medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
'this would be a little surprising --in France, at least, the cathedral
church was basically the property of the canons, and i would be very
surprised if there were any judicial proceedings held *within its
fabric*, much less those which concerned the Bishop's exercise of his
own particular rights.'
Yet the *assumption* of a bishop's consistory court of some kind in the
church is very frequently made in England, and their existence
immediately post-Reformation is a certainty. Yet the Exeter and Norwich
examples I cited are the only two where I can find the question pursued
with any vigour. And I presume the community (secular in one case,
monastic in the other) had parallel powers over its lands, and thus also
needed courts prisons and etc.
BUT my main interest is your statement about separation of chapter and
bishop in France, which interests me enormously. In England chapters
both secular and monastic could indeed be constitutionally very separate
from their bishop, but in practice there were many areas of overlap -
certainly enough to be able to countenance the idea of a bishop holding
a court in a church. Egs: bishops were far and away the biggest
contributors to major building projects; many members of chapter were on
the bishop's staff (in the secular cathedrals); some cathedrals eg
Exeter are iconographically a colossal stone-and-wood hymn to Episcopal
power. All this blurs the distinction theoretical separation. Bishops
and chapters were far more interlocking in the secular churches than in
the monastic ones.
I'd be enormously interested to know if you think there are any
differences here with France, as the 'sociology' or culture of secular
and monastic chapters in England, and its potential impact or otherwise
on the fabric, is of great interest to me.
Jon
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