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There were three kinds of subdeans:
1. The vice-dean.
2. The dean's vicar, his subofficer, assistant when present, and deputy when abseit vicegerent in choir, as at Lichfield both had a similar office, that of supplying the duties of the dean in his absence.
3. The capitular subdean; the perpetual subdean, who is said to hold a place which is a quasi-dignity in the gift of a bishop. He has a stall, and corresponds to the foreign archpriest having parochial charge of the close. The office was founded in Salisbury in 1021. For a full account of his duties ‘in the several cathedrals, see Walcott, Sacred Archaeol. s.v.