Editing Westminster Abbey (section)

==People==

=== Dean and Chapter ===
{{Main|Dean and Chapter of Westminster}}

Westminster Abbey is a [[collegiate church]] governed by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster as established by a [[royal charter]] from Elizabeth I dated 21 May 1560, which created it as the Collegiate Church of St Peter Westminster (a [[royal peculiar]]).<ref name="Westminster Abbey">{{Cite web |title=Westminster Abbey 2022 Annual Report to the Visitor, His Majesty the King |url=https://www.westminster-abbey.org/media/16231/westminster-abbey-annual-report-2022.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028214450/https://www.westminster-abbey.org/media/16231/westminster-abbey-annual-report-2022.pdf |archive-date=2023-10-28 |access-date=2023-10-28 |website=Westminster Abbey |pages=38–42}}</ref> In 2019, [[David Hoyle (priest)|David Hoyle]] was appointed Dean of Westminster.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Beaney |first=Abigail |date=2022-09-19 |title=Waterfoot born Dean led funeral of Queen Elizabeth II |work=Lancashire Telegraph |url=https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/22312974.waterfoot-born-dean-led-funeral-queen-elizabeth-ii/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003175202/https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/22312974.waterfoot-born-dean-led-funeral-queen-elizabeth-ii/ |archive-date=2022-10-03}}</ref> The chapter consists of four canons and a senior administrative officer, known as the Receiver General.<ref name="Westminster Abbey" /> One of the canons is also [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of the adjoining [[St Margaret's Church, Westminster]], and is often the chaplain of the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2009/29-may/features/interview-robert-wright-sub-dean-of-west-minster-abbey-rector-of-st-margaret-s-church|title=Interview: Robert Wright, Sub-dean of Westminster Abbey, Rector of St Margaret's|date=26 May 2009|work=Church Times|access-date=28 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728221502/https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2009/29-may/features/interview-robert-wright-sub-dean-of-west-minster-abbey-rector-of-st-margaret-s-church|archive-date=28 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to the dean and canons, there are [[minor canon]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Royal Appointments |url=https://www.crockford.org.uk/royal-appointments |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028214442/https://www.crockford.org.uk/royal-appointments |archive-date=2023-10-28 |access-date=2023-10-28 |website=Crockford's Clerical Directory}}</ref>

=== <span class="anchor" id="King's Almsmen"></span>King's almsmen ===
Six King's (or Queen's) almsmen and women are supported by the abbey. They are appointed by royal warrant on the recommendation of the dean and the [[Home Secretary]], attend Matins and Evensong on Sundays, and perform requested duties for a small stipend. On duty, they wear a distinctive red gown with a crowned rose badge on the left shoulder.<ref name="Fox2012">{{cite book |last1=Fox |first1=Christine Merie |title=The Royal Almshouse at Westminster c. 1500 – c. 1600 |date=2012 |pages=248–250 |url=https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/portal/files/16694161/final_edited_post_viva_copy_20_03_13.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/portal/files/16694161/final_edited_post_viva_copy_20_03_13.pdf |archive-date=10 October 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[almshouse]] was founded near the abbey by Henry VII in 1502, and the twelve almsmen and three almswomen were originally minor court officials who were retired due to age or disability.<ref name="Fox-2015">{{Cite journal |last=Fox |first=Christine Merie |date=2015 |title=The Tudor Royal Almsmen 1500-1600 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44946928 |journal=Medieval Prosopography |volume=30 |pages=139–176 |jstor=44946928 |issn=0198-9405}}</ref> They were required to be over the age of 50, single, with a good reputation, literate, able to look after themselves, and with an income of under £4 per year.<ref name="Fox-2015" /> The building survived the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]], but was demolished for road-widening in 1779.<ref name="Fox2012" /> From the late 18th to the late 20th century, almsmen were usually old soldiers and sailors; today, they are primarily retired abbey employees.<ref name="Fox2012" />

=== Schools ===
{{Main|Westminster School|Westminster Abbey Choir School}}

Westminster School is in the abbey. Instruction has taken place since the 14th century with the monks of the abbey; the school regards its founder as Elizabeth I, who dissolved the monastery for the last time and provided for the establishment of the school,{{sfn|Jenkyns|2004|pp=56–57}} the dean, canons, assistant clergy, and lay officers.{{sfn|Trowles|2008|p=12}} The schoolboys were rambunctious; Westminster boys have defaced the Coronation Chair, disrupted services, and once interrupted the consecration of four bishops with a bare-knuckle fight in the cloisters.{{sfn|Jenkyns|2004|pp=56–57}} One schoolboy carved on the Coronation Chair that he had slept in it overnight, making him probably its longest inhabitant.{{sfn|Jenkyns|2004|p=65}} Westminster School became independent of the abbey Dean and Chapter in 1868, although the institutions remain closely connected.{{sfn|Trowles|2008|p=12}} Westminster Abbey Choir School, also on the abbey grounds, educates the choirboys who sing for abbey services.<ref>{{cite web |date=15 September 2017 |title=Making all the right noises: An Interview with Jonathan Milton, headmaster of the Westminster Abbey Choir School |url=http://www.kcwtoday.co.uk/2017/09/interview-jonathan-milton/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190110190946/http://www.kcwtoday.co.uk/2017/09/interview-jonathan-milton/ |archive-date=10 January 2019 |access-date=28 July 2018 |website=KCW Today }}</ref>

=== Order of the Bath ===
{{Main|Order of the Bath}}
[[File:Baron Boyce Banner of the Order of the Bath.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Banners of [[Order of the Bath]] members in the [[Henry VII Chapel]]|alt=Heraldic flags hanging from the walls of the Henry VII Chapel]]
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British [[order of chivalry]] whose spiritual home is the abbey's Henry VII Chapel.{{sfn|Wilkinson|Knighton|2010|p=57}} The order was founded by [[George I of Great Britain|George I]] in 1725,{{Sfn|Duckers|2004|p=20}} fell out of fashion after 1812, and was revived by [[George V]] in 1913.{{sfn|Cannadine|2019||p=326}} The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a [[knight]], which included bathing as a symbol of purification.{{sfn|Wilkinson|Knighton|2010|p=57}} Members are given stalls with their banner, crest, and a stall plate at installation ceremonies in the abbey every four years.{{Sfn|Duckers|2004|p=22}} Since there are more members than stalls, some members wait many years for their installation.{{sfn|Wilkinson|Knighton|2010|p=78}} The Order of the Bath is the fourth-oldest [[Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom#Current orders of chivalry|British orders of chivalry]], after the Orders of [[Order of the Garter|the Garter]], [[Order of the Thistle|the Thistle]], and [[Order of St Patrick|St Patrick]] (the latter is presently dormant).{{sfn|Duckers|2004||p=|pp=13-14}}