Lecture 30: Cathedrals and Chapters
is the high point of the Mass (signaled by the ringing of bells)
rather than the partaking of a meal.• Low Masses, in turn, were recited quietly by the ordinary clergy
connected to the cathedral at the side altars, offering “sacrifice”
for the benefit of those who had made donations for this purpose.
Thus, the Mass was not only a sacrifice but also part of a system
of patronage.Cathedral Chapters
• Cathedrals were not only places of worship: As the grandest
and most important edifices of an area, they served multiple
social functions.
o They were obvious places of gathering for the population of
a town or region for protection from violent storms, public
proclamations, or the celebration of feasts.o The sanctuary of the cathedral served as a place of refuge for
those fleeing authorities or enemies. It was sacrilege to do
violence to anyone claiming the sanctuary offered by God.• The priests and other clergy who made up the staff of the cathedral
formed a “chapter” with a variety of purposes, above all, to live
a Christian life according to basic monastic principles. Thus, they
also had “rules” (canons) and lived a common life but without
making solemn vows, as monks did. Members were called
“canons regular.”• Cathedral chapters also established schools in the manner of
monasteries, first to train the cathedral choir, then to offer basic
instruction in grammar, and eventually, to provide offerings in the
liberal arts.
o In such schools, much medieval interpretation of the Bible
took place, not in academic studies but in the form of chants
that elaborated the meaning of Scripture in sophisticated ways.