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A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a
cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominat ...
, monastery or
collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...
in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the
cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...
meets there. In monasteries, the whole community often met there daily for readings and to hear the abbot or senior monks talk. When attached to a collegiate church, the
dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles ...
,
prebendaries A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of th ...
and
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...
s of the college meet there. The rooms may also be used for other meetings of various sorts; in medieval times monarchs on tour in their territory would often take them over for their meetings and audiences. Synods,
ecclesiastical court An ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages, these courts had much wider powers in many areas of Europe than be ...
s and similar meetings often took place in chapter houses.


Design

When part of a monastery, the chapter house is generally located on the eastern wing of the
cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...
, which is next to the church. Since many cathedrals in England were originally monastic foundations, this is a common arrangement there also. Elsewhere it may be a separate building. The chapter house comprises a large space, in order to hold all the monks of the monastery, and is often highly ornamented. Typically there is seating around, often built into, all the walls of the room, often in stone, with the central space left open. The seats for the senior members are often larger than the others, and may be raised on a
dais A dais or daïs ( or , American English also but sometimes considered nonstandard)dais
in the Random House Dictionary< ...
. Usually there is only one doorway, and though the room is well-lit where the location allows, the windows are often too high to allow a view in from outside (or eavesdropping). Many larger chapter houses are designed with vestibules for attendants and those waiting to be called, where opening onto a cloister does not provide such a space. There is often a fireplace, and altars are found in some examples, sometimes added later. Many medieval rooms use stone vaulting supported by columns in the centre of the space, as used for other more utilitarian large rooms in monasteries with a generous budget. Others have much higher roofs. The shape of the room is usually designed to allow good audibility for speakers from all parts of the room. It may be rectangular, tending towards the square, but octagonal and other near-circular plans are an English speciality, with that at
Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire, England, situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Ble ...
probably the earliest. Most, like those at Wells Cathedral,
Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...
, Westminster Abbey and
Lacock Abbey Lacock Abbey in the village of Lacock, Wiltshire, England, was founded in the early 13th century by Ela, Countess of Salisbury, as a nunnery of the Augustinian order. The abbey remained a nunnery until the suppression of Roman Catholic ins ...
, have a single central column from which the high roof vaulting spreads.
York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...
has a wooden roof and no central column. Many have elaborate benched arcades round the wall, with
crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of crockets to a bishop's crosier. Description ...
ed frames for the seats. English chapter houses tend to be more elaborate and highly decorated than Continental ones, and the octagonal shape allowed for spectacular displays of
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
, now mostly lost, though not at York. Except at Westminster Abbey any paintings have been lost, but English designs, with their emphasis on carved arcades and windows, did not leave the large wall spaces found in most Continental chapter houses. At Westminster the chapter house, opposite the Palace of Westminster, was used from the erection of the present building for royal meetings, including many of the royal council, and was the usual location for meetings of the House of Commons until the reign of Henry VIII. It was converted into the first home of what is now the
Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...
(the national archives) soon after the English Reformation, and the late Gothic paintings added behind the seats (see gallery) were preserved hidden behind bookshelves until the 19th century. In some Romanesque or
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
monasteries, the entrance to the chapter house has an elaborate façade with a door surrounded by highly decorated
archivolt An archivolt (or voussure) is an ornamental moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch. It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, corresponding to the ...
s, especially when it is a separate building. Many chapterhouses feature elaborate carving or frescos, which include some masterpieces of religious art, but were also sometimes secular. The paintings from Arlanza, now spread across museums in Spain and the United States, originally decorated the monastery of
San Pedro de Arlanza San Pedro de Arlanza is a ruined Benedictine monastery in north central Spain. It is located in the valley of the river Arlanza in Hortigüela, Burgos. Founded in 912, it has been called the "cradle of Castile" (''cuna de Castilla''). It was aba ...
, and contain huge bold mythical beasts that are some of the finest survivals of Romanesque palace decoration. In modern settings, the chapterhouse may simply be (or use) an ordinary office
boardroom A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
or meeting room. When it is a separate building, this often consists of just the single main room.


History and uses

The community of monks would meet in the chapter house with the
abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fe ...
to "hold chapter"; that is, "for the reading of the ' Martyrology' and the ' Necrology', for the correction of faults, the assigning of the tasks for the day, and for the exhortation of the superior, and again for the evening Collation or reading before Complin". The Necrology was a list of death anniversaries for the community and persons of interest to it. The first meeting took place in the morning, after the church services of
Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...
or
Terce Terce is a canonical hour of the Divine Office. It consists mainly of psalms and is held around 9 a.m. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the third hour of the day after dawn. With Sext, None and Compline it belongs to the so-called "Litt ...
. The monks might sit along the length of the walls in strict age-order, apart from the office-holders. The
Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
Plan of St Gall (c. 820) is the plan for an ideal 9th century monastery, with a great variety of buildings and rooms, but none that really can be assigned the function of chapterhouse; nor is such a room mentioned by Saint Benedict. But the chapter house is mentioned in the proceedings of the Council of Aachen in 816. The church or cloister may have been used for all meetings in earlier monasteries, or there was usually a refectory (hall for eating). But by at least 1000 such a room had become normal in large monastic establishments. The east side of the cloister on which the chapter house was often located was usually the first to be constructed; it would have been begun shortly after the church walls were built.


Examples

Important examples of chapter houses from an architectural or artistic point of view can be seen at: *
Monastery of Santa María de Sigena A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...
, Spain, whose very important Romanesque frescos are now in the
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (, English language, English: "National Art Museum of Catalonia"), abbreviated as MNAC, is a museum of Catalonia, Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the e ...
in Barcelona *
Elgin Cathedral Elgin Cathedral is a historic ruin in Elgin, Moray, north-east Scotland. The cathedral—dedicated to the Holy Trinity—was established in 1224 on land granted by King Alexander II outside the burgh of Elgin and close to the River Lossie. ...
- octagonal, unusually for Scotland *
Wąchock Abbey Wąchock Abbey ( pl, Opactwo Cystersów w Wąchocku) is a Cistercian abbey in Wąchock, Poland. Located near the larger town of Starachowice in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains of south-eastern Poland, Wąchock is best known for the architecture o ...
, Romanesque in Poland * Westminster Abbey *
Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the C ...
rectangular chapter house * Wells Cathedral palm tree like central pillar carrying 32 lierne ribs that form the inner part of the vault * Exeter Cathedral *
Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England, is a Listed building, Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Angl ...
the earliest English octagonal annex *
Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The build ...
*
Southwell Minster Southwell Minster () is a minster and cathedral in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated miles from Newark-on-Trent and from Mansfield. It is the seat of the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham and the Diocese of Southwell and ...
, with famous carved capitals *
York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...
octagonal Late Gothic * Fontevraud Abbey, France, a Plantagenet base, large and low-vaulted *The "Spanish Chapel" at the Dominican
Basilica of Santa Maria Novella Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. The ch ...
in Florence, with important frescos *
Alcobaça Monastery The Alcobaça Monastery ( pt, Mosteiro de Alcobaça, ''Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça'') is a Catholic monastic complex located in the town of Alcobaça, in central Portugal, some 120 km north of Lisbon. The monastery was established ...
Romanesque, in central Portugal *
Batalha Monastery The Monastery of Batalha ( pt, Mosteiro da Batalha) is a Dominican convent in the municipality of Batalha, in the district of Leiria, in the Centro Region of Portugal. Originally, and officially, known as the ''Monastery of Saint Mary of the V ...
Late Gothic with Manueline elements, in central Portugal * Convent of the Order of Christ in Tomar *The
Pazzi Chapel The Pazzi Chapel ( it, Cappella dei Pazzi) is a chapel located in the "first cloister" on the southern flank of the Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. Commonly credited to Filippo Brunelleschi, it is considered to be one of the maste ...
at the
Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...
Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze The ( Italian for 'Basilica of the Holy Cross') is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters south-east of the Duomo. ...
, a key building in Early Renaissance architecture * Toledo Cathedral, 16th century and later, with important frescos Non-religious use of the circular chapter house style of plan: *
Library of Parliament The Library of Parliament (french: Bibliothèque du Parlement) is the main information repository and research resource for the Parliament of Canada. The main branch of the library sits at the rear of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa ...
, Parliament of Canada


Gallery

The cloisters, pontaut chapter house.JPG, French Romanesque chapter house now moved to The Cloisters, New York Paintings of the Chapterhouse of Santa Maria in Sigena Sixena-at MNAC (58).jpg, Museum installation of the Romanesque frescos from the
Monastery of Santa María de Sigena A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...
Abbaye de Fontevraud - 116.JPG, The royal Fontevraud Abbey Abbaye de Fontevraud - Entree salle capitulaire.jpg, Entrance at Fontevraud Abbey Brogi, Carlo (1850-1925) - n. 16060 - Firenze - Chiesa di S. M. Novella - Cappella degli Spagnoli - XVI secolo.jpg, The former chapterhouse, now the "Spanish Chapel", at the
Basilica of Santa Maria Novella Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. The ch ...
in Florence Westminster Abbey Chapter House 11.jpg, Westminster Abbey Salisbury Cathedral, Chapter House, from top of tower.jpg,
Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The build ...
from the cathedral tower, with cloister at right Kuopio Chapter House (1).jpg, Interior of the chapter house of Kuopio Cathedral in Kuopio York Minster Chapter House Ceiling GR1 0409.jpg, The octagonal chapter house at
York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...
S. croce, cappella dei pazzi.JPG, Exterior of the
Pazzi Chapel The Pazzi Chapel ( it, Cappella dei Pazzi) is a chapel located in the "first cloister" on the southern flank of the Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. Commonly credited to Filippo Brunelleschi, it is considered to be one of the maste ...
Pazzi Chapel Florence Apr 2008.jpg, Interior of the
Pazzi Chapel The Pazzi Chapel ( it, Cappella dei Pazzi) is a chapel located in the "first cloister" on the southern flank of the Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. Commonly credited to Filippo Brunelleschi, it is considered to be one of the maste ...
Chapter house of the Cathedral of Segovia.jpg,
Segovia Cathedral Segovia Cathedral is the Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral located in the main square ( Plaza Mayor) of the city of Segovia, in the community of Castile-Leon, Spain. The church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was built in the Flamboyant Go ...
Sala capitular pamplona.jpg,
Pamplona Cathedral Pamplona Cathedral ''( Santa María de la Asunción)'' is a Roman Catholic church in the archdiocese of Pamplona, Spain. The current 15th century Gothic church replaced an older Romanesque one. Archaeological excavations have revealed the exis ...
Portraits on the wall within the Chapter House at Guildford Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 1152391.jpg, The modern boardroom-style Chapter house at Guildford Cathedral


References


External links

*
Historical Images of Chapter House at Westminster Abbey circa 1870 - 1990
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapter House Cathedral architecture Monasticism