A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral , monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter 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 , prebendaries and canons 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 courts and similar meetings often took place in chapter houses.
51-480: When part of a monastery, the chapter house is generally located on the eastern wing of the cloister , 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
102-467: A Frankish nobleman's villa rustica , in a tradition unbroken from late Roman times. Another early cloister, in the abbey of Saint-Riquier (790–799), took a triangular shape, with chapels at the corners, in conscious representation of the Trinity . A square cloister sited against the flank of the abbey church was built at Inden (816) and the abbey of St. Wandrille at Fontenelle (823–833). At Fulda ,
153-441: 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
204-432: A continuous and solid architectural barrier... that effectively separates the world of the monks from that of the serfs and workmen, whose lives and works went forward outside and around the cloister." Cloistered (or claustral) life is also another name for the monastic life of a monk or nun . The English term enclosure is used in contemporary Catholic church law translations to mean cloistered, and some form of
255-613: A denomination of Oriental Orthodox Christianity , the office of Prime is prayed at 6 am in eastward direction of prayer by all members in this denomination, both clergy and laity, being one of the seven fixed prayer times . Roman Catholic clergy under obligation to celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours may still fulfil their obligation by using the edition of the Roman Breviary promulgated by Pope John XXIII in 1962, which contains Prime. Like all
306-555: A new cloister (819) was sited to the liturgical west of the church "in the Roman manner" familiar from the forecourt of Old St. Peter's Basilica because it would be closer to the relics. More recently, John D. Rockefeller Jr. commissioned the construction of The Cloisters museum and gardens in medieval style in Manhattan in 1930–1938. Prime (liturgy) Prime , or the First Hour ,
357-448: A novice: " hanc matitutinam canonicam functionem nostro tempore in nostro quoque monasterio primitus institutam. " ("was appointed as a canonical office in our own day, and also in our own monastery , where our Lord Jesus Christ was born of a Virgin and deigned to submit to growth in infancy as man, and where by His Grace He supported our own infancy, still tender in religion, and, as it were, fed with milk"). Jules Pargoire concluded that
408-423: A prayer concerning work, Respice in servos tuos … Dirigere et sanctificare ("Look upon thy servants … Direct and sanctify"), and a blessing. The fact that the monastic communities originally after Prime betook themselves to manual work or study is reflected in the prayer for the work … et opera manuum nostrarum dirige super nos et opus manuum nostrarum dirige ("… and direct thou the works of our hands over us; yea,
459-689: A week, as in the Western and Constantinopolitan Rites). In the Armenian Liturgy, the office following the Morning Hour is called the Sunrise Hour (Armenian: Արեւագալ Ժամ arevagal zham ). The Armenian Book of Hours (Zhamagirk`) states that this service is dedicated “to the Holy Spirit and to the resurrection of Christ and to [his] appearance to the disciples.” Outline of the service Introduction: “Blessed
510-627: Is a kathisma only on Tuesday and Wednesday, due to the reading of the Great Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete on Thursday morning. If, however, the Great Feast of the Annunciation falls on that particular Thursday, the reading of the Great Canon will be moved to Tuesday and, as a result, a kathisma will be read on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. During Holy Week , on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday,
561-741: Is called secunda . F.E. Warren states: "'Secunda' as the equivalent of 'Prima', the usual title of the first of the Day-Hours is a very ancient title, but has now gone out of use. It is found in the Missale Gallicanum (p. 179), also in C.C.C.C. MS.272, a ninth century Rheims Psalter ". In the Eastern liturgies, the names for this office in the various languages mean "first (hour)". John Cassian states that this canonical hour originated in his own time and in his own monastery in Bethlehem , where he lived as
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#1732845547448612-554: Is invincible, from all dangers that can be do thou deliver us, that we may cry to thee: Rejoice, thou Bride Unwedded!" During Great Lent a number of changes in the office take place. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, after the three fixed psalms, the Reader says a kathisma from the Psalter . The Troparion of the Day is replaced by special Lenten hymns that are chanted with prostrations . Then
663-604: Is not joined to Matins as normal, but it becomes the first office in an aggregated office composed of the First, Third , Sixth and Ninth Hours and the Typica . This is the most elaborate form of the First Hour. Both the priest and deacon are vested and serve, and the Gospel Book is set on an analogion ( lectern ) in the center of the temple (church building). At the beginning of
714-672: Is one of the canonical hours of the Divine Office , said at the first hour of daylight (6:00 a.m. at the equinoxes but earlier in summer, later in winter), between the dawn hour of Lauds and the 9 a.m. hour of Terce . It remains part of the Christian liturgies of Eastern Christianity , but suppressed within the Roman rite by the Second Vatican Council . In the Coptic Church ,
765-573: Is our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our father...” First station: Psalm 72:17-19 “Glory...Now and Ever...Amen.” “Again and again in peace...Accept, save, and have mercy.” “Blessing and glory to the Father...Amen.” Sunrise Hymn attributed to St Nerses: “From the East...(Arewelits`...)” Exhortation: “From the East unto the West, children of Sion...” Proclamation of Sunrise, to follow the hymn and the canon, composed by Giwt: “From
816-511: 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 . 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
867-687: 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 monasteries, the entrance to the chapter house has an elaborate façade with a door surrounded by highly decorated archivolts , 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
918-649: The Rule of Saint Benedict . Fernand Cabrol says that Prime originally used only to contain a repetition of the Lauds Psalms 1, 57 (58), and 89 (90), but the monasteries that gradually adopted the new office changed its constitution as they liked. In spite of the many variations, one characteristic feature is the recitation of the Athanasian Creed . Saint Benedict assigns to Prime on Sundays four groups of eight verses of Ps. 118 (119), and on week-days three psalms, beginning with
969-685: The Athanasian Creed. In the Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches the office of the First Hour is normally read by a single Reader and has very little variation in it. Three fixed psalms are read at the First Hour: Psalms 5 , 89 , and 100 ( LXX ). The only variable portions for most of the year are the Troparia (either one or two) and Kontakion of the Day. Whereas the other Little Hours are normally followed by other services,
1020-505: The Convent of Saints Sergius and Bacchus , at Umm-is-Surab (AD 489), and the colonnaded forecourt of the convent of Id-Dêr, but nothing similar appeared in the semi-eremitic Irish monasteries' clustered roundhouses nor in the earliest Benedictine collective communities of the West. In the time of Charlemagne ( r. 768–814 ) the requirements of a separate monastic community within an extended and scattered manorial estate led to
1071-471: The Day is chanted by the choir, instead of being read. Since at the Royal Hours other services immediately follow the First Hour, there is no dismissal. The various Oriental Orthodox and Oriental Catholic Rites vary in the particulars of the First Hour, but in general tend to have a larger number of psalms in them. In some Rites it is the practice to recite the entire Psalter once a day (as opposed to once
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#17328455474481122-450: The East unto the West in all parts of Christendom...” Prayer: “From the East unto the West you are praised...” Second station: Psalm 100: “Rejoice in the Lord all the earth...” Hymn: “Ascetics of God...(Chgnawork` Astoutsoy...)” Exhortation: “True ascetics, witnesses of Christ...(Chgnawork` chshmaritk` vkayk` K`ristosi...)” Supplication: “We entreat [you]...(Aghach`emk`...)” Proclamation: “Through
1173-661: The First Hour (at least on the first day of the Fast). The Inter-Hours follow the same general outline as the Little Hours, except they are shorter. When the Inter-Hour follows the First Hour, the dismissal is said at the end of the Inter-Hour rather than at the end of the First Hour. When the Royal Hours are chanted (the Eve of Nativity , the Eve of Theophany and Great Friday ), the First Hour
1224-635: The First Hour is normally read immediately after Matins and so it is concluded with a dismissal by the priest . In the Russian usage, the dismissal is followed by a hymn to the Theotokos (the Kontakion of the Annunciation, Tone 8): "To thee, the champion leader, we thy servants dedicate a feast of victory and of thanksgiving, as ones rescued out of sufferings, O Theotokos; but as thou art one with might which
1275-669: The First Hour on Great Thursday. On Great Friday , the Royal Hours are chanted. During the Lesser Lenten seasons ( Nativity Fast , Apostles' Fast and Dormition Fast ) the Little Hours undergo changes similar to those during Great Lent, except the hymns are usually read instead of chanted, and there are no kathismata on weekdays. In addition, on weekdays of the Lesser Fasts, the Inter-Hour (Greek: Mesorion ) may be read immediately after
1326-492: The First Hour, the deacon performs a full censing of the church, clergy and faithful. Two of the three fixed psalms (89 and 100) are replaced by others that are appropriate to the particular feast day being celebrated. A number of hymns ( stichera ) are sung in place of the Troparion of the Day. Then a prokeimenon , the reading of a relevant Old Testament prophecy , an Epistle and a Gospel are chanted. The Kontakion of
1377-592: The Latin parent word "claustrum" is frequently used as a metonymic name for monastery in languages such as German. Cloistered clergy refers to monastic orders that strictly separate themselves from the affairs of the external world. The early medieval cloister had several antecedents: the peristyle court of the Greco-Roman domus , the atrium and its expanded version that served as forecourt to early Christian basilicas , and certain semi-galleried courts attached to
1428-475: The United States, originally decorated the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza , 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 or meeting room. When it is a separate building, this often consists of just the single main room. The community of monks would meet in
1479-426: The chapter house with the abbot 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 first meeting took place in the morning, after the church services of Prime or Terce . The monks might sit along
1530-428: The circular chapter house style of plan: 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 warm southern flank, usually indicates that it is (or once was) part of a monastic foundation, "forming
1581-416: The day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion." With respect to praying in the early morning, Hippolytus wrote: "Likewise, at the hour of the cock-crow, rise and pray. Because at this hour, with the cock-crow, the children of Israel refused Christ, who we know through faith, hoping daily in the hope of eternal light in the resurrection of the dead." The word "Prime" comes from Latin and refers to
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1632-413: The development of a "monastery within a monastery" in the form of the locked cloister, an architectural solution allowing the monks to perform their sacred tasks apart from the distractions of laymen and servants. Horn offers as early examples Abbot Gundeland's "Altenmünster" of Lorsch abbey (765–774), as revealed in the excavations by Frederich Behn. Lorsch was adapted without substantial alteration from
1683-507: The first and continuing to Ps. 19 (20), taking three psalms each day (Pss. 9 (10) and 17 (18) being divided into two). This makes Prime like the other Little Hours of the day, which it resembles these in accompanying the psalms with a hymn , an antiphon , capitulum, versicle, and prayer. The Roman Breviary as decreed by Pope Pius V in 1568 in line with the decrees of the Council of Trent , assigns to Prime on Sunday of Pss. 53 (54), 117 (118) and
1734-575: The first four groups of eight verses of Ps. 118 (119); on each of the weekdays it assigns the same psalms as on Sunday except that it replaces Psalm 117 (118) with one of the Psalms from 21 (22) through 25 (26), which had previously all been at Sunday Prime. Each day therefore had in Prime two full psalms and the same two portions of Psalm 118 (119). The late 1911 reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X changed
1785-508: The first hour of daylight (that which begins at sunrise). John Cassian (c. 360 – c. 435) describes it as matutina ( hora ), ("a" or "the") "morning hour" (translated also as "Mattins"), a description applied also, according to Alardus Gazaeus even by Cassian, to the dawn hour of Lauds. Benedict of Nursia (c. 480 − c. 547) refers to Prime by using the term " primae tempore " ("the time of First Hour") for Prime and uses matutino tempore ("morning time") to speak of Lauds, reckoning Lauds as
1836-479: The first of the seven daytime offices , which he associates with Psalm 118/119 :164, "Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules", and which he distinguishes from the one nocturnal office of Night Watch , which he links with Psalm 118/119 :62, "At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous rules", In the Antiphonary of Bangor (perhaps c. 700) what is generally called prima ( hora )
1887-529: The flanks of early Syrian churches. Walter Horn suggests that the earliest coenobitic communities, which were established in Egypt by Saint Pachomius c. AD 320 , did not result in cloister construction, as there were no lay serfs attached to the community of monks, and thus no need for separation within the walled community. Horn finds the earliest prototypical cloisters in some exceptional late fifth-century monastic churches in southern Syria, such as
1938-409: The good way...(Chanaparh bari K`ristos...)” Supplication: “Lord, make straight our steps...(Tēr, oughghya zgnats`s mer...)” Proclamation: “Let us beseech almighty God...(“Aghach`ests`ouk` zamenakaln Astouats...)” Prayer: “Guide of life...(Arajnord kenats`...)” but during fasts on days when there is no commemoration: Prayer: “Blessed are you, Lord God...(Awrhneal es Tēr Astouats...)” Conclusion: “Blessed
1989-669: The holy ascetics...(Sourb chgnaworawk`n...)” Prayer: “Holy are you, Lord...(Sourb es Tēr...)” “Remember your ministers...” “Beneficent and plenteous in mercy...” Third station: Psalms 63, 64 “Glory...Now and always...Amen.” Hymn: “Light, creator of light...(Loys ararich` lousoy...)” Exhortation: “Uncreated God...(Aneghanelid Astouats...)” Supplication: “By your light...(Lousovd...)” Proclamation: “And again in peace...Let us glorify...” Prayer: “Accept out morning prayer...(Zarawawtou...)” Fourth station: Psalms 23, 143:8-12, 46:1-7, 70, 86:16-17 “Glory...Now and always...Amen.” Hymn: “Way and truth...(Chanaparh ew chshmartout`iwn...)” Exhortation: “Christ
2040-587: The institution of Prime must be placed towards 382. Fernand Cabrol identified the monastery in question as "not St. Jerome 's monastery at Bethlehem , but another, perhaps one established beyond the Tower of Ader (or of the Flock) beyond the village of the Shepherds, and consequently beyond the modern Beth-saour ; it has been identified either with Deïr-er-Raouat (convent of the shepherds) or with Seiar-er-Ganhem (enclosure of
2091-616: 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 national archives) soon after
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2142-519: The length of the walls in strict age-order, apart from the office-holders. The Carolingian 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
2193-585: The liturgical hours, except the Office of Readings , it consists mainly of Psalms . It is one of the Little Hours . From the time of the early Church , the practice of seven fixed prayer times have been taught; in Apostolic Tradition , Hippolytus instructed Christians to pray seven times a day "on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight" and "the third, sixth and ninth hours of
2244-787: The psalm verses that follow the Theotokion , which are normally read, are instead sung by the choir. The Kontakion is also replaced by special Lenten hymns which are sung. Near the end of the Hour, the Prayer of St. Ephraim is said, with prostrations. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of the Fourth Week of Great Lent , the Veneration of the Cross takes place at the First Hour. During the Fifth Week of Great Lent , there
2295-460: The psalmody radically, dividing several psalms into shorter portions. To Prime it assigned each day three psalms or portions of psalms, each day different. To these elements, which make Prime similar to the other Little Hours, Prime adds some prayers that are called the office of the chapter: the reading of the martyrology , the prayer Sancta Maria et omnes sancti ("May holy Mary and all the Saints"),
2346-462: 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 probably the earliest. Most, like those at Wells Cathedral , Lichfield Cathedral , Westminster Abbey and Lacock Abbey , have a single central column from which the high roof vaulting spreads. York Minster has a wooden roof and no central column. Many have elaborate benched arcades round
2397-455: The services are similar to those during Great Lent except there is no reading of Kathismata, and instead of the normal Lenten hymns which replace the Kontakion, the Kontakion of the day (i.e., that day of Holy Week) is chanted. On Great Thursday and Saturday , the Little Hours are more like normal, except that a Troparion of the Prophecy, prokeimena , and a reading from Jeremiah are chanted at
2448-449: The sheep)". Cassian says this office was instituted because a period of rest was allowed after the nocturnal office and the office said shortly after it, but some monks abused this time of rest by staying in their cells and their beds right up to the time for Terce , and it was therefore decided to have a sunrise office that, moreover, brought the daylight offices to seven in line with Psalm 118/119 :164, quoted above in connection with
2499-401: The wall, with crocketed 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 , 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
2550-452: The work of our hands do thou direct"), and the prayer Dirigere . Later the reading of the martyrology, the necrology, the rule, and a prayer for the dead were added. The Church of England 's Book of Common Prayer dropped Prime with its first 1549 edition . A proposed 1928 version that Parliament rejected would have restored Prime, with the instruction that it be used in addition to (not instead of) Matins, and with optional reciting of
2601-439: 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. Important examples of chapter houses from an architectural or artistic point of view can be seen at: Non-religious use of
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