ions of the church. The latter often
mainly engaged his attention, to the neglect of his domestic and
ecclesiastical duties, and complaints were soon raised that the provost
was too much mixed in worldly affairs, and was too frequently absent
from his spiritual duties. This led, in many cases, to the institution
of a new officer called the "dean," who had charge of that portion of
the provost's duties which related to the internal discipline of the
chapter and the services of the church. In some cases the office of
provost was abolished, but in others it was continued, the provost, who
was also occasionally archdeacon as well, remaining head of the chapter.
This arrangement was most commonly followed in Germany. In England the
provost was almost unknown. Bishop Gisa introduced a provost as head of
the chapter of Wells, but the office was afterwards subordinated to the
other dignities, and the provost became simply the steward of certain of
the prebendal lands. The provost of the collegiate church of Beverley
was the most notable instance of such an officer in England, but at
Beverley he was an external officer with no authority in the government
of the church, no stall in the choir and no vote in chapter. The provost
of Eton, introduced by Henry VI., occupied a position most nearly
approaching that of a foreign cathedral provost. In Germany and in
Scandinavia, and in a few of the cathedral churches in the south of
France, the provost was the ordinary head of the cathedral chapter, but
the office was not common elsewhere. As regards France, of one hundred
and thirty-six cathedral churches existing at the Revolution,
thirty-eight only, and those either on the borders of Germany or in the
extreme south, had a provost as the head of the chapter. In others the
provost existed as a subordinate officer. There were two provosts at
Autun, and Lyons and Chartres had four each, all as subordinate
officers.

The normal constitution of the chapter of a secular cathedral church
comprised four dignitaries (there might be more), in addition to the
canons. The dean (_decanus_) seems to have derived his designation from
the Benedictine dean who had ten monks under his charge. The dean, as
already noted, came into existence to supply the place of the provost in
the internal management of the church and chapter. In England the dean
was the head of all the secular cathedral churches, and was originally
elected by the chapter and confirmed i