Dear Carolyn,
There has been some useful work on canons and cathedral chapters in the
recent past: David Lepine on the canons of Exeter, Barrie Dobson on York,
Helene Millet on Laon, and Everett Crosby's recent book, _Bishop and
Chapter_, for example; older works include those by Kathleen Edwards,
Geoffrey Barralcough, Charles Dereine, and others. There is, to my
knowledge, no recent work on the treatment of the prebend (or benefices) in
the macro view you mentioned. My own understanding, and limited generally
to the 13th and 14th centuries, is that each chapter developed in its own
way, to accommodate local conditions. I think that you must first
distinguish between monastic and secular cathedral chapters. In monastic
chapters, which in England constituted about half of the 17 cathedral
chapters, the endowment of the cathedral belonged to the chapter as a whole
with the bishop and the chapter each having a separate mensa. Secular
chapters provided for each of the beneficed canons with livings from the
cathedral holdings and new canons were appointed to specific benefices,
some of which could be quite wealthy. Dobson has pointed out that some
prebends in the see of York had a greater income that some English
episcopal sees. Obviously, these benefices were generally reserved for
royal appointees. English chapters generally contained about 25 to 50
canons, whereas some French cathedral chapters were quite large with
between 50 and 70 canons. Provision had to made for these canons and
property was often acquired to support them. Your student should keep in
mind that not all canons were in cathedral chapters: there were collegiate
chapters and houses of regular canons that may have had endowments but
probably not prebends. Keep in mind that these are only very general
comments and conditions varied in place and time. Any of the books by the
scholars mentioned above can direct your student to more comprehensive
materials.
Dale Streeter
Department of History
University of Wisconsin-Madison
>As I approach the end of a course that involved students looking at Domesday
>records, I have as usual been bamboozled by questions I cannot answer. Has
>anyone done any recent work on prebends held by cathedral canons?
>Specifically, the question concerned a distinction between manors held "for
>the use of the chapter" and lands that seemed to be in the hands of a
>particular canon, for his own use. Is there an agreed-upon progression from
>community possession to individual holdings? And if so, approximately when
>did it occur?
>
>Carolyn Schriber<
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