A Handbook of Pictorial History

by Henry W. Donald

PLATE 56.

The Abbeys and Monasteries of the Benedictines and the Orders founded from them, with the exception of the Carthusians, were built on the same general plan.

The Church itself was, of course, the principal of the monastic buildings, and the most important part of the Church was the Presbytery, with the High Altar and the Choir. The Church was always cruciform and the Presbytery was the eastern arm. To it only the monks who were in priestly orders had access. The Choir, or Quire, frequently stretched in the Nave beyond the Transepts, and was divided off from the more public part by the great screen.

In northern climates the Church was generally situated on the northern side of the monastic buildings. Being a lofty and substantial structure, it afforded protection, and acted as a screen to the other buildings from the keen north winds. Next to the Church in importance came the Cloisters, which were generally, in England, placed on the south side of the Nave. Around them were grouped the principal buildings. The Cloisters were covered and paved walks, surrounding a rectangular space called the Cloister Garth. They were the common dwelling place of the community, for in them the greater part of the work of the monks was carried on. The Northern Walk, by the wall of the Church, was naturally the warmest, as it had a southern aspect, and here the monks worked. The Prior sat near the eastern end of this walk, where there was the usual entrance to the Church, and along this side, the other seniors sat—not arranged in order of seniority, but in the positions that best suited them for the respective tasks on which they were engaged. The Abbot sat apart at the end of the eastern cloister nearest the Church door. In the same cloister, but toward the southern end, the Novice Master gave regular instruction to the novices, and the Western Cloister was given up to the junior monks.

The Southern Cloister, with a north aspect, was sunless and cheerless, and was not generally used as a working place. Here were placed the lavatories, and the towel cupboards.

Abbot Gasquet, in his “English Monastic Life,” says:—“Day after day for centuries, the Cloister was the centre of the activity of the religious establishment. The quadrangle was the place where the monks lived and studied and wrote. In the three sides—the Northern, the Eastern, and Western walls—were transacted the chief business of the house, other than what was merely external. Here the older monks laboured at the tasks appointed them by obedience, or discussed questions relating to ecclesiastical learning or regular observance; or at permitted times joined in recreative conversation. Here, too, in the parts set aside for the purpose, the younger members toiled at their studies under the eye of their teacher, learnt the monastic observance from the lips of the Novice Master, or practised the chants and melodies of the Divine Office with the Cantor or his assistant. How the work was done in the winter time, even supposing that the great windows looking out on to the Cloister Garth were glazed or closed with wooden shutters, must ever remain a mystery.”

The Refectory, also called the Fratry, or Frater House, was the dining hall of the establishment. It was always placed, with the kitchens, &c., as far as possible from the Church, so that the smell of the cooking should not penetrate the sacred structure. As a rule, the walls of the Refectory were wainscotted, and the floor was covered with hay or rushes. The monks sat in a single row on each side, with their backs to the wall. The Superior sat at a high table at the Eastern end, and a pulpit was erected at the western side or southern end of the hall. From it, one of the novices read aloud part of the Scriptures in Latin during meal times.

In Cistercian monasteries the Refectory was placed at right angles to the Southern Cloister, but in those of the Cluniacs and Benedictines its length ran east and west along this Cloister.