What is Chapter house?
[[File:Lincoln cathedral chapterhouse.JPG|thumb|right|230px|The Chapter house at [[Lincoln Cathedral]]. Note the flying buttresses surrounding the building.]] [[File:Canterbury - Glasfenster im Kapitelsaal der Kathedrale von Canterbury.jpg|right|thumb|The chapter house of [[Canterbury Cathedral]]]] A '''Chapter house''' or '''chapterhouse''' is a special building or room attached to a [[cathedral]] or large [[church]]. It is where the cathedral '''chapter''' meetings are held. Chapter houses were also built in [[mediaeval]] [[monastery|monasteries]]. == Cathedrals == In a cathedral, the chapter is always chaired by the [[Dean]], whose job it is to run (manage) the cathedral. Members of the chapter will include [[Canon (church)|Canons]], who may include top [[lay]] officials as well as priests.<ref>Lay: not ordained, but play a part in the church. At local [[parish]] level: the Warden, Sexton, Organist, Vergers of local parish churches are the '''laity'''. They form a church council called the '''vestry'''.</ref> It is a management group for the cathedral. The side of the cloister with the chapter house was usually the first to be constructed; it would have been started shortly after the church’s frame was put up. == Monasteries == When part of a monastery, the chapter house is usually on the eastern wing of the [[cloister]]. It is a large space, to hold all the [[monk]]s of the monastery. It is built in the same style as the churches of that day. In some [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] or [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] monasteries, the entrance to the chapter house is a miniature version of the entrance to a cathedral. The community of monks would meet in the chapter house with the [[Abbot]] to 'hold chapter'. This meant to read aloud from the rule book and [[Bible]], and to discuss matters concerning the monastery and its monks.<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Chapter House}}</ref> The meetings generally took place in the morning, after [[Mass (liturgy)|mass]]; the monks would sit along the length of the wall