. Parish life in mediaeval England . ave by general law and custombetween the parson and his parishioners has been statedand explained, and the devotion of the people to the workof maintaining and beautifying Gods house has beenillustrated by various examples. In this chapter it isproposed to speak of the various parts of the church itself;and first of the chancel, which was that portion of the sacrededifice between the altar and the nave, so called because itwas separated from the rest of the church by railings {cancelli).Frequently in England there was at this point a screensupporting a figu
. Parish life in mediaeval England . ave by general law and custombetween the parson and his parishioners has been statedand explained, and the devotion of the people to the workof maintaining and beautifying Gods house has beenillustrated by various examples. In this chapter it isproposed to speak of the various parts of the church itself;and first of the chancel, which was that portion of the sacrededifice between the altar and the nave, so called because itwas separated from the rest of the church by railings {cancelli).Frequently in England there was at this point a screensupporting a figure of our Lord upon the cross, with imagesof Mary and John on either side, and from this called the Rood Screen. The size of the chancel naturally variedaccording to the importance of the church, but it may besaid to have generally included some stalls or seats forthe assistant clergy and the parish clerks. When, as incathedral and conventual churches, this portion was madelarger, it was known as the choir {chorus), from the band 44. THE PARISH CHURCH 45 of singers, who were originally accommodated in the spacebetween the people in the nave and the clergy in thepresbylerium, or were grouped round the altar, or perhapsmore frequently in an apse behind it. In process of timethis body of clergy migrated to more convenient positionsin the choir. As already pointed out, the care of thechancel by law belonged to the rector or vicar, and aportion of the tithe received by him was supposed to bedevoted to this purpose. The chancel was reserved entirelyfor the use of the clergy and for those who ministered atthe altar or took part in the ecclesiastical chant. The pro-hibition against lay people sitting in that part of the churchwas not unfrequently a cause of difficulty. Simon Langham,of Ely, in his synodical decrees of 1364, prohibits the practice. Lay people, he says, are not to stand or sit amongst theclerks in the chancel during the celebration of divine service, unlessit is done to
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