CHAPEL (1)P. chaffle, rapele, from Lat. cap( //a, chapel, sanctuary for relics. prob ably referring to the covering of the altar dur ing mass, from cop/hts. diminutive of calla, cappa, hood, mantle, of uncertain origin, prob ably not. connected either with Lat. cup re, to take. or capat. head). During the :\liddle Ages the term grew to signify a small building or room, either detached, annexed to. or an integral part of. a larger structure, and not possessing the full privileges and characteristics of a. Ordinarily could Is 'aid in chapels only on certain dates. especially on their saints' days; otherwise they were mainly oratories. Rapti-An could never be administered in them. nor cemeteries attached to them. The extent of their privileges depended on the pleasure of the local bishop. Episcopal palaces had their chapels; one of the earliest was that at Ravenna (Fifth Century). The original Papal chapel of the Lateran Palace was the S3110.11111 Sandoroon. For a time the chapel in the Papal paltme at, Avignon served in that capacity, but now the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican has taken its place. Civil rulers also had chapels in their palaces. The Byzantine Duke of Rome had his in the old Palace of the Caesars. That of the doges of Venice was Saint Charlemagne had his largest one at Aix-la-Chapelle, in the present cathedral; that of the mediawal emperors was at Coslar. The feudal nobility regarded a chap el as indispensable in every great castle.. as at the Wartburg in Germany, Coney its France, and later at the chateaux of the dukes of Berry and Burgundy, at Pierrefonds. Urbino, and elsewhere.
In the great communal palaces of media.val republics- there were extremely artistic chapels, as at Nuremberg, Siena, Perugia, mid Florence. The great associations, such as the Knights 'rein plars, (Tortosa). Knights of Saint John (Kral: der Ritter), the Prussian Knights of the Cross (Schloss Marienburg), had large chapels to hold all the members of the orders. A beautiful mod ern reproduction of such feudal medheval chapels is at Neuschwanstein, in the Bavarian highlands —the masterpiece of King Ludwig. Other co• porations. such as universities and guilds. either
had separate struetures or chapels in their larger building..
Another class of is that eonneeted with a church. 11cf(»e the Eighth Century it rare for chapels or to form an integral part of any c'hurc'h. or for any altar to be erect ed except in the main apse, and lat(r in each of the two side apses. But after this date, with the multiplication of relies and the increased fervor of the worship of saints, altars were multiplied in chapels which were at first excreseences front, but soon became a part of the plan of. the church itself. The richness of the choir of Romanesque and Oolitic churches is due to the symmetrical projection of radiating chapels. Often the cen tral chapel, or lady chapel, dedicated to the Virgin ...Nlary. was longer than the rest. Some times a continuous limit' of chapels opened out of the side aisles, as in Notre 1)ante in feels (Twelfth ('entury) and a multitude of later churches. In this way it was possible to pay special separate devotion to each saint whos• relies were preserved in any church, and to allow wealthy families to build separate chapels for their patron saints. These private were used as family oratories, as burial-places for its members. and were decorated with paintings and sculptures at its expense. Ainither etas: is composed of the .mall places of prayer and worship scattered over tin- country and not connected with any church ; such as chapels of stations of the cross, votive chapels on the site of some miracle, and wayside shrines, The term is also applied to places of worship erected by Dissenters in England, the term church being restricted by usage to the buildimes of the Estab lishment. Our modern nniversities have their •hapels for faculty and such as the Batten Chapel at Yale and the Nlarquand Chapel at Princeton, in imitation of the magnificent chapels possessed by each college at. oxford and Cambridge. There are also special classes of chantry, domestic, memorial. mortuary, paro•hi al, and proprietary chapels. Consult .11artin.
]lama! of Ecclesiastical .Ir•hitcctu•e (Cincin nati, 1897).