Editing Rood screen (section)

{{Short description|Partition found in medieval church architecture}}
[[File:Lefaouet chapelle stfiacre doksaal.jpg|thumb|300px|15th-century rood screen from the chapel of St Fiacre at Le Faouet [[Morbihan]], France, including [[the two thieves]] on either side of Christ]]
[[File:Doksaal locatie.PNG|thumb|300px|Usual location of a rood screen]]

The '''rood screen''' (also '''choir screen''', '''chancel screen''', or '''jubé''') is a common feature in late [[medieval]] [[church architecture]]. It is typically an ornate partition between the [[chancel]] and [[nave]], of more or less open [[tracery]] constructed of wood, stone, or [[wrought iron]]. The rood screen was originally surmounted by a '''rood loft''' carrying the Great [[Rood]], a sculptural representation of the [[Crucifix]]ion.{{sfnp|Friar|1996|p=386}} In English, Scottish, and Welsh cathedrals, monastic, and collegiate churches, there were commonly two transverse screens, with a rood screen or '''rood beam''' located one bay west of the [[pulpitum]],{{sfnp|Friar|1996|p=369}} but this double arrangement nowhere survives complete, and accordingly the preserved pulpita in such churches is sometimes referred to as a rood screen. At [[Wells Cathedral]] the medieval arrangement was restored in the 20th century, with the medieval [[strainer arch]] supporting a rood, placed in front of the pulpitum and organ.

Rood screens can be found in churches in many parts of Europe; however, in [[Roman Catholic|Catholic]] countries they were generally removed during the [[Counter-Reformation]], when the retention of any visual barrier between the laity and the high altar was widely seen as inconsistent with the decrees of the [[Council of Trent]]. Accordingly, rood screens now survive in much greater numbers in Anglican and Lutheran churches; with the greatest number of survivals complete with screen and rood figures in [[Scandinavia]].<ref>''Roman Catholic worship''; White and Mitchell; page 2</ref> The [[iconostasis]] in [[Eastern Christian]] churches is a visually similar barrier, but is now generally considered to have a different origin, deriving from the ancient [[altar]] screen or [[templon]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}