February 23, 2011

Course 

THE CATHEDRAL OF PAMPLONA. A VIEW FROM THE 21ST CENTURY

Cathedral, chapter and bishop

D. Luis Javier Fortún Pérez de Ciriza.
Royal Academy of History

Starting from the idea that a monument cannot be explained by its material configuration alone, but also by contemplating those who define its functions and carry them out, the goal of this lecture is to explain the evolution of the institutions and the people who gave life to the Cathedral of Santa María de Pamplona, specifically the bishop and the cathedral chapter, throughout the historical stages.
The foundation of the episcopal see of Pamplona, perhaps carried out at the end of the 4th century, only becomes evident when the first news of a bishop, Liliolo, is accredited in 589. The existence of a bishop in the Visigothic period undoubtedly entailed the existence of a cathedral.

The figure of the bishop is an element core topic in the framework of the nascent kingdom of Pamplona in the middle of the IX century (Wilesindo, 848) and soon after Arab sources grant to the cathedral of Pamplona a central place in the ceremonial life of the nascent kingdom (924). But he is a bishop lacking an organization that would allow him to govern the whole diocese. That is why in the 11th century the system of bishop-abbots was used. The abbots of Leire became bishops of Pamplona and the monastic community supported the bishop in the government of the diocese.

From 1083 the figures of bishop of Pamplona and abbot of Leire are separated. The bishop needs the support of a group of clerics who give life to the cathedral and help him in the government of the diocese. The chapter is then born, composed of a group of canons that have attributed positions or offices (prior, archdeacon of the table and of the chamber, infirmarian, hospitaler, treasurer or sacristan) and that also help in the government of the diocese, divided in seven archdeaconries. They live in common according to the rule of St. Augustine. The new Romanesque cathedral was built (1127), the cloister (1137) and a group of annexed buildings, the canonical, which would be the seat of the chapter for a millennium.

Endowed with a large patrimony of ecclesiastical revenues, the chapter experienced rapid growth and faced tensions in the 12th century: with the bishop until the distribution of the revenues in two periods (1177), and among the canons themselves (distribution in 1368). The interference of the monarchic power will lead to a century of confrontations with the crown, culminating in the war of Navarrería (1276) and the assault on the cathedral.

After half a century, the agreement with the king (1319) allowed the institution to recover its historical progress. In the meantime, the chapter has reordered its dignities (1296), between elective (the most important) and collative, appointed by the bishop. Admission, however, continued to be by election among the canons. Being a canon is a position coveted by the great families of the nobility and the bourgeoisie of Pamplona.

In the 16th century, life in common was maintained, but the rents were divided among the dignities. From 1608 onwards, private residences were allowed for the dignities, which from 1589 were no longer chosen by the canons, but by the king or the bishop. The chapter resisted being visited by the bishop, while new dignities of subject pastoral were created by mandate of the Council of Trent (magistral, doctoral, lectoral, penitentiary).

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were dominated by royalism, which sought to introduce royal authority into the life of the cathedral and the chapter, but only achieved certain adjustments (concordat of 1753).

The great change came with the liberal revolution of the 19th century. From entrance, the cathedral lost all its properties in the disentailment. The Concordat of 1851, which involved the adaptation of the Church's Structures to the new liberal society. In exchange for the lost property, the chapter received salaries from the State and a small amount for worship. In addition, the regular chapter was transformed into a secular chapter. The common life and the rule of St. Augustine disappeared; the issue (18 canons and 14 beneficiaries) and the organization of the canons, who were priests without vows, was readjusted.

The elevation of Pamplona to metropolitan see (1956) meant an expansion of the chapter by 6 canons and 4 more beneficiaries. The last major change will occur as a result of the Second Vatican Council and the new Code of Canon Law (1983), which led to the merger of canons and beneficiaries into a single community of canons, as reflected in the new statutes of 1987, replaced by those of 2010.