Note 139 — Chapter XVI

Those clergymen who enjoyed the revenue from the endowed offices connected with a cathedral church were called canons. The office of canon was an honorable one and much sought after, partly because the duties were light and could often be avoided altogether. A scholar like Petrarch might look to such an office as a means of support without dreaming of performing any of the religious services which the position implied. For an account of the relations between the chapter and the bishop, see Emerton, Mediæval Europe, pp. 549–550.