 View of cathedral and canons' cloister to the north, detail of Truschet and Hoyan print in Bibl. hist., Paris. learn more about two important canons
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Members of the Chapter were busy, important career people such as lecturing professors in the Chapter School, or practicing lawyers involved in city or royal administration. For this reason, they often paid substitutes to do their singing for them. By 1297 there were 44 of these other choir members who hoped through their service to move into full positions in the Chapter and live in a specially reserved area to the north of the cathedral. Why? Because it was an enviable place to live. Canons were independent of any authority except the Pope in Rome. After a rule passed in 1215, they elected the bishop, or at least had to vote to confirm the king's choice. They shared income from cathedral lands tilled by up to 2000 serfs on an equal basis with the bishop, although this division was constantly being challenged and renegotiated.
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| Only the Subcantor was required to attend services and the rest received a payment when they did. They owned 36 houses which were assigned to the most important members for life. Some were so large, the canon rented out rooms to lesser choir members. Many even had private chapels, so some canons avoided their initial reason for existence altogether and worshiped at home rather than go to the cathedral.
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They met three times a week in the Chapter House. They were very learned and creative, writing most of the poetry and non-liturgical music produced during the late Middle Ages. A good example is the famous canon named Abelard who was a brilliant teacher, talented composer and reckless lover. His affair with his landlord's niece, Heloise, and the passionate letters they wrote after retiring to separate monasteries, are famous in twelfth-century literature. Sometimes the Chapter performed religious plays on the steps of the north transept as part of their observances for special feast days during the church year. |
 View of canons' houses after Raguenet, reproduced in Erlande-Brandenburg, The Cathedral, 1996. p.328
listen to the famous Sequence for Pentecost |
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When the Bishop and Canons, or their proxies, did attend services, they were separated from the distractions of common visitors by the walls of the cloture or enclosure around the choir area of the eastern or "front" end of the church. This was the richest part of the cathedral. It was here that the bishop's throne, or cathedra, was placed. Other elaborate furnishings include heavy wooden stalls with seats, set inside the enclosure in 1177. The ones we see in the building today replace these, since most churches were heavily damaged during the ravages of the French Revolution. Decorative tapestries helped keep the space warm in winter and block sounds from outside the canon's area. Here too the high altar stood, hung round with curtains. Behind it, the relic altar of St. Marcel was surmounted by an elegant platform visible above the cloture on which a reliquary box made of precious gems and metals was set for all to venerate. Inside were some remains of St. Marcel. To the side was another holy altar to which the suffering victims of ergot disease, from moldy bread, prayed for relief or quick death. On special feast days and in times of crisis or thanksgiving, such reliquaries were paraded outside the church among the people of the city.
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At the separating screen, or jubé, between the cloture and the rest of the church, there was an opening over which a huge cross stood. This was the main entrance to the sanctuary, but the screen was also wide enough that clerics stood on top and, facing either into the cloture or out to the public nave, read, sang, directed music or gave sermons from lecterns. Sometimes these special spots held seats for visiting religious dignitaries or even the king. However, the traditional place of the king in Notre-Dame cathedral was west of the jubé, thus situated between the clergy and the people. He would process to a throne covered by a lavish white tent. Since the king and the bishop were on such good terms when this building was built, one could see the entire program as a visual projection of their dual power and wealth in the capital city.
Sections of the fourteenth-century cloture may still be seen around the choir, although the stone jubé no longer exists. Something similar, though less elaborate, must also have existed prior to 1300 based upon written documents which describe the location of liturgical ceremonies.
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 Sixteenth-century jubé by Jehan Gailde from the Church of the Madeleine, Troyes |
 Sixteenth-century jubé in S. Etienne-du-Mont, Paris
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