Parvise

Etymology

The term derives via Old French from the Latin paradisus meaning "paradise". This in turn came via Ancient Greek from the Indo-European Aryan languages of ancient Iran, where it meant a walled enclosure or garden precinct with heavenly flowers planted by the Clercs (Clerics).

Parvis of St Paul's Cathedral

In London in the Middle Ages the serjeants-at-law practised at the parvis of St Paul's Cathedral, where clients could seek their counsel. In the 14th century Geoffrey Chaucer referred to "A sergeant of the lawe, war and wys / That often hadde been at the Parvys." Later, ecclesiastical courts developed at Doctors' Commons on the same site.

Late English use

In England the term was much later used to mean a room over the porch of a church. The architectural historians John Fleming, Hugh Honour and Nikolaus Pevsner, and the theologians Frank Cross and Elizabeth Livingstone all say this usage is wrong. The Oxford English Dictionary records this use as being "historical", and current in the middle of the 19th century. It may stem from an earlier misuse in F. Blomefield's book Norfolk, published in 1744.

Examples of English parvises

File:CAParvise.JPG|The Parvise at Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire File:ParviseBletchingley.jpg|Bletchingley Church Parvise, Surrey File:MalmesburyParvise.JPG|Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire File:Dodford Church 16th March 2007 (2).JPG|The Parvise at Dodford Parish Church, Northamptonshire File:IMAG0104.jpg|The Parvise at Martham Parish Church, Norfolk

References

Sources