Cathedral chapters - Vinculum Information System Guide

Chronological span

The Portuguese cathedral chapters were created, although the dates are generally unknown, following processes of restoration (during the territorial “reconquest” in the twelfth century) and creation (during the diocesan reorganisation of the kingdom in the sixteenth century) of the respective dioceses¹. They have endured to the present day².

Normative documents (main)

The cathedral chapters were governed by their own statutes, which were intended to regulate their internal functioning, while their prerogatives and obligations were generally fixed through agreements made with other institutions of power, namely with the bishop and the crown³.

Estatutos do Cabido da Sé de Coimbra, dated 1454, without references to entails⁴;
Estatutos do Cabido da Sé de Lisboa, dated 1551, without references to entails⁵;
Estatutos do Cabido da Sé de Braga, dated 1600, without references to entails⁶;

Competences

General

The cathedralic cathedrals’ main functions were to maintain liturgical worship within the cathedral and to assist the prelate in governing his diocese¹⁰.

On entails

The cathedral chapters, as “managers” of the cathedral space, had the prerogative of authorising the implantation of chantries in that space¹¹.

By virtue of the dispositions established by their founders, the chapter itself or some of its members could appoint the chaplains of the chantries located in the cathedral, carry out the respective canonical visitation of the chapel and proceed with its administration, namely due to the extinction of the lineages of the founders, by a judicial sentence proving undue possession of the administration, or the impossibility of appointing an administrator belonging to the line of succession determined by the founder¹².

Institutional organisation and the roles of its agents with regard to entails

Institutional organisation

The chapter as a body was organised around a group of clerics associated with the government of the institution and the celebration of the divine office, as well as a group of officials to ensure the daily functioning and security of the chapter and the cathedral. The first group included the dignitaries responsible for the diverse activities of the institution (a dean for the chapter representation, a chanter for singing and worship, a treasurer for the management of the chapter’s patrimony, maintenance, and cleaning of the cathedral, and a schoolmaster for teaching), the canons responsible for the divine service and for making decisions with the dignitaries and, finally, the raçoeiros to serve the cathedral worship in lieu of the absent canons¹⁵.

The roles of its agents

Chaplains
Although not part of the structure of the cathedral chapter, the chapels established at the cathedral were served by chaplains responsible for the liturgical celebrations within them (canonical services and services for the dead, processions, and suffrages for the souls of the founders). The participation of these chaplains in cathedral life depended on the different stipulations left by the respective founders, namely whether or not service in the choir was compulsory¹⁶.

Relations with other institutions with regard to entails

The cathedral chapter maintained contact with the founders responsible for founding chantries in the cathedral, the administrators responsible for their management and the fulfilment of liturgical obligations, and the bishop, as a result of his prerogative to inspect the cathedral chantries in the medieval and early modern periods¹⁷.