268 Cathedral Life and Worlc at Sarum in Olden Times. 



the presumed purpose of looking- after their own souls/^ Not so 

 with the Canons — they did not take vows^ but were simply bound, 

 as indeed they are to the present day, by the law of the church at 

 the time. And the secular foundations were never severed from the 

 daily interests of the citizens, but continued for centuries to be of 

 the people, as they sprang from the people ; and their members were 

 the busiest, and the least recluse, of men. 



At the first, no doubt, all the Canons of Sarum lived on the com- 

 mon property of the church, the Bishop himself being the undoubted 

 and recognized head of the whole cathedral body. None of them, 

 at the beginning, whether dignitaries or not, had any separate 

 existence, apart from the Bishop; in truth they were his immediate 

 companions and assistants, as well in the services of the mother 

 church, as in the general management of the diocese. 



But though this was the original idea and working of a cathedral 

 such as that of Sarum, there is no doubt that at a very early period 

 all members of the body, from the Bishop downwards, had, over 

 and above their allowance from the common fund of the cathedral, 

 their separate estates, or " prahend^B," as they were termed. Indeed 

 there is no evidence of the Bishop of Sarum ever living in common 

 with his canons, or sharing with them any part of the revenue. 

 From a very early period the Bishop had his own " prebend," and 

 also his separate estates. So, too, with the several canons ; it is 

 not easy to say at what exact time this modification of the original 

 plan took place, but it was certainly in full working order within 

 some hundred years or so after Osmund's decease. 



As regards the work to be performed by these secular canons, it 

 may be said that their duties were threefold ; and had reference to 

 their relations {a) with the Bishop, {b) with the cathedral, {c) with 

 the diocese. 



(a) As regards the Bishop, they were to be his special companions 

 and advisers. There were many matters of importance in olden 

 times which a Bishop would never undertake without their counsel. 

 In after days they came to be called " concilium episcopi contra 

 hsereses et schismata"; indeed the very name " Consistory Courf 

 preserves the tradition of the old custom of the Bishop sitting with 



