medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

My fault I'm afraid Laura as I answered you off-list - not wanting to display my ignorance to all!

 

I think the 'team' was known as a 'chapel' but may be wrong.  I think you need someone whose expertise is beyond mine (confined to that bit off the western edge of Europe).

 

Rosemary

----- Original Message -----

From: [log in to unmask]" href="mailto:[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">Laura Jacobus

To: [log in to unmask]" href="mailto:[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">[log in to unmask]

Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2013 5:54 PM

Subject: [M-R] Fwd: Fw: [M-R] Fwd: chantries and chaplaincies

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Apologies if this appears twice in your in-boxes, as I've been having trouble with emails to the list lately.  

Laura

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Laura Jacobus <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 22 February 2013 12:09
Subject: Re: Fw: [M-R] Fwd: chantries and chaplaincies
To: Rosemary Hayes-Milligan and Andrew Milligan <[log in to unmask]>


Thanks Rosemary,

You're the first, and probably the last!  I fear it was too long, specific and complicated a question, and if anyone is still following this thread, maybe this might encourage them to wade through it...

 My church is the so-called 'Arena Chapel' in Padua, and almost everything about its status and foundation is up for grabs.  But in my view it's a private church (Eigenkirche) in that it was founded by an individual and served his estate.  As far as I can tell,  prayers were probably said at all of its three known altars for himself as founder, and for his family (including ancestors) by a small community of Augustinian canons headed by a prevost (the three 'chaplaincies' I referred to).   But the three known altars were part of the church, so  presumably they performed the full range of masses etc and were not solely devoted prayers/chantries for the founder and his family.  My idea is that the mysterious fourth chaplainacy (and I'd still like to know if this is a suitable term for the 'team' serving each altar) indicates the presence of a fourth altar dedicated solely to such prayers.  That's what I meant by a chantry chapel.  I hadn't realised that 'chantries' could refer to the living as well as the dead.

Since writing my original query, I've come across the idea of something called 'mercenary chantries' which might correspond to my fourth chaplainacy- which is apparently funded directly by the founder, rather than by the church which he'd endowed.  So I'd still love to know if others have come across anything resembling this arrangement. Effectively it would be a private, dedicated chantry chapel within a private church which had other functions in addition to chantry prayers.

All best, and thanks again for taking pity on me

Laura

On 20 February 2013 19:16, Rosemary Hayes-Milligan and Andrew Milligan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hi Laura

 

Did anyone get back to you on this?

 

It's a bit difficult to answer without the documents in front of me (not that I claim I would know more with them!)  Where is your church?  When was it founded? What do you mean by a 'private church'?  I would guess that what was set up was a chantry chapel with separate altars with more or less men employed at them?  If the donor founded the church it was, in itself, a chantry.  Or did he just give property to an existing church to set up chantries within it?

 

I cannot see that there was any point in founding the church without it being a chantry - i.e. somewhere where prayer was offered for the sake of the founder.

 

You can see why I hesitated to reply, hoping the more learned would leap in but no one seems to have done so!

 

Best wishes,

Rosemary Hayes

----- Original Message -----

From: [log in to unmask]" href="mailto:[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">Laura Jacobus

To: [log in to unmask]" href="mailto:[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">[log in to unmask]

Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 11:55 AM

Subject: [M-R] Fwd: chantries and chaplaincies

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Apologies if this lands in your inbox twice.  It didn't appear to send last time.

Laura

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Laura Jacobus <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 18 February 2013 16:13
Subject: chantries and chaplaincies
To: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture <[log in to unmask]>


This query follows on from stuff on chantries I was working on back in 2009 (and long before that too- I'm very slow) when several of you kindly joined in.  I'm working on a private church whose founder made a number of endowments over the years, only some of which have survived.  I'm finding it difficult to work out what was going on, so would appreciate knowing if I'm barking up the wrong tree.

It looks as if, when the church was first endowed, it was to support three chaplaincies each consisting of 'a priest,a cleric and a servant' as a later document puts it. (BTW is 'chaplaincy' the right term to use for such teams of staff?) The endowment doesn't survive, but I'm guessing it this is what it consisted of as the church originally had three altars, and a later endowment which is explicitly made to  top-up the first is for four chaplaincies.

In a codicil written only a couple of years later, the patron seems to claw back some of what he's already endowed, reserving the usufruct (essentially rents) from some of the previously endowed property for himself and his heirs.  Though the codicil doesn't mention chaplaincies at all and is only concerned with property, he also seems to have rowed back from the position of endowing an extra chaplaincy.  I assume he's done this this because, when he dies, his will only refers to the three chaplaincies that seem to have been established with the church form the outset. 

On the face of it, it looks as if he just changed his mind about a fourth chaplaincy, but there are other elements of his will which leave me in doubt.  In the will he reiterates that his heirs should keep the rents from some of the church's property, but states that if his line should die out, the church should support four chaplaincies.  This is presumably because the church would then get to keep the rents and could afford it.

It looks to me as if the disappearing/reappearing fourth chaplaincy never went away but was being funded directly by the patron and his heirs, using the rents from the property whose ownership he'd gifted to the church.  It also seems to me that this chaplaincy would have had chantry functions.  None are specified in the endowment or the will (though perpetual services of an unspecified nature are), but it seems inconceivable that the patron would not have wanted a chantry.  It would then make sense that, once his line died out, he made provision for the chantry to be taken on directly by the church- but as long as he or his heirs were living they would just employ a chaplain directly and get him to say chantry prayers for all the deceased of the family.  But is this how things are usually done? 

Thanks if you can shed light on this

Laura

--
Dr. Laura Jacobus

Senior Lecturer in History of Art

Birkbeck College, University of London

For details of my book on Giotto and the Arena Chapel see http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9781905375127-1

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