Parish priests and their people in the Middle Ages in England . N order to give a complete view of theposition and work of the parochial clergyin town and country, it is necessary toindicate, however briefly, both their con-nection with the cathedral and their relations withthe monasteries. In this chapter we attempt theformer subject; the latter in a following chapter. We must glance back at our history and recall thetime when the cathedral was the mother church ofthe diocese, and the bishop and his clergy livedtogether as one family. Some of them remainedalways at head-quarters to keep up th
Parish priests and their people in the Middle Ages in England . N order to give a complete view of theposition and work of the parochial clergyin town and country, it is necessary toindicate, however briefly, both their con-nection with the cathedral and their relations withthe monasteries. In this chapter we attempt theformer subject; the latter in a following chapter. We must glance back at our history and recall thetime when the cathedral was the mother church ofthe diocese, and the bishop and his clergy livedtogether as one family. Some of them remainedalways at head-quarters to keep up the Divine servicewith as full a choir as their circumstances permitted,and to carry on the schools, which formed so impor-tant a branch of their work of Christian civilization ;while others were itinerating hither and thitherthrough the diocese preaching the gospel to thepeople. Then, we remember, came the gradualorganization of the parochial system, by which the. CONFESSION IN LENT. LATE XV. CENT. MS., 25698, f. 9. THE CATHEDRAL. great majority of the clergy were scattered over thediocese, each residing permanently in his own rectory-house, and ministering constantly to his own people. The bishop, however, still retained a strong staffabout him at the cathedral, for the honour of the Divineservice and for general diocesan work ; and the oldtradition of an ascetic common life would naturally bemaintained there, when it was no longer practicablein the scattered rectories. This staff would need organ-ization. One man would be put in general commandduring the absences of the bishop on his visitationsof the diocese ; another would be in permanent chargeof the schools ; another would have special charge ofthe services ; another would be the treasurer of thebishops common fund ; and thus naturally arose thefour dignities of all the old cathedrals—the dean,the chancellor, the precentor, and the , Bishop of Metz, the great chancel
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