Marie-Hélène Rousseau has produced an excellent monograph. There have been surveys of chantries as a phenomenon and accounts of individual foundations. By contrast the particular strength of her work lies in the fact that she considers the place of a substantial group of chantries within the context of a great cathedral church. Here, chantries are treated not merely as individual foundations, but also as a collective, impacting in a multitude of ways on the life of St Paul's. The sum becomes greater than the parts. Between the late twelfth century and the Reformation more than eighty chantries were founded at St Paul's. The rate of foundations slowed after the Black Death because endowment became more expensive. But there is little sign of disillusionment with the institution itself. At times later benefactors ‘topped-up’ earlier endowments which had become insufficient. Three new chantries were established as late as the 1520s and 1530s and more than three-quarters of the original foundations survived until the Dissolution. Where independent foundations lapsed it was often because the original endowments proved inadequate and the authorities devised schemes for amalgamation. Survival and preservation were the keynote. None of the chantry priests of the cathedral are known to have overtly resisted the Reformation but their wills suggest that they remained conservative in their doctrinal sympathies. Certainly the collective presence of so many priests in the cathedral impacted in all sorts of ways on its corporate life. Primarily, of course, its liturgy was immensely enriched by the ceaseless round of masses, predominantly requiems for the repose of the souls of founders, but many chantry priests also participated in the more general devotional round of the choir. Enrichment also came in more tangible form. By 1525 the combined endowment of the chantries amounted to an annual income of some £410, about 20 per cent of the total value of the cathedral properties. At the time of the Dissolution the annual value of the chantries was assessed at about £650, an amount comparable with that of a substantial religious house. Many of these endowments naturally consisted of properties in London and their existence substantially increased the involvement of the cathedral in the economic life of the capital. The chantry priests also added to the institutional life of the cathedral. So many priests, united in general status, naturally tended to take on a collegiate character. By 1320 the increasing numbers of priests was often housed in a common environment, first in individual tenements and later in a collective building. By 1391 this had come to be known as ‘Presteshouse’. In 1424 thirty-five chaplains were living there; soon afterwards it came to be known as St Peter's College and had acquired officers, a proctor and a pittancer, although it was never formally incorporated. Other smaller colleges grew up. In particular Holme's college, for his seven chaplains, portrayed all the features of a developed communal life with elaborate rules of its own and collective eating. The corporate imperative, based on concepts of obedience, exclusivity and secrecy, was as pressing among the chantry priests of St Paul's as it was in so many other areas of medieval life.

Such a large number of chantry priests, members in one sense of a single cathedral church, but also bound to the individual and distinctive obligations imposed by their founders, presented obvious problems of control. Here Rousseau is at her best in delineating these multifarious issues of management, which largely fell to the dean and chapter. Apart from the universal obligation to celebrate mass for the repose of their souls, founders’ requirements were at times surprisingly diverse. Over time the foundation provisions tended to become more detailed and demanding. Liturgical provision was often specified down to the last particular. But other requirements were also added. Several founders insisted that their chaplains should be university graduates. One founder, a benefactor of St John's College, Cambridge, requested that his chaplains should be chosen from among the scholars of that college. As many as twenty founders included provisions against pluralism, and four founders even stipulated that their chaplains must be English. One chantry foundation also included a library and its chaplains were instructed in effect to act as its librarians. Equally it was not uncommon for chantry priests to have more general obligations attached to their fundamental duties, such as the distribution of alms to the poor, the provision of scholarships for education, or even public preaching in London.

Increased regulation was naturally accompanied by precautions against default. Most foundation documents included reversionary arrangements to cover failures whether of initial appointment, finance or observance, and also embodied some more general form of oversight. It is noticeable that a number of later founders, even clerics, placed the management of their endowments in the hands of city merchants, evidently believing that their financial acumen was likely to be more reliable than that of the dean and chapter. But in general supervision fell to the cathedral authorities. This might take the form of a general reorganisation of a group of chantries by the bishop or, more usually, of specific supervision by the dean and chapter. Here Rousseau makes excellent use of their records to emphasise the effectiveness of their vigilance. Chaplains were tested before appointment and at times appointed only on a probationary basis. Their subsequent behaviour was closely monitored. Disputes between individuals might be resolved with a kiss of peace. Serious offenders were threatened with the loss of their benefices. One was ordered to buy a new choir habit as punishment for his absence from choir; another was instructed to read the Bible for a week at the beginning of meals in the ‘Presteshouse’. On one occasion nineteen chaplains were rebuked for neglecting their choir duties. But justice was also tempered with mercy. A chaplain was licensed for absence in order to go on pilgrimage. Chaplains were excused from their duties if old and infirm. The cathedral authorities emerge from this study as humane, conscientious and efficient.

Less clear-cut is Rousseau's statistical analysis of the prosopography of the chantry chaplains, not through any failures of method on her part but because the group resists any such form of categorisation. What is striking about this large body of chaplains, more than eight hundred in all, is their complete heterogeneity. As a result this, the longest, section of her book can at times seem confused and inconclusive. A surprising number of the chaplains, albeit probably a minority, came from outside the London diocese, some from as relatively far afield as York and Exeter. Their ages on appointment varied similarly, some being appointed soon after ordination but others clearly much more senior in status. Similarly their terms of office differed greatly, ranging from two weeks to more than forty years, with a substantial minority serving for less than ten years. In total, approximately 45 per cent of the chaplains resigned from their chantries with about 55 per cent dying in post, the latter figure tending to increase over time. There are in fact signs that some priests may have regarded a chantry in St Paul's as a stepping-stone to more established benefices elsewhere, leading Rousseau to the perceptive conclusion that, pace Chaucer, such men did not represent a clerical proletariat but rather were integrated into the body of beneficed clergy in London.

The archives of St Paul's Cathedral are extensive and Rousseau has exploited them with energy, intelligence and resourcefulness. As with many converted theses, a wider vision is sometimes lacking. Fuller comparison with the chantry priests of similar cathedrals would have been profitable. At times one suspects that St Paul's was more of a special case than Rousseau acknowledges. Similarly her account of the general doctrinal background to the eventual dissolution of the chantries is simplistic to a fault. But these are mere quibbles. Rousseau amply demonstrates the significant and varied role played by the numerous chantry priests in the life of St Paul's. More important, she reveals the efficient and humane management exercised by the cathedral authorities. The survival of so many individual foundations across so many centuries is a tribute to their care and skill.