Hi all,

I’m a brand new Newbie and I’m searching an explanation for the word obedientiary.
This word is used in some texts about monks and nuns. I found the word in the book “World without end” by Ken Follett.
As I’m not a native speaker, sometimes I have some issues to find correct explanations/translations for one specific word.

Thanks in advance
BR
Mrs. Schmitz

Hi Mrs Schmitz, Wikipedia has a small entry, “a monastic rank or office below that of superior. “

Bandito, our resident recluse, may be able to shed more light on the term.

Hi Sr. Member,

thank you for this fast explanation. The rank in a monastery, sorry to say this, was the only thing I was able to figure out by myself.
The word appeared in some discussions between an ordinary monk and his prior.
However, thank you very much.

KR
Mrs.Schmitz

you mean obedienciary, right?

Obedientiaries, the plural of Obedienciary, from the Latin Obediantiarius, meaning someone in an ‘obedient’, i.e. subordinate, position, is a term commonly used in medieval times for the lesser officials of a monastery who were appointed by will of the superior. In some cases the word is used to include all those who held office beneath the abbot, but more frequently the prior and sub-prior -who technically qualify in an abbacy- are excluded from those signified by it.

Functions
To the obedientiaries were assigned the various duties pertaining to their different offices and they possessed considerable power in their own departments. There was always a right of appeal to the abbot or equivalent superior, but in practice most details were settled by the “customary” of the monastery.
Permanent functions
The list that follows gives the usual titles of the obedientiaries, but in some monasteries other names were used and other official positions may be found: thus, for example, to this day, in the great Swiss monastery of Einsiedeln the name “dean” is given to the official who is called prior in all other Benedictine houses.

(1) The cantor, or “precentor”, usually assisted by a sub-cantor, or “succentor”.

(2) The sacrist, or sacristan, who had charge of the monastic church and of all things necessary for the services. He had, as a rule, several assistants:
the subsacrist, also known as the secretary, the “matricularius”, or the master of work;
the treasurer;
the “revestiarius”.

(3) The cellarer, or bursar, who acted as chief purveyor of all foodstuffs to the monastery and as general steward. In recent times the name procurator is often found used for this official. He had as assistants:
the subcellarer;
the “granatorius”. Chapter xxxi of St. Benedict’s Rule tells “What kind of man the Cellarer ought to be”; in practice this position is the most responsible one after that of abbot or superior.

(4) The refectorian, who had charge of the frater or refectory and its furniture, including such things as crockery, cloths, dishes, spoons, forks etc.

(5) The kitchener, who presided over the cookery department, not only for the community but for all guests, dependants etc.

(6) The novice master whose assistant was sometimes called the “zelator”.

(7) The infirmarian, besides looking after the sick brethren, was also responsible for the quarterly “blood letting” of the monks, a custom almost universal in medieval monasteries.

(8) The guest-master, whose duties are dealt with in chapter 53 of St. Benedict’s Rule.

(9) The almoner.

(10) The chamberlain, or “vestiarius”.

Hi Sean,

this explanation helps a lot.

Thank you so much for this.
The misspelling of the word might be a result of only reading the plural. So I thought I wrote it correct, but I was wrong.
Thank you again.

Enjoy your weekend
Mrs. Schmitz

You’re most welcome. I, myself, used to spell it the same way.

But since learning the way these things work in History class, I got a better sense than I used to. Glad to help out.

Sean, that’s a well-researched effort.  The trick is to be able to recall it in 15 years time !

I got that information from notes I took a few weeks ago in History class.

Always comes in handy for future reference.

Actually I don’t think it is a misspelling.

Obedientiary

From A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language” - Klein (Elsevier)

noun

A minor official of the monastic community dependent upon the abbot.

[Middle Latin obedientiarius, from Latin oboedientia, obedientia] - (See obedience and -ary)

From other resources on the web:

Cistercians in Yorkshire
Catholic Culture
Nation Master
The Monastic Order in England

From “The New American Encyclopedic Dictionary”

Obedienciary

noun

One yielding obedience, one who obeys, one who is obedient.

“Faithfull Catholickes and obedienciaries to their church.” - Fox (Martyrs p. 870)

[English obedienc(e); -iary.]

For the plural from Wikipedia

And that is where the two spellings cross. You’ll also notice the etymologies and definitions are a little different until you get to the plural form.

It seems in the older references the spelling is ‘-tiary’ and in the newer ‘-ciary’.

Interesting. I definitely think this is a call for Bandito!

Nice…Yet again, I stand corrected. But I’m used to it.

I kinda like the Nation Master web.
...I think I’ll visit that more sometime. Thanks for sharing, Vikki.

I don’t think it’s a correction at all. We were all correct. Think of it as ‘additional information’.

Both spellings appear to be correct ... it seems ... just in their own time.

It’s maybe a conundrum - definition #2? Why and when did it change; are both forms correct today? That’s the question.

The real question is:

Vikki - 10 January 2009 11:30 AM

I definitely think this is a call for Bandito!

Indeed…Where is Bandito when we need him?!?

Sean Matsuko - 10 January 2009 07:15 AM

Obedientiaries, the plural of Obedienciary, from the Latin Obediantiarius, meaning someone in an ‘obedient’, i.e. subordinate, position, is a term commonly used in medieval times for the lesser officials of a monastery who were appointed by will of the superior. In some cases the word is used to include all those who held office beneath the abbot, but more frequently the prior and sub-prior -who technically qualify in an abbacy- are excluded from those signified by it.

Functions
To the obedientiaries were assigned the various duties pertaining to their different offices and they possessed considerable power in their own departments. There was always a right of appeal to the abbot or equivalent superior, but in practice most details were settled by the “customary” of the monastery.
Permanent functions
The list that follows gives the usual titles of the obedientiaries, but in some monasteries other names were used and other official positions may be found: thus, for example, to this day, in the great Swiss monastery of Einsiedeln the name “dean” is given to the official who is called prior in all other Benedictine houses.

(1) The cantor, or “precentor”, usually assisted by a sub-cantor, or “succentor”.

(2) The sacrist, or sacristan, who had charge of the monastic church and of all things necessary for the services. He had, as a rule, several assistants:
the subsacrist, also known as the secretary, the “matricularius”, or the master of work;
the treasurer;
the “revestiarius”.

(3) The cellarer, or bursar, who acted as chief purveyor of all foodstuffs to the monastery and as general steward. In recent times the name procurator is often found used for this official. He had as assistants:
the subcellarer;
the “granatorius”. Chapter xxxi of St. Benedict’s Rule tells “What kind of man the Cellarer ought to be”; in practice this position is the most responsible one after that of abbot or superior.

(4) The refectorian, who had charge of the frater or refectory and its furniture, including such things as crockery, cloths, dishes, spoons, forks etc.

(5) The kitchener, who presided over the cookery department, not only for the community but for all guests, dependants etc.

(6) The novice master whose assistant was sometimes called the “zelator”.

(7) The infirmarian, besides looking after the sick brethren, was also responsible for the quarterly “blood letting” of the monks, a custom almost universal in medieval monasteries.

(8) The guest-master, whose duties are dealt with in chapter 53 of St. Benedict’s Rule.

(9) The almoner.

(10) The chamberlain, or “vestiarius”.

Wow, Sean…aren’t we smart…

I thank someone, viz. Sean, has indeed been gingerly scrolling through page after lucid page of the exhaustive Oxford English Dictionary—one very expensive but highly erudite habit!

I take that as a compliment, I guess.