the greatest changes from the middle of the 11th century to the close of the 14th century took place:

The earliest extended development of the eastern end of the cathedral is that which was first set out in Edward the Confessor's church at Westminster, probably borrowed from the ancient church of St Martin at Tours; in this church, dating probably back to the 10th century, two new elements are found,

  • the carry of the choir aisle round a circular apse so as to provide a occassional aisle round the eastern end of the church, and
  • five apsidal chapels, constituting the germ of the chevet, which formed the eastern terminations of the French cathedrals of the 12th and 13th centuries.

Gloucester (1089) also had three chapels, two of which, on the north and south sides of the aisle, still remain; the same is found in Canterbury (1096-1107) and Norwich (1089-1119), the stern chapel in all three cases having been taken down to ake way for the Lady-chapel in Gloucester and Norwich, and the Trinity chapel in Canterbury cathedral. The semicircular aisle is said to have existed in the Anglo-Norman cathedral of Winchester, but the eastern end being square, two chapels were arranged filling the north and south ends, and an apsidal chapel projecting beyond the east wall. This semicircular processional aisle with chevet chapels was the favourite of plan in the Anglo-Norman cathedrals, and was followed to about the middle of the 12th century, when the English builders in some cases returned to the square east end instead of semicircular apsidal termination. The earliest example of this exists in Romsey Abbey (c, 1130), where the processional crosses behind the presbytery, there being eastern apsidal chapels in the axis of the presbytery aisle and a central rectangular chapel beyond. A similar arrangement is found in Hereford cathedral, and exists in Winchester, Salisbury, Durham, Albans, Exeter, Ely, Wells and Peterborough, except that in those cases (except Wells) the eastern chapels are square led; in Wells cathedral the most eastern chapel (the Lady Chapel) has a polygonal termination; in Durham, the tern chapels are all in one line, constituting the chapel of the altars, which was probably borrowed from the eastern end of untains Abbey. It should be noted that in some of the above original design has been transformed in rebuilding; thus in Albans, Durham, York and Exeter cathedrals, there was no tern ambulatory but three parallel apses, in some cases rectangular externally. In Southwell, Rochester and Ely, there was no processional path or ambulatory round the end; in Carlisle no eastern chapels; and in Oxford only one central apse. In Ely cathedral the great central tower built by the first Norman abbot (1082-1094) fell down in 1321, tying with it portions of the adjoining bays of the nave, nsept and choir. Instead of attempting to rebuild the tower, Alan of Walsingham conceived the idea of obtaining a much larger area in the centre of the cathedral, and instead of rebuilding the piers of the tower he took as the base of his design a central octagonal space, the width of which was equal to that of nave and aisles, with wide arches to nave, transepts and choir, and smaller arches across the octagonal sides; from shafts in the eight pier angles, ribs in wood project forward and carry a smaller octagon on which the lantern rests. Internally the effect of this central octagon is of great beauty and originality, and it is the only instance of such a feature in English Gothic architecture.

The earliest example of the chevet is probably to be found in the church of St Martin at Tours; this was followed by others at Tournus, Clermont-Ferrand, Auxerre, Chartres, Le Mans and other churches built during the great church-building period of the 11th century. In the still greater movement in the 12th century, when the episcopacy, supported by the emancipated communes, undertook the erection of cathedrals of greater dimensions and the reconstruction of others, in some cases they utilized the old foundations, as in Chartres, Coutances and Auxerre cathedrals, while in others (as at Le Mans) they extended the eastern termination, much in the same way as in many of the early examples in England, with this important difference, that when the apsidal east end was given up (about the middle of the 12th century) in favour of the square east end in England, the French, on the other hand, developed it by doubling the choir aisles and adding to the number of extra chapels; thus in Canterbury, Norwich and Gloucester, there were only three apsidal chapels in the chevet, whereas in Noyon (1150), Soissons (1190), Reims (1212), Tours, Seez, Bayeux (1230), Clermont (1275), Senlis, Limoges, Albi and Narbonne cathedrals there were five; in Amiens, Le Mans and Beauvais, there were seven apsidal chapels, and in Chartres cathedral nine. Double aisles round the choir, of which there are no examples in England, are found in the cathedrals of Paris, Bourges and Le Mans; the cathedral of Sens (1144-1168) possesses one feature which is almost unique, viz the coupled columns of the alternate bays of nave and choir and of the apse, and these were introduced into the chapel of the Trinity in Canterbury cathedral, probably from the designs of William of Sens, by his successor William the Englishman. The square east end found no favour in France, Laon, Poitiers and Dol being the only cathedral examples; and of the triapsal arrangement, viz with apses in the aisle and a central apse, the only example is that of the cathedral of Autun.

The immense development given to the eastern limb of the French cathedrals was some times obtained at the expense of the nave, so that, notwithstanding the much greater dimensions compared with English examples, in the latter the naves are much longer and consist of more bays than those in France. In one of the French cathedrals, Bourges, there is no transept; on the otherhand there are many examples in which this part of the cathedral church is emphasized by having aisles on each side, as at Laon, Soissons Chartres Reims, Amiens, Rouen and Clermont cathedrals. Transept aisles in England are found in Ely, York, Wells and Winchester cathedrals, in the last being carried round the south additional altars, exist in Durham, Salisbury, Lichfield, Peterborough and Ripon cathedrals; and on the north side only in Hereford cathedral. In Rouen cathedral, east of the transept aisles, there are apsidal chapels, which with the three chapels in the chevet make up the usual number. The cathedral of Poitiers has been referred to as an example of a square east end, but a sort of compromise has been made by the provision of three segmental apses, and there are no windows in the east front; the most remarkable divergence from the usual design is found here in the absence of any triforium or clerestory, owing to the fact that the vault of the aisles is nearly as high as that of the nave, so that it constitutes an example of what in Germany (where there are many) are called Hallenkirchen; the light being obtained through the aisle windows only gives a gloomy effect to the nave. Another departure from the usual plan is that found in Albi cathedral (1350), in which there are no aisles, their place being taken by chapels between the buttresses which were required to resist the thrust of the nave vault, the widest in France. The cathedral is built in brick and externally has the appearance of a fortress. In the cathedrals of the southwest of France, where the naves are covered with a series of domes - as at Cahors, Angouléme and St Front de Périgueux - the immense piers required to carry them made it necessary to dispense with aisles. The cathedral of Angouléme consists of a nave covered with three domes, a transept of great length with lofty towers over the north and south ends, and an apsidal choir with four chevet chapels. In St Front de Périgueux (1150), based on St Mark's at Venice, the plan consists of nave, transept and choir, all of equal dimensions, each of them, as well as the crossing, vaulted over with a dome, while originally there was a simple apsidal choir.

Returning now to the great cathedrals in the north of France, we give an illustration (fig. 8 missing) of Amiens cathedral (from Viollet le Duc's Dictionnaire raisonné) which shows the disposition of a cathedral, with its nave-arches, triforium, clerestory windows and vault, the flying buttresses which were required to carry the thrust of the vault to the outer buttresses which flanked the aisle walls, and the lofty pinnacles which surmounted them. In this case there was no triforium gallery, owing to the greater height given to the aisles. In Notre Dame at Paris the triforium was nearly as high as the aisles; in large towns this feature gave increased accommodation for the congregation, especially on the occasion of great fetes, and it is found in Noyon, Laon, Senlis and Soissons cathedrals, built in the latter part of the 12th century; later it was omitted, and a narrow passage in the thickness of the wall only represented the triforium; at a still later period the aisles were covered with a stone pavement of slight fall so as to allow of loftier cierestory windows.

The cathedrals in Spain follow on the same lines as those in France. The cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is virtually a copy of St Sernin at Toulouse, consisting of nave and aisles, transepts and aisles, and a choir with five chapels; at Leon there is a chevet with five apsidal chapels, and at Toledo an east end with double aisles round the apse with originally seven small apsidal chapels, two of them rebuilt at a very late period. At Leon, Barcelona and Toledo the processional passage round the apse with apsidal chapels recalls the French disposition, there being a double aisle around the latter, but in Leon and Toledo cathedrals the east end is masked externally by other buildings, so that the beauty of the chevet is entirely lost. At Avila and Salamanca (old cathedral) the triapsal arrangement is adopted, and the same is found in the German cathedrals, with one important exception, the cathedral of Cologne, which was based on that of Amiens, the comparative height of the former, however, being so exaggerated that scale has been lost, and externally it has the appearance of an overgrown monster.

Under the headings Vault, Flying buttress, Pinnacle, Clerestory and Triforium definitions are given of these chief components of a cathedral or church; but as their design varies materially in almost every example, without a very large number of drawings it would be impossible to treat them more in detail. The perspective view, taken from Viollet-le-Duc's dictionary, of the interior of the nave of Amiens cathedral illustrates the principal features, viz, the vault (in this case quadripartite, with flying buttresses and pinnacle), the triforium (in this case limited to a narrow passage in the thickness of the wall), and the nave-arches, with the side aisles, beneath the windows of which is the decorative arcade.

From a 1911 encyclopedia

Famous modern cathedrals include that of Yamoussoukro in Cote d'Ivoire.

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