Scholaster

A scholaster, from the Latin scholasticus (schoolmaster), or magister scholarum, was the head of an ecclesiastical school, typically a cathedral school, monastic school, or the school of a collegiate church, in medieval and early-modern Europe.[1] Depending on the size of the school and the status of the institution to which it was attached, the scholaster might be the only teacher, the head of a considerable educational establishment, or have oversight over all the schools in their city or territory.[2] The scholaster might be a dignitary in a cathedral or collegiate chapter, alongside the provost, dean, cantor, succentor, precentor, archdeacon, treasurer, cellarer, sacristan or almoner.[3] It was not unknown for a scholaster to take the revenues of the post and deputise somebody else to carry out any teaching work involved.[1]

  1. ^ a b Peter Nissen and William den Boer, "The Middle Ages after 1200", in Handbook of Dutch Church History, edited by Herman Selderhuis (Göttingen, 2014), pp. 141–142.
  2. ^ Barbara Helen Haggh, Music, Liturgy, and Ceremony in Brussels, 1350–1500, vol. 1 (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988), pp. 149–153.
  3. ^ Anne Walters Robertson, Guillaume de Machaut and Reims: Context and Meaning in His Musical Works (Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 35, 140.