chapter house
Monks' assembly room
A chapter house is a building or room where the chapter of a cathedral, monastery, or collegiate church meets to conduct business.
In medieval monasteries, the chapter house was typically an impressive space adjoining the cloister where monks gathered daily.
The term extends to meeting halls of fraternal organizations and college fraternities: The sorority held elections at the chapter house.
Covered monastic walkway
- abbeyMonastic house of worship
- prioryLesser monastic house
- friaryMendicant monks' residence
- conventReligious sisters' dwelling
scriptorium · refectory · dormitory · vestry · sacristy · novitiate · infirmary · oratory
Curved overhead, or leaped
- naveChurch's main interior
- transeptChurch's lateral wing
- apseVaulted church recess
- chancelAltar-adjacent clergy space
buttress · tracery · pilaster · frescoes · stained glass · ambulatory · narthex · octagonal
Gathering for discussion
- assemblyConstructing from components
- councilAdvisory deliberative group
- deliberationCareful weighing of choices
- votingFormally registering a choice
election · abbot · prior · rule · discipline · confession · penance · readings
Of the Middle Ages
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- ruinsDecayed structural remains
- antiquityGreat age, ancient era
- preservationMaintaining something's condition
Westminster · Salisbury · Canterbury · Benedictine · Romanesque · restoration · archaeology · monument
cloister
Covered monastic walkway
convent · scriptorium · refectory · dormitory · vestry · sacristy · novitiate · infirmary · oratory · undercroft
vaulted
Curved overhead, or leaped
chancel · buttress · tracery · pilaster · frescoes · stained glass · ambulatory · narthex · octagonal · stone bench
meeting
Gathering for discussion
- assemblyConstructing from components
- councilAdvisory deliberative group
- deliberationCareful weighing of choices
voting · election · abbot · prior · rule · discipline · confession · penance · readings · business
medieval
Of the Middle Ages
preservation · Westminster · Salisbury · Canterbury · Benedictine · Romanesque · restoration · archaeology · monument · National Trust
- medieval knightsknight, knights, armor, sword, swords
- monasticismabbeys, abbey, abbots, abbot, cloister
- Abbeyabbey church, cloister, refectory, scriptorium
- abbey featuresabbey, cloister, refectory, scriptorium, dormitory
- assembliesdelegates, gathering, Roman Senate, sessions, general assembly
- Cathedral Artrose window, flying buttress, gargoyle, altarpiece, pointed arch
chapter housesanctuary
Protected sacred space
chancel · nave · choir · altar · holy of holies
chapter housecell
Basic unit of life
hermitage · anchorhold · oratory · private chapel · prayer closet
chapter housenave
Church's main interior
parish church · narthex · atrium · churchyard
house, chapter, household, chapters, habitation, capitol, chaptered, chaptering