Kevin Roddy, Medieval Studies Program, UCD (kproddy@ucdavis.edu)

http://medieval.ucdavis.edu/OLLI/NOTRE.DAME/ Ecclesiastical.Terminology”> Ecclesiastical Terminology, Courtesy of T.J. Ray, University of Mississippi, with additions and modifications</A>

Source: http://home.olemiss.edu/~tjray/medieval/ecclesiastical.htm

Abbey – A monastery governed by an abbot (Hebrew, “abba,” “father”), but transfer to a monastic cathedral (Westminster Abbey)

Agistment - a Church rate, or tithe, charged on pasture land.

Aisle - lateral division of the nave or chancel of a church, usually referring to passageways to the left or right of the nave.

Alb - a full-length white linen garment, with sleeves and girdle, worn by the celebrant at mass under a chasuble.

Almuce - large cape, often with attached hood, of cloth turned down over the shoulders and lined with fur. Doctors of Divinity and canons wore it lined with gray fur.

Ambulatory - aisle leading round an apse, usually encircling the choir of a church.

Amice - a square of white linen, folded diagonally, worn by the celebrant priest, on the head or about the neck and shoulders.

Anchoret (Anchorite, Anchoress) - a hermit, or recluse.

Antiphon - a sentence, or versicle, from Scripture, sung as an introduction to a psalm or canticle.

Antiphoner - a choir-book containing the liturgical chants used in singing the canonical hours.

Apparels - small rectangular pieces of embroidered stuff, used as ornaments to the alb and amice.

Apparitor - a summoner; an officer of an ecclesiastical court whose duty it was to cite persons to appear before it.

Apse - semicircular or polygonal terminal of the chancel at its eastern end, completing the chancel.

Apsidal - apse-shaped.

Aquebajulus - a holy-water clerk.

Arcade - row of arches, usually supported on columns, often on either side of a nave.

Archbishop - Also called a "Metropolitan," the chief over a number of local diocese.

Arch-brace - curved timbers inserted to strengthen other members in a roof.

Archdeacon - subordinate of a bishop with responsibility for supervising the diocesan clergy and holding ecclesiastical courts within his archdeaconry.

Ascetic – Essentially, Greek “ascesis” means “exercise,” or even “art.” The term has come to mean denial and deprivation, but this is secondary, a natural consequence of the focus needed for spirituality

Asylum - also called Right of Sanctuary. The right of a bishop to protect a fugitive or intercede on his behalf. Once asylum has been granted, the fugitive cannot be removed before a month has passed. Fugitives who find asylum must pledge an oath of adjuration never to return to the realm, after which they are free to find passage to the borders of the realm by the fastest way. If found within the borders after a month's time, they may be hunted down as before with no right of asylum to be granted ever again.

Augustinian Rule– A rule loosely following an advisory letter of Augustine of Hippo (354-420 CE)

Aumbry - a locker or cupboard of some kind, usually placed in the north chancel wall, for the safe-keeping of service-books and sacramental vessels.

Austin - the English form of the name "Augustinian" as in "Austin Friars."

Ballflower - decorative motif consisting of three petals enclosing a ball; common in the early fourteenth century.

Basilica - Originally, a Greek court where the king (Greek, "basil") made judgments; developed by the Romans into a general meeting place, usually with a semi-circular apse at one end where cases could be heard, but long and arcaded so as to allow private business in a sheltered space. Now used commonly as a synonym for a cathedral.

Bay - division of a building into discreet units, separated usually by piers, buttresses, fenestration (windows), or vaulting.

Beakhead - Norman decorative motif consisting of a row of beast or bird heads pecking.

Benedictine Order - monastic order founded by Benedict of Nursia (around 529 CE). After a long period of preparation a monk takes vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to the monastic rule. Some cathedrals (Durham, Lincoln, Norwich) were Benedictine establishments.

Benedictional - a liturgical book containing formulas for blessing of people and objects.

Benefice - an ecclesiastical living; an office held in return for duties and to which an income attaches. A grant of land given to a member of the aristocracy, a bishop, or a monastery, for limited or hereditary use in exchange for services. In ecclesiastical terms, a benefice is a church office that returns revenue.

Benefit of Clergy - a privilege enjoyed by members of the clergy, including tonsured clerks, placing them beyond the jurisdiction of secular courts.

Bishop - From Greek and Latin "episcopus" (overseer) the religious leader of an area once modelled on Latin Roman administrative regions, called "diocese." A city would most like like have a bishop presiding over that region.

Black Canons - a common name for Augustinian Canons.

Boss - decorative knob, usually covering the intersection of vaulting ribs.

Breviary - a book containing the Divine Office (lessons, psalms, hymns, etc.) for each day.

Buttress - projecting mass of masonry, giving additional support to a wall.

Canon - a member of the cathedral clerical staff, who assisted the bishop in services and administration. Canons were supported by land gifts, and were sometimes away from the cathedral, sometimes managing those lands but more usually on cathedral business. Also, a lawyer trained in canon law (the law of the Church).

Canonical Hours - the services sung or recited at regular intervals throughout a day: matins, lauds, prime, tierce, sext, none, vespers, compline.

Canons Regular - communities of clergy following a monastic rule (Latin: "regula"), especially the Rule of St. Augustine. Some cathedrals (York) were staffed by canons regular.

Canted - inclined, or angled.

Cantor - monk or clerk whose liturgical function is to lead the choir.

Capitals - head of a column.

Capitular - of or pertaining to an ecclesiastical chapter.

Capitulary - a compilation of episcopal or other statutes.

Cappa Clausa or Closed Cape - a gown sewn down the front except or a short slit in the front middle which enabled hands to emerge, worn mostly by regents in theology, arts and law during lectures.

Caputium - includes the hood and tippet or cape. Hood originally covered the head but later dropped back upon the shoulders.

Cardinal - An honorific conferred by the pope, usually to archbishops; in medieval England, the two archbishops, those of Canterbury and York, would often receive a large red hat, as a sign of their elevation. When a pope died, cardinals were empowered to elect a new one; the word comes from the Latin for "hinge" ("cardo,-nis") because of their pivotal position.

Carrels - divisions of a cloister walk or a chamber into individual study areas.

Cartulary - a book or register containing copies of the deeds or charters relating to the lands, churches and other properties of a cathedral, or of any other establishment.

Cassock - a long coat reaching almost to the ground and fastened up the front, with fairly tight sleeves. Worn by men, both lay and clerical. Often fur-lined since its main purpose was to keep wearer warm. Was worn under the eucharistic vestments but is completely covered by the alb so that it does not show.

Casuistry - a system of moral theology which takes full account of the circumstances and intentions of penitents and formulates rules for particular cases.

Cathedral - A church, the administrative and spiritual center normally located in a city, in which building the bishop had his chair (Latin, "cathedra").

Cellarer - officer of a cathedral or monastery entrusted with the general provisioning of the community.

Chancel - part of a church to the east of the crossing, containing the main, “high” altar and choir.

Chancery - the secretarial office of a king or bishop.

Chantry Chapel - chapel attached to a church, often set between piers, endowed for the saying of masses for the soul of the founder or another person (that is, a wife or husband) nominated by the founder.

Chapter - the daily assembly of a cathedral or monastic community at which a chapter of the Rule was read, faults were confessed, and business was transacted. Also the term for a body of clergy serving a cathedral.

Chapter-house - room in which clergy met daily, to discuss business and hear a chapter of the monastic rule.

Chasuble - a sleeveless mantle, worn over the alb and stole by a celebrant priest.

Chevet - French type of east end of a church, comprising an apsidal chancel with ambulatory and radiating chapels.

Chevron - Norman zigzag decoration.

Choir – (Also spelled “Quire”) the area at the east end of the church, before the main (“high”) altar, reserved for the monks’ chanted worship, often constructed of two parallel north and south rows of stalls, frequently with elaborately carved wood (see Westminster Abbey)

Chrism - holy oil; a mixture of olive oil and balsam used in Christian ritual.

Ciborium - a chalice-shaped vessel, with a lid, for the consecrated bread (the reserved Host).

Claustral - pertaining to the cloister.

Clerestory - upper stage of church elevation, above the aisle roofs, usually pierced by windows.

Cloister – The heart of the monastery or a monastic cathedral, usually a quadrangle, with porches for walking, and cubicles on its north side, with a fountain in the center surrounded by herbs in cultivated gardens.

Clustered-shaft - A pier with many added columns, not necessarily load-bearing.

Coenobitical - the term for monastic life in community (“koine,” common), in contrast to the life of hermits.

Collar-beam - horizontal beam tying two rafters together above the level of the wall-top.

Collect - a short prayer appointed for a particular day (hence "collect-books").

Collegiate Church - a church served by a corporation or college of clergy, of which a cathedral is one type.

Commissary - an officer representing the bishop in a part of his diocese and exercising jurisdiction there in his name.

Compline - the last service of the day, being the final canonical hour, about 9 p.m.

Conduit - pipe or channel for conveying water.

Consistory Court - an ecclesiastical court, appointed by a bishop or archbishop, with jurisdiction extgending to both clergy and laity.

Convent – Now, usually reserved for the residence of females in religious orders; in the Middle Ages, any spiritual group or dwelling

Cope - a semicircular piece of silk or other cloth, worn by ecclesiastical persons in processions, at vespers and on other occasions.

Corbel - stone projection from a wall, supporting a weight.

Corporal - a linen square on which the consecrated elements are placed during the celebration of the Eucharist.

Coucher - a large book (hence "coucher-book", a large cartulary).

Crocket - leaf-shaped decoration added to pinnacles, gables, capitals, etc.

Crosier or Crook - bishop's pastoral staff. The word meant originally the bearer of a shepherd's crook and is in no way connected with cross, though the words have been confused.

Crossing - part of a church between the transepts.

Cruet - a vessel, usually one of a pair, for holding the wine or the water at the Eucharist.

Crypt - chamber underneath a church, usually at the east end.

Custumal - a book setting out in detail the practice of a particular monastic establishment, with instructions for the celebration of the divine office and for the other activities of the day, compiled to supplement the general prescription of the Rule. Also a compilation recording the manorial customs and rents due from an estate.

Dalmatic - a wide-sleeved vestment, slit on each side of the skirt, and marked by two stripes. Worn by deacons and bishops; also by kings and emperors at their coronation. Originally used in the province of Dalmatia.

Deacon - assistant to the priest and next under him in rank, being a member of the third order of the minstry.

Dean - in early monastic use, a monk appointed by the abbot to supervise a group of ten brothers; in general ecclesastical use, the head of a cathedral chapter; also the senior priest and supervisor of a rural deanery.

Decorated - term applied to the style of Gothic architecture which flourished in England from about 1280 to 1340.

Decretum - a common title for a collection of canon law, arranged thematically, in use from the 11th century onwards.

Demesne - that part of an estate that a landlord (who might be a bishop or other cleric) retains in his own hands and exploits directly, as opposed to portions of the estate that are leased to tenants.

Diploma - technical term for an elaborate type of charter used in the early Middle Ages to confer land or privileges.

Divine Office - called “Opus Dei,” the “Work of God,” the “Canonical Hours,” above

Dorter - a monastic dormitory, where monks slept.

Early English - term applied to the style of Gothic architecture which flourished in England from about 1220 to 1280.

Easter Sepulcher - a recess, or structure, on the north side of a chancel, used at Easter in the setting up of a representation of the burial of Christ; but often merely a temporary wooden erection.

Elevation - vertical stages by which the architecture of a wall is erected.

Enterclose - a partition.

Eucharist - the Communion, or Sacrament of the Lord's Supper: the central ceremony of the mass.

Familia - the household establishment of a bishop or abbot, consisting of his clerks and domestic servants.

Floriated - decorated with flowery patterns.

Florilegia - an anthology, especially one of patristic texts; such collections were widely used by medieval theologians.

Flying Buttress - arch carrying the thrust of a roof from the upper part of a wall to a free-standing support.

Foil - leaf-like ornamentation in windows, etc.: trefoil, quatrefoil, cinquefoil, sexfoil, etc., represent the number of leaves.

Frater – from the Latin for “brother”: the refectory or dining room

Free Chapel - a chapel founded by the king (often developing into a wealthy church), not subject to the jurisdiction of the bishop.

Freestone - any easily carved fine-grained stone (e.g. a limestone or sandstone).

Gable - vertical triangular end of a building from the eaves to the apex.

Gablet - small gable, often for decoration only.

Galilee - chapel or vestibule, usually enclosing the porch at the west end of the church (Durham).

Gallery - intermediate story, usually a passageway, in the elevation of a church wall, between the arcade and the clerestory.

Garderobe - individual lavatory in a medieval building.

Garth - the open central space, normally a quadrilateral, enclosed by a cloister.

Glebe - land attaching to a church and intended to supplement the incumbent's income.

Gothic - general term used to describe the style of architecture which flourished in western Europe from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries.

Gradual - a book of antiphons.

Greek cross - a plain cross, the four limbs of which are of equal length.

Hammer-beam - horizontal beam projecting from the top of a wall to support arch-braces, struts and rafters.

Hermitess/Hermit - a solitary, most often living in a cell, dedicated to a life of prayer, though hermits were often involved in healing and other public works; the cell might be attached to a church, as was Julian of Norwich, and hermits were often consulted by kings and high churchmen for advice and prophecy (the adjective is often given as “eremetical”)

High Altar - The main altar of a church, at the East end of the choir.

Howden - A college of secular priests.

Indulgences - a commutation of a certain period of canonical penance, authorized by a bishop, enabling the penitent who had repented and confessed his sin to substitute for his penance Hymnary - a hymn-book, or hymnal.

Infirmarian - officer of a monastic establishment in charge of the infirmary.

Infirmary - part of a monastic establishment, commonly situated to the east of the main complex, with its own dormitory, chapel, and refectory, which housed the monks who were sick or who were too old and infirm to take part in the normal monastic round.

Interdict - a sentence laid upon a territory or an establishment, ordering the administration of the sacraments and all liturgical rites to cease until such time as the sentence has been lifted. An exception was normally made for the baptism of infants and the absolution of the dying.

Introit - verses of Scripture, often from the psalms, sung at the beginning of the mass, varying according to the day of the year.

Jamb - straight side of a doorway or window.

Judge-delegate - a prelate commissioned by the pope to hear and determine an ecclesiastica case locally in its country of origin.

Knapped-flint - flint split for walling.

Lancet - slender window with pointed arch.

Lauds - the service of the divine office immediately following Matins. Sometimes it is confusingly called "Matins" in medieval texts. It was observed about 3 a.m.

Lavatorium - trough with running water where clergy washed their hands before meals.

Leat - a channel conveying water, usually to a mill.

Lectio divina - "sacred reading," i.e., the reading of the Scriptures and the Fathers prescribed by the Rule of St. Benedict as one of the most important occupations of the monastic day.

Lectionary - a book containing the lessons to be read in choir during Mass and the divine office.

Lector - "reader," i.e., one who has been ordained to the minor church office of lector.

Legate - an ambassador, usually a cardinal, dispatched by the pope to a territory with plenary powers (some archbishops, including the archbishops of Canterbury, claimed to be “legati nati” or standing legates in virtue of their office).

Legenda - a legendary, or book of legends, concerning the lives of the saints.

Lenten veil - covering pictures and crucifixes during Lent.

Lights - The glazed part of a stained-glass window.

Lintel - horizontal beam or stone bridging a fireplace, doorway, etc.

Liturgical Colors - blue for Advent; white for Christmas and the octave of the Epiphany; blue or white for St. John's Day; red for the Feast of the Innocents; red or white for Circumcision. From the octave of the Epiphany to Septuagesima red was worn. From Septuagesima to Passion Sunday probably blue was used. Red was worn from Passion Sunday and Advent, except on Low Sunday and the octave of the Ascension, when white was worn. Color for the Apostles and Martyrs was red, for the Virgins who were not Martyrs, white; for the Confessors blue or green. Funerals were to be in black.

Liturgy – originally, a Greek term for a political assembly, but now used for religious worship

Louvre - opening in the roof of a room to let the smoke escape.

Lunette - semicircular opening in a wall to support arch-braces, struts and rafters.

Maniple - a strip of silk, or other fine-stuff, worn over the left arm of the celebrant at mass.

Manual - a handbook of directions to the celebrant for the administration of the sacraments.

Martyrology - a list of the martyrs, read during the office of Prime.

Matins - the first office of the new day, sung starting at about 2:00AM, commonly called the Nocturns in medieval texts.

Mazer - a bowl or drinking-cup.

Mensa - term used for that part of a monastic estate that was allocated to the direct support of the community and to supplying its table.

Michaelmass - Feast of St. Michael on September 29.

Minster – Originally a monastic church (cognate to Latin “minister,” “servant”), but applied broadly to any large church

Misericord - A bracket on the underside of the hinged seat of a choir-stall, which, when the seat is turned up, gives some support to a person standing; also a special apartment in a monastic establishment, for the use of elderly, ill, or weakened monks receiving special indulgences in respect of diet and discipline;

Missal - a book containing the complete order of mass, including both the "ordinary" (parts used in every mass) and the "proper" (the parts that varied according to the liturgical calendar). In the early Middle Ages the proper of the mass was distributed over a number of separate books, such as the lectionary which contained the lessons, and the gradual which contained the chants.

Monastery - A self-sustaining domestic complex supporting cenobitical monasticism

Monk - from the Latin "monachus," essentially, ‘one who lives alone,’ though in the beginning of Christian monasticism, in the 4th-century Middle East, they often dwelt at the edge of a village; by the Middle Ages, all monks were cenobitical, though many monasteries also had hermits who lived apart

Mouling - relief ornamentation.

Mullion - vertical bar dividing a window into lights.

Nave - From the Latin word for "ship" ("navis"), the center part of a church to the west of the crossing.

Nimbus -a bright or golden disk, surrounding the head of a divine or canonized person.

Nocturns - sections of the office of Matins. In the monastic office each Nocturn consisted of three Psalms followed by four lessons; on important festivals Matins comprised three such Nocturns and thus included twelve lessons.

Nones - the liturgical office sung or recited at the ninth hour of the day, i.e., about 3 p.m.

Norman - term applied to the style of architecture which flourished in England from about 1050 to about 1200.

Obit - a memorial mass celebrated annually on the mind-day of a deceased person, usually the anniversary of his death.

Oblate - a person given in childhood to a monastic community by his parents, to be brought up as a monk.

Oblate - a person given in childhood to a monastic community by his parents, to be brought up as a monk. At age fourteen (majority) an oblate could choose to leave the monastery

Oblation - an offering to Church funds.

Octave - the eighth day, or the period of eight days counting inclusively, that followed a liturgical festival.

Ogee - arch with a steep projection at the apex.

Order - series of concentric stages (e.g. shafts).

Ordinal - a service-book, with instructions to the priest on the order of services through the ecclesiastical year.

Ordinary - a high ecclesiastic, usually the bishop, entitled to exercise jurisdiction in his own right.

Orphrey - gold or other rich embroidery applied either to ecclesiastical vestments or to articles of lay attire.

Pallium - a yoke-shaped band of white wool, embroidered with crosses, worn by the pope and also by some archbishops, symbolizing in the latter case the delegation to them of metropolitan jurisdiction over the other bishops of their province. It was conferred by the pope and normally had to be collected from Rome in person.

Panel-tracery - see Tracery.

Pardoner - a person holding a papal license to sell indulgences or pardons.

Paten - a shallow circular dish, usually of silver, on which the consecrated bread is placed during the celebration of the Eucharist.

Paterae - flat circular or oval ornamentation.

Pax brede - a small plate or tablet (also known as an "osculatory"), with a handle on the back and with the image of Christ or of the Virgin on the front, to be kissed at mass by priest and congregation.

Peculiar - term for a parish or other area not subject to the jurisdiction of the bishop within whose diocese it is situated, but subject to the jurisdiction of a bishop or some other ecclesiastical body in another diocese.

Penitential - a treatise setting out the penances, or acts of satisfaction, appropriate to various sins, which a penitent was required to perform after he had repented and confessed his faults to a priest. Similarly, the section of a monastic Rule that prescribed penances for various faults or breaches of monastic discipline.

Penitentiary - an ecclesiastical officer concerned with the administration of penance in the diocese.

Penstock - sluice for regulating the flow of water through a channel.

Pentise - covered way, or small subsidiary building, with a sloping roof.

Perpendicular - term applied to the style of Gothic architecture which flourished in England between about 1340 and about 1530.

Pier - strong, upright support or pillar for arches.

Pilaster - shallow pier attached to a wall.

Pileus or Cap - the distinctive head-dress of doctors, round or square. The square shape was made of four different pieces of material joined, wit a small point at the top. Eventually became the mortar-board of modern university garb. Small point of the original pileus became the modern tassel.

Pinched - plaited.

Piscina - basin, usually set in the south chancel wall, for washing the chalice and paten at mass.

“Placebo et dirige “- the first words of the opening antiphons of Vespers and Matins respectively in the Office of the Dead; hence, in medieval usage a term denoting the entire Office of the Dead (“dirge”).

Plate-tracery - see Tracery.

Points - ties, laces.

Porticus - the side-chapels common at Anglo-Saxon minster churches, frequently used for the more important burials.

Prebend - the revenues, whether from land or tithes, granted to an ecclesiastic as his stipend.

Prebendary - one in receipt of the revenues attached to a canonry in a cathedral or collegiate church.

Precentor - a cathedral dignitary responsible for the choir and the liturgical functions in the cathedral church.

Prelates - general term applied to the leading members of the ecclesiastical establishment, usually bishops and archbishops.

Prime - a liturgical office sung or recited at the first hour of the day, after Lauds, at sunrise.

Prior - in an abbey the officer next in rank after the abbot; also, the superior of a religious house (a “priory”) that usually was a dependency of an abbey.

Processional - an office-book, giving the text of the hymns, psalms, and litanies used in ecclesiastical processions.

Proctor - a legal representative of any person or bodies of persons able to act for them in ecclesiastical courts.

Procuration - a customary payment extracted from incumbents in lieu of their obligation to entertain a visiting bishop, archdeacon, or other high ecclesiastic.

Proprietary Church - a church in private ownership, the property of a landlord or of a monastery-the condition of most rural churches in the early Middle Ages.

Pulpitum - pulpit projecting from a wall. Also, in large churches, a stone screen dividing the nave and choir.

Purbeck marble - hard dark stone resembling marble, quarried from the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset.

Pyx - a vessel, usually a box, for holding the consecrated bread (the reserved Host).

Quadragesima - literally "the fortieth": the Latin term for Lent, a period of approximately forty days (in fact forty-six days, but who counts Sundays?) before Easter.

Quatrefoil - a very common Gothic architectural ornament in which four arcs are divided by cusps, rather in the form of a four.

Quire ["Choir"]- the part of a church where services were sung, containing the choir-stalls.

Radiating Chapels - series of chapels projecting radially from an ambulatory or apse.

Range - block of buildings.

Refectory - the dining hall of a monastery (also “Frater”).

Regular Clergy - clergy who are monks, living under a monastic Rule ("regula"), as opposed to secular clergy who live in the world or do not take vows to poverty, and live in community

Reliquary - shrine or casket in which relics of saints were kept.

Rere-dorter - building containing the latrines, so called because it was usually situated at the back or far end of the dormitory.

Reredos - a screen, usually carved and painted, behind and above the altar.

Retable - an altar-piece; a painting, or frame holding sculptures, fixed to the back of an altar.

Retro-quire - chapel or part of a church east of the high altar, commonly used as the location for the shrine of a saint (Durham).

Rochet - a white-linen vestment, similar to a surplice.

Romanesque - term applied to the style of architecture which flourished in Europe from the early tenth to the late twelfth century; also called "Norman" in England.

Rood - a great cross, or crucifix, placed on the rood-beam in the chancel arch.

Rood-screen - screen below a crucifix, usually at the west end of a church, so called because it was normally surmounted by a rood or crucifix.

Rose Window - see Wheel Window.

Sacramentary - a type of liturgical book used in the early Middle Ages, containing the prayers said by the celebrant of the mass and the other sacrament. The lessons and the verses sung by the choir were contained in separate books.

Sacring - the consecration of the elements (hence "sacring bell" and "sacring torch").

Sacrist - clerical official responsible for the safe-keeping of books, vestments and vessels, and for the maintenance of the ecclesiastical buildings.

Sacristy - a small building, usually attached to the chancel or transept of a church, in which vestments and sacred vessels were kept.

Sanctuary - right of protection to fugitives within a church, or occasionally within the precinct of a monastery or cathedral; also, the most sacred area of the church.

Saw-tooth - decorated with serrations like a saw.

Scallop - decoration consisting of a series of truncated semi-arches

Scapular - a rectangular piece of stuff hanging down from the shoulders before and behind. It has shoulder seams and a hole for the head to pass through.

Scriptorium - room in a monastic establishmentic set aside for the use of scribes copying manuscripts.

Secular Canons - the secular clergy serving a cathedral or collegiate church, as opposed to canons regular, who were clergy living under a monastic rule.

Sedilia - seats for priests officiating at services, usually built into the wall on the south side of the chancel.

Segmental - in the form of a separate parts, as, divided into segments.

Seigneurial - lordly, pertaining to a feudal lord, as all bishops were.

Sequestrator - the diocesan official appointed to take charge of estates or other property on which dues were owed to the bishop.

Sext - the liturgical office sung or recited at the sixth hour of the day, i.e., about midday.

Shaft - small or subordinate pillar.

Simony - the offence of offering or receiving money to influence an appointment to ecclesiastical office.

Slype - passage.

Solar - upper living-room in a medieval house.

Solo-piece - projecting base for roof trusses, etc., at the level of the wall-top.

Soul-scot - a mortuary, or offering made to the priest on behalf of a deceased parishioner.

Spandrel - triangular surface area between the apexes of two arches.

Springer - the point at which an arch unites with its pier, wall.

Squint - the hole cut in a wall or through a pier to allow a view of the high altar from a place where it would not otherwise possible (often used by resident hermits)

Stepped - progressively staggered.

Stiff-leaf - foliage ornamentation consisting of many lobed shapes, common in the thirteenth century.

Stole - a narrow strip of embroidered silk or linen, worn over other vestments to hang round the neck and down the front of the celebrant at mass.

Stoup - a stone basin for holy water, usually placed near the main entrance of the church.

Strainer arch - arch inserted across the space between two walls, to stop them leaning.

String-course - projecting horizontal band of masonry set along a wall.

Studium generale - a term of art, which appeared in the 13th century, denoting a school of universal status, used especially of universities. In canonical theory it indicated a privileged status which could only be conferred on a school by the pope. Its special mark was the right to its graduates to teach in any other school of Christendom without further examination.

Suffragan - assistant (hence "suffragan bishop").

Super-arch - larger arch, often blank, enclosing two or more smaller arches.

Surplice or Super-pellicum - a loosely fitting white linen vestment, with wide sleeves.

Synod - a council, or assembly, of the clergy, usually bishops.

Synodal - a customary payment made to the bishop by his lower clergy on the occasion of a visitation or a synod.

Tabard - a loose, usually sleeveless waistcoat, sometimes called a sclavine.

Temporalities - the landed estates and other properties belonging to a church or religious body, especially the estates of a bishopric, in respect of which the bishop owed secular duties to the king.

Tenebrae - the office of Matins and Lauds in the special form sung during the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of Holy Week, at which candles are extinguished one by one following each psalm.

Terce - the liturgical office sung or recited at the third hour of the day, i.e., about 9 a.m.

Thurible - a censer; a vessel, usually of metal, for the burning of incense.

Tithe (praedial) - a tax, payable to the rector, of the tenth part of all agrarian produce.

Tithing - any group of ten persons; in early monastic usage, a group of ten monks supervised by a monastic officers called a dean. It was a means of devolving command in large religious communities.

Tonsure - monastic hairstyle: shaving the top of the head and leaving a ring of hair around the side, indicated that a man had received clerical status.

Tracery - decorative openwork on the upper parts of a Gothic window. Bar-tracery and Geometric-tracery: both typical of the second half of the thirteenth century, consisting chiefly of foils within circles. Panel-tracery: typical of the period 1340-1530, consisting of straight-edge vertical panels. Plate tracery: using thick areas of stone to separated glazed sections.

Transepts - transverse portions, north and south, of a cross-shaped church. They may have developed to accommodate additional East-facing altars, and the cross-shape (noticed in the Middle Ages) might have been an accidental consequence.

Transitional - term applied to the architecture of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, during the transition from Norman or Romanesque to Gothic.

Translation - in the case of a bishop, his transfer from one see to another, a change which in classical canon law could only be authorized by the pope. The term was also used to describe the process by which the bodily remains of a saint were removed from their tomb to a place of honor above or behind the altar of a church. Originally it was an act that signified canonization; from the 13th century, it was a solemn act carried out following canonization by the pope.

Transom - horizontal bar across the lights of a window.

Triforium - intermediate stage in the elevation of a church wall, between the arcade and the clerestory, consisting of a blank arcading or a wall-passage (see "Gallery").

Troper - a book of tropes, being the phrases or sentences added by a choir to embellish the mass.

Truss - roof-timbers framed together to bridge a space.

Tympanum - space between the lintel of a doorway and the arch above it.

Undercroft - vaulted room (often a basement) below a more important building.

Vault - an arched stone roof.

Vespers - the liturgical office of the early evening, otherwise called Evensong.

Vestry - small chamber attached to the chancel or transept of a church, in which the ecclesiastical vestments were kept and put on.

Vicar - the incumbent of a parish church which has been appointed to a monastery or some other ecclesiastical body which receives the great tithe. The vicar receives a fixed portion of the endowments of the parish and offerings.

Vicar General - an ecclesiastical officer appointed by the bishop as his deputy in matters jurisdictional and administrative.

Vigils - in early monastic literature the term for Matins, i.e., the office sung during the watches of the night.

Waterleaf - broad, leaf-shaped motif with a tied-ribbon effect at the top; commonly used to decorate capitals in the twelfth century.

Weeper - a sculptured mourning figure, often shown hooded, set against the side of a tomb-chest.

Wheel Window - circular window with radiating tracery resembling spokes.