Beadle is a lay official of a church (or synagogue) who may usher, keep order, make reports, and assist in religious functions; or a minor official who carries out various civil, educational, or ceremonial duties. The term has origins in Old English, and was a title given to an Anglo-Saxon officer who summoned householders to council. In postcard is a beadle from the Basilica of Our Lady in Maastricht, a Roman catholicparish church in the Diocese of Roermond, built largely in the 11th and 12th centuries.
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