cavalry 161centuries, the small earlier churches were replaced by
impressive buildings. Bishops went to the cathedral only
for the great feasts or processions. At the same time the
cathedral was entrusted to corporations of priests and
deacons, who formed chapters. Called canons, they were
in charge of the liturgy and the practical administration
of the cathedral. In the majority of cathedrals, these
chapters were made up of secular clergy, but from the end
of the 11th and until the 13th century, some chapters
began to be composed of regular canons, such as the
AUGUSTINIANS or PREMONSTRATENSIANS. The secular
canons did not live in common as monks did; they lived
independently. The cathedrals also had important schools
associated with them, especially from the CAROLINGIAN
RENAISSANCEto the 12th century.
See alsoAACHEN;AMIENS,CATHEDRAL OF;CHARTRES,
CATHEDRAL OF;CANTERBURY,CITY, CATHEDRAL, ANDEPIS-
COPALSEE;COLOGNE;GREGORIANREFORM;HAGIASOPHIA;
PARIS AND THEUNIVERSITY OFPARIS;RHEIMS ANDCATHE-
DRAL OF RHEIMS;SALISBURY,CATHEDRAL;SCHOOLS AND
UNIVERSITIES;YORK.
Further reading:Ian Dunlop, The Cathedrals’ Cru-
sade: The Rise of the Gothic Style in France (London:
Hamish Hamilton, 1982); Alain Erlande-Brandenburg,
The Cathedral: The Social and Architectural Dynamics of
Construction, transl. Martin Thom (Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1994); Jean Gimpel, The Cathe-
dral Builders,trans. Carl F. Barnes, Jr. (New York: Grove,
1961); Otto von Simson, The Gothic Cathedral: Origins of
Gothic Architecture and the Medieval Concept of Order
(New York: Pantheon Books, 1956).
Catherine of Siena, Saint (Caterina Benincasa) (1347–
1380)politically active Italian mystic
The 23d child of Jacopo Benincasa of SIENA, Catherine
was born there on March 25, 1347. A cheerful, bright,
and extremely religious child, she later said she vowed
her virginity to Christ at the age of six or seven when she
had her first visions. At 13 in 1360 she joined the
DOMINICANThird Order for the laity in Siena. By age 20,
Catherine was widely known for her personal holiness,
charitable activities with the sick, and personal ascetic
practices. She attracted a group of spiritual disciples, cler-
ics and laypersons, men and women. She advocated, in
her dictated letters and writings, severe deprivation of the
body in order to gain a mystical union with Christ.
POLITICSHer interest broadened from the religious to the more
specifically political after 1370. She had also received in
1375 the stigmata, a reproduction of the wounds of
Christ on her own body. She traveled in 1376 to nearby
FLORENCEto try to reconcile factional conflict. Her inter-
vention was not welcome, and she was almost lynched by
a crowd. Later that year Catherine traveled to AVIGNONto
try to persuade Pope Gregory XI (r. 1370–78) to return to
Rome. Avignon had been the residence of the popes for
more than 50 years by then. She claimed that peace
would never resume in Italy until the pope returned to
Rome. Gregory wanted to move back to ROMEbut was
afraid of the disorder there. Tradition has exaggerated,
claiming that she greatly influenced his decision to try
later that year.
In 1377 the pope returned to Rome, but he died a
year later. His successor, URBANVI, was harsh, neurotic,
unyielding, and irascible. Catherine tried to persuade him
to control his temper and rash impulses. The pope did
not follow her advice. His policies led to the election of
another pope and the beginning of the Great SCHISMin
1378, during which there were two, then three popes.
Catherine supported Urban anyway but persuaded few to
support him. Worn out by this effort and her years of
bodily abuse, she suffered a stroke and died in Rome on
April 29, 1380, surrounded by her followers. Much pro-
moted by her fellow Dominicans, she was canonized in
1461 by Pope PIUSII, a fellow Sienese, and was made a
doctor of the church in 1970.
Further reading:Conleth Kearns, trans., The Life of
Catherine of Siena by Raymond of Capua (Dublin:
Dominican Publications, 1980); Catherine of Siena,
Catherine of Siena: The Dialogue,trans. Suzanne Noffke
(New York: Paulist Press, 1980); Catherine of Siena, The
Prayers of Catherine of Siena(New York: Paulist Press,
1983); Catherine of Siena, The Letters of Catherine of
Siena,projected 5 vols. trans. Suzanne Noffke (Tempe:
Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies,
2000–); Suzanne Noffke, Catherine of Siena: Vision
through a Distant Eye (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical
Press, 1996).Catholic monarchs SeeFERDINANDII (V); ISABELI.cavalry In Roman military tradition, cavalry, that is,
combat on horseback, played a secondary role to
infantry. It was to carry out flanking maneuvers on the
battlefield, and pursue the enemy in flight. These
remained its primary function during the Middle Ages,
and it was combined with the charges of heavily armed
KNIGHTS. The cavalry was not important in Germanic
military usage, notably among the FRANKS. Some
nomadic tribes such as the Huns exploited the mobility
it offered. Only slowly, from the seventh and eighth cen-
turies, did the role of Cavalry evolve. In the reign of
CHARLEMAGNE, the heavy cavalry became the most reli-
able part of the Frankish army. Thereafter horsemen
formed an elite class, both social and military, within
society and the army. The support of such an expensive
group of soldiers was important in the development
of the feudal and manorial system. Military leaders
and princes needed to ensure an endowment in land and