Chapter house
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A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a
Design
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 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 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 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 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 the large wall spaces found in most Continental chapter houses.
At Westminster the chapter house, opposite the
In some
History and uses
The community of monks would meet in the chapter house with the
The
Examples
Important examples of chapter houses from an architectural or artistic point of view can be seen at:
- Monastery of Santa María de Sigena, Spain, whose very important Romanesque frescos are now in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona
- Elgin Cathedral - octagonal, unusually for Scotland
- Wąchock Abbey, Romanesque in Poland
- Westminster Abbey
- Canterbury Cathedral rectangular chapter house
- Wells Cathedral palm tree like central pillar carrying 32 lierne ribs that form the inner part of the vault
- Exeter Cathedral
- Lincoln Cathedral the earliest English octagonal annex
- Salisbury Cathedral
- Southwell Minster, with famous carved capitals
- York Minster octagonal Late Gothic
- Plantagenetbase, large and low-vaulted
- The "Spanish Chapel" at the Basilica of Santa Maria Novellain Florence, with important frescos
- Alcobaça Monastery Romanesque, in central Portugal
- Batalha Monastery Late Gothic with Manueline elements, in central Portugal
- Convent of the Order of Christ in Tomar
- The Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze, a key building in Early Renaissance architecture
- Toledo Cathedral, 16th century and later, with important frescos
Non-religious use of the circular chapter house style of plan:
Gallery
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French Romanesque chapter house now moved to The Cloisters, New York
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Museum installation of the Romanesque frescos from theMonastery of Santa María de Sigena
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The royal Fontevraud Abbey
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Entrance at Fontevraud Abbey
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The former chapterhouse, now the "Spanish Chapel", at theBasilica of Santa Maria Novellain Florence
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Salisbury Cathedral from the cathedral tower, with cloister at right
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Interior of the chapter house of Kuopio Cathedral in Kuopio
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The octagonal chapter house at York Minster
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Exterior of the Pazzi Chapel
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Interior of the Pazzi Chapel
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The modern boardroom-style Chapter house at Guildford Cathedral
References
- ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. The Necrology was a list of death anniversaries for the community and persons of interest to it. .
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 855. .
- Historical Images of Chapter House at Westminster Abbey circa 1870 - 1990