A Benedictine Nun.
A still stricter Order of monks was that of the Carthusians, who received their name from the Abbey of Chartreuse in the south-east of France. From the popular corruption of the word ‘Chartreuse’ into ‘Charterhouse,’ their monasteries became generally known as Charterhouses. One of these was established at Hull by Sir Michael de la Pole,[[30]] and there was in the North Riding another at Mount Grace, near Northallerton.
The life of a monk or a nun was one spent apart from the world but, at the same time, in common with all other inmates of the monastery or nunnery. The inmates worked together, prayed together, had their meals together, and slept in a common dormitory.
Their life was also one of absolute devotion to carrying out the rules of their Order. Each inmate took, on entering the religious life, the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. By the first, no monk or nun might own separate possessions except the necessary clothing and bedding. Thus, one mattress, two pairs of blankets, two counterpanes, one cowl and frock, two tunics, two pairs of vests, four pairs of breeches, two pairs of shoes, four pairs of socks, two pairs of day-boots, one pair of night-boots, one night-cap, two towels, one soiled-linen ‘pokett,’ and one shaving cloth formed the wardrobe of a Black Monk. In addition he might possess a silver spoon, and then his outfit was complete. By the second vow he bound himself never to marry, and by the third to obey implicitly the orders of his superiors.
The Houses of these monks and nuns were, with slight exceptions here and there, constructed on certain definite lines, which can best be illustrated by a plan of the Cistercian Abbey of Kirkstall, near Leeds. Surrounding all was a wall, not shown in the plan.
The arrangement of the various buildings was very simple. Foremost in importance ranked the church, which was always the first building to be erected and that on which the greatest wealth was lavished. To the south of this were attached the domestic buildings, grouped round a central cloister court. Of these the most important were the chapter house, in which the monks assembled each morning to hear a chapter from the Latin rules of their Order; the four cloisters or covered walks in which the daily tasks of the monks were performed; the frater or refectory, in which their midday meal was served; and the dorter or dormitory, in which they slept. This last ran above the line of buildings to the south of the south transept, and had a staircase leading directly into this as well as one leading into the east cloister.
THE CISTERCIAN ABBEY OF KIRKSTALL.
From ‘Transactions of the East Riding Antiquarian Society,’ Vol. III.
The other buildings included the sacristy or treasure-house; the library; the locutorium or parlour, which was a meeting-place for conversation as well as a school for the novices; the infirmary for sick monks; the calefactory, or warming-house, where a fire was kept burning from the first day in November till the following Easter; the kitchen; the cellarium or store-room; the hospitium or guest-house; and the Abbot’s house.