The word praepositus (Latin for 'set over', from praeponere, 'to place in front') was originally applied to any ecclesiastical ruler or dignitary.
It was soon more specifically applied to the immediate subordinate to the abbot of a monastery, or to the superior of a single cell, and it was defined as such in the Rule of St Benedict.
In many colleges, the temporal duties of the archdeacons made it impossible for them to fulfil those of the provostship, and the headship of the chapter thus fell to the dean.
In the Nordic countries, a provost (Danish and older Norwegian provst, modern Norwegian prost, Swedish prost (under the current system kontraktsprost), Icelandic prófastur (from the Old English prōfast), Finnish rovasti) is the leader of a provsti (Nor.
kontrakt), an administrative territorial unit within the Lutheran national churches which comprises several parishes (sogn, Ice.
Historically, the title is also found among military chaplains, both Roman Catholic and Protestant (e.g. Feldpropst in Prussia).
Prior to 1931, they were simply either Vicar or Rector; the passage of the Cathedrals Measure 1931 gave them all the additional title of Provost[1] (they remained Rector/Vicar).
Moreover, in the united Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, the provost is the theological leader of the consistory.
In Germany, the heads of certain chapters under the Catholic Church are still known as provosts (German: probst or propst), while propstei or propstei(pfarr)gemeinde is an honorary designation for some important, old Roman Catholic churches in Germany; most honorary titles date back to the 20th century.
Parish priests who are provosts have the privilege of wearing a prelate's dress (black-purple) and using a pectoral cross hung by a ribbon.
The earliest documented testimonies of praepositi date back to the 12th century and refer not only to the city of Milan, but above all to the rest of Lombardy which belonged to the Ambrosian diocese: the provosts were in fact the head of the parishes that constituted the territory of the Duchy of Milan.
They also had the right to appoint the canons of their colleges and to assign for the benefit of the rents of land owned by their parish.