6 Scanlon ⦁ Psalms and Saints This local authority over liturgical text spurred innovations to the Offices through the influence of the cults of the saints. Church districts and monasteries were frequently associated with a patron saint who either founded the monastery or lived in the town, and these saints became icons of sovereignty, especially over land. As Brand observes, “In the middle ages, religious communities such as churches, monasteries, or entire cities defined themselves in relation to the local saints whose relics they possessed and whose patronage they thus claimed.”27 Increasingly, land ownership was tied to an ancient saint that could be manipulated to lend support to a living landowner, count, or clergy member.28 Commonly, cults of saints were fiercely competitive with rival cults from other towns29 in a convoluted mixture of religion and politics. Even in the absence of manipulation, the cults could also bring peace to the public when there was no strong governmental power by harkening back to an idealized history.30 The cults of the saints were essentially civic phenomena that recruited and used the church to celebrate their cherished foundations. Indeed, the historical record shows that the most elaborate services for a particular saint were written and used in a town tied to their cult.31 One of the chief agents for spreading the fame of local saints was through the work of the cantors. The position of cantor was associated with the responsibility of organizing the liturgy at a church or monastery, and this manifested in several duties. Most famously, they led the community during the musical portions of services and they oversaw the other musicians in rehearsals and performances. Additionally, they selected the texts for readings and prepared the services for the different feast days. Within the monasteries, cantors also presided over the library, facilitating the work of the scribes, organizing the expanding liturgy, and writing liturgical works of their own.32 Especially within this role as librarian, the cantor “kept the time” by blending history, Scripture, and hagiography (narratives about the saints) into a personalized liturgy for the community.33 Through this liturgical function, cantors participated 27 Brand, 1. 28 Page, 400–401, 394. 29 Brand, 28. 30 Page, 403. 31 Hoppin, 173. 32 Aspesi, “Introduction,” 3. 33 Aspesi, 2.
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