Centrality and Community: Liturgy and Gothic Chapter Room Design at the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, Soissons

Square chapter rooms divided internally by four piers into nine bays are recognized here as centrally planned. The type seems to have been introduced in the mid-twelfth century, and to have predominated among the reform orders. A newly excavated chapter room of the nine-bay type at the Augustinian abbey of Saint-Jean-des-Vignes in Soissons provides evidence of centralized decoration, as well as a central plan. The abbey's unpublished customary permits the analysis of rituals that exploited this central focus.