it for the assisting deacons
andsubdeacons (the chancel proper) railed off as a spot peculiarly holy
(now usually called the sanctuary); between this and the nave, where the
laity were, was the choir, with seats for the clergy on either side. The
whole of this space (sanctuary and choir) came to be known as the
"chancel." This was divided from the nave, sometimes by an arch forming
part of the structure of the building, sometimes by a screen, or by
steps, sometimes by all three (see CHANCEL). The division of churches
into chancel and nave, the outcome of the sacramental and sacerdotal
spirit of the Catholic Church, may be taken as generally typical of
church construction in the medieval West, though there were exceptions,
e.g. the round churches of the Templars. There were, however, further
changes, the result partly of doctrinal developments, partly of that
passion for symbolism which by the 13th century had completed the
evolution of the Catholic ritual. Transepts were added, to give to the
ground-plan of the building the figure of the cross. The insistence on
the unique efficacy of the sacrifice of the altar led to the
multiplication of masses, and so of altars, which were placed in the
transepts or aisles or in chapels, dedicated to the saints whose relics
they enshrined. The chief of these subsidiary chapels, that of the
Blessed Virgin (or Lady chapel), behind the high altar, was often of
large size. Finally, for the convenience of processions, the nave and
chancel aisles were carried round behind the high altar as ambulatories.

The Romanesque churches, still reminiscent of antique models, had
preserved all the simplicity of the ancient basilicas with much more
than their grandeur; but the taste for religious symbolism which
culminated in the 13th century, and the imaginative genius of the
northern peoples, transformed them into the marvellous dreams in stone
of the "Gothic" period. Churches now became, in form and decoration,
epitomes of the Christian scheme of salvation as the middle ages
understood it. In the plan of the buildings and their decoration
everything still remained subordinate to the high altar; but though on
this and its surroundings ornament was most lavishly expended, the
churches--wherever wealth permitted--were covered within and without
with sculpture or painting: scenes from the Old and New Testaments, from
the lives of saints, even from every-day life; figures of the Almighty,
of Christ, of