What is a “cathedral chapter”?

The story behind the answer

In the Middle Ages, the chapter was the body of canons—ordained clergy—assigned to a cathedral. They maintained the daily round of worship, advised the bishop, administered estates and revenues, ran schools and archives, and during vacancies often governed the diocese or elected the next bishop.

The name comes from the Latin capitulum, a “chapter” read aloud at meetings. Chapters met in a dedicated chapter house, still visible off many cathedral cloisters. Some cathedrals had secular chapters (canons living individually on prebends), others monastic chapters (monks serving the cathedral), led by officers such as the dean, precentor, chancellor, and treasurer.