Capiscol

Capiscol

(i.e. Caput Schlce), a precentor. The title is thus explained: Gregory the Great established at Rome schools of ecclesiastical singing, and in allusion to these, the pontifical speaks of the clerks who accompany the bishop and aid him in his sacred functions, as the " Schola." Thus the term school came to be applied not only to the place where the choristers learned singing, but also to the choir, chanters, etc. Hence the capiscol, in a cathedral, was the chief or head of, the school of chanters..