DEAN, primarily one having authority over ten; the title of an ecclesiastical dignitary, or of a university or civil official (Lat. decanus, from Gr. bka, ten).
The original use of the word decanus was evidently to denote a military grade: it occurs in this sense in the De Re Militari of Vegetius (c. 386). Slightly later (c. 400), St. Jerome uses it in the Vulgate, instead of the decurio of the Old Latin version, for the "rulers of tens" in Exod. xviii. 21, 25. It was also applied, from the late 4th century onwards, to the members of a gild, whose occupation was the burial of the dead, as well as to certain minor officials of the imperial household, and in later times of the empire to various civil functionaries. In the Visigothic and Lom bardic codes it occurs as the title of a subordinate judge, having jurisdiction within a district called a deanery (decania) or tithing; in the Anglo-Saxon system the corresponding official was entitled dean, tithing-man or head-borough.
In monastic life the term was used at an early period to denote a monk having charge of ten monks (St. Augustine, De Mor. Eccl. Cath., 31, etc.); and it occurs in this sense in the Rule of St. Benedict (ch. 21). As monachism developed the title came to be applied to various special functionaries, e.g., foris decanus, the monk responsible for the external business of a monastery.
In its now most familiar use, as denoting the head of a cathedral or collegiate chapter, the title probably owes its origin to this monastic usage, since many of the cathedrals were in the charge of monks. In the 8th century the decanus as a cathedral official was subordinate to the praepositus or provost, who presided over the chapter as the bishop's vicegerent; but during the next few centuries deans were almost everywhere substituted for provosts.
The office of rural dean, representing one type of the earlier archpriest (q.v.), is of great antiquity in the Western Church, going back to the time (at least as early as the 6th century) when the bishops of the large dioceses found it necessary to subdivide the diocese into districts called archipresbyterates or deaneries (decanatus), each with an archpriest (later entitled rural dean) at its head. This functionary supervised the local clergy, and to some extent represented the bishop within his district, but was always subordinate to the archdeacon. At the present day, in the Roman Catholic Church, the powers and duties of rural deans vary considerably from country to country, and even from diocese to diocese; being restricted in some cases to presiding at the monthly conference of the clergy. In the Church of England the office fell into practical abeyance at the Reformation, but was revived about the middle of the 19th century; rural deans may act as deputies to the bishop and archdeacon, and are supposed in particular to see that the churches and parsonages within their district are in proper repair.
The title "dean of the sacred college" is borne by the oldest (in standing, not in age) of the cardinal-bishops, who takes the title of bishop of Ostia and Velletri. Perhaps the use of the word "dean," as signifying the oldest member of any corporation or body' of men, may be derived from its application to dignitary. The dean of the sacred college is in the ecclesiastical hierarchy second to the pope alone. A compendious account of his privileges and special functions may be found in the work of G. Moroni, vol. xix., p. 168.
There are four sorts of deans of whom the law of England takes notice : The dean and chapter are a council subordinate to the bishop, assistant to him in matters spiritual relating to religion and in matters temporal relating to the temporalities of the bish opric. The dean and chapter are a corporation, and the dean him self is a corporation sole. Deans are said to be either of the old or of the new foundation—the latter being those created and regu lated after the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. The deans of the old foundations before the Ecclesiastical Commis sioners Act, 1841, were elected by the chapter on the king's conge d'elire; those of the new foundation (and, since the act, of the old foundation also) are appointed by the king's letters patent. It was at one time held that a layman might be dean; but since 1662 priest's orders are a necessary qualification. By the act of 1841 the dean is required to be in residence eight months, and the canons three months, in every year. The bishop is visitor of the dean and chapter. (2) A dean of peculiars is the chief of certain peculiar churches or chapels. He "bath no chapter, yet is presentative, and hath cure of souls; he hath a peculiar, and is not subject to the visitation of the bishop of the diocese." The only instances of such deaneries are Battle (Sussex), Bocking (Essex) and Stamford (Rutland). The deans of Jersey and Guernsey have similar status. (3) The third dean "hath no cure of souls, but hath a court and a peculiar, in which he holdeth plea and jur isdiction of all such ecclesiastical matters as come within his peculiar. Such is the dean of the arches, who is the judge of the court of the arches, the chief court and consistory of the arch bishop of Canterbury, so called of Bow Church, where this court was ever wont to be held." (See ARCHES, COURT OF.) The parish of Bow and twelve others were within the peculiar jurisdiction of the archbishop in spiritual causes and exempted out of the bishop of London's jurisdiction. They were in i845 made part of the diocese of London. (4) Rural deans (see above) are clergymen whose duty is described as being "to execute the bishop's processes and to inspect the lives and manners of the clergy and people within their jurisdiction." (See Phillimore's Ecclesiastical Law.) The bishop of London is ex officio dean of the province of Can terbury, and in that capacity summons the bishops of the province to Convocation. In the colleges of the English universities one of the fellows usually holds the office of "dean," and is specially charged with the discipline, as distinguished from the teaching functions of the tutors. In some universities the head of a faculty is called "dean"; and the president of the Scottish Faculty of Advocates is called the Dean of Faculty. In each of these cases the word is used in a non-ecclesiastical and purely titular sense.