Propst (title)

A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian churches.

The word praepositus (Latin: "set over", from praeponere, "to place in front") was originally applied to any ecclesiastical ruler or dignitary. It was soon more specifically applied to the immediate subordinate to the abbot of a monastery, or to the superior of a single cell, and it was defined as such in the Rule of St Benedict. The dean (decanus) was a similarly ranked official. Chrodegang of Metz adopted this usage from the Benedictines when he introduced the monastic organization of canon-law colleges, especially cathedral capitular colleges. The provostship (praepositura) was normally held by the archdeacon, while the office of dean was held by the archpriest. In many colleges, the temporal duties of the archdeacons made it impossible for them to fulfil those of the provostship, and the headship of the chapter thus fell to the dean.

The title became prevost in Old French, before being adopted as "provost" in English. Prévôt is the equivalent in modern French.

In the Lutheran state churches of Denmark and Norway a provost (Danish and older Norwegian spelling provst, modern Norwegian spelling prost) is the leader of a provsti (or prosti), an administrative territorial unit which comprises several parishes (sogn). The provost is the immediate superior of the parish priest (sognepræst or sogneprest) but is normally also a parish priest in one of the local parishes. Several provstier (prostier) form a Diocese (stift or bispedømme).

While the modern spelling is Propst, in an historical context the spelling Probst may also occur. Historically, the title is also found among Military chaplains, both Roman Catholic and Protestant. (e.g. Feldpropst in Prussia).

In England, the title of provost in cathedrals was almost completely replaced by that of dean, although sometimes when a bishop nominated himself as dean of his own cathedral, a provost was appointed as his deputy.

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