WikiPedia: History of AbbeY

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ABBEY (Lat. abbatia; from Syr. abba, father), a
monastery, or conventual establishment, under the government
of an ABBOT or an ABBESS. A priory only differed from
an abbey in that the superior bore the name of prior instead
of abbot. This was the case in all the English conventual
cathedrals, e.g. Canterbury, Ely, Norwich, &c., where the
archbishop or bishop occupied the abbot's place, the superior
of the monastery being termed prior. Other priories were
originally offshoots from the larger abbeys, to the abbots
of which they continued subordinate; but in later times the
actual distinction between abbeys and priories was lost.

The earliest Christian monastic communities (see MONASTICISM)
with which we are acquainted consisted of groups of cells or
huts collected about a common centre, which was usually the abode
of some anchorite celebrated for superior holiness or singular
asceticism, but without any attempt at orderly arrangement.
The formation of such communities in the East does not date
from the introduction of Christianity. The example had been
already set by the Essenes in Judea and the Therapeutae in Egypt.

In the earliest age of Christian monasticism the ascetics
were accustomed to live singly, independent of one another,
at no great distance from some village, supporting themselves
by the labour of their own hands, and distributing the
surplus after the supply of their own scanty wants to the
poor. Increasing religious fervour, aided by persecution,
drove them farther and farther away from the abodes of men
into mountain solitudes or lonely deserts. The deserts
of Egypt swarmed with the ``cells'' or huts of these
anchorites. Anthony, who had retired to the Egyptian Thebaid
during the persecution of Maximin, A.D. 312, was the most
celebrated among them for his austerities, his sanctity, and
his power as an exorcist. His fame collected round him a
host of followers, emulous of his sanctity. The deeper he
withdrew into the wilderness, the more numerous his disciples
became. They refused to be separated from him, and built
their ceils round that of their spiritual father. Thus arose
the first monastic community, consisting of anchorites living
each in his own little dwelling, united together under one
superior. Anthony, as Neander remarks (Church History,
vol. iii. p. 316, Clark's trans.), ``without any conscious
design of his own, had become the founder of a new mode
of living in common, Coenobitism.'' By degrees order was
introduced in the groups of huts. They were arranged in
lines like the tents in an encampment, or the houses in a
street. From this arrangement these lines of single cells
came to be known as Laurae, Laurai, "streets" or "lanes."

The real founder of coenobian koinos, common, and bios,
life) monasteries in the modern sense was Pachomius, an Egyptian
of the beginning of the 4th century. The first community
established by him was at Tabennae, an island of the Nile in Upper
Egypt. Eight others were founded in his lifetime, numbering 3000
monks. Within fifty years from his death his societies could
reckon 50,000 members. These coenobia resembled vilIages,
peopled by a hard-working religious community, ail of one
sex. The buildings were detached, small and of the humblest
character. Each cell or hut, according to Sozomen (H.R. iii.
14), contained three monks. They took their chief meal in a
common refectory at 3 P.M., up to which hour they usually
fasted. They ate in silence, with hoods so drawn over their
faces that they could see nothing but what was on the table
before them. The monks spent all the time, not devoted to
religious services or study, in manual labour. Palladius,
who visited the Egyptian monasteries about the close of the
4th century, found among the 300 members of the coenobium of
Panopolis, under the Pachomian rule, 15 tailors, 7 smiths, 4
carpenters, 12 cameldrivers and 15 tanners. Each separate
community had its own oeconomus or steward, who was subject
to a chief oeconomus stationed at the head establishment.
All the produce of the monks' labour was committed to him, and
by him shipped to Alexandria. The money raised by the sale
was expended in the purchase of stores for the support of the
communities, and what was over was devoted to charity. Twice
in the year the superiors of the several coenobia met at
the chief monastery, under the presidency of an archimandrite
(``the chief of the fold,'' from miandra, a fold), and at
the last meeting gave in reports of their administration for the
year. The coenobia of Syria belonged to the Pachomian
institution. We learn many details concerning those in the
vicinity of Antioch from Chrysostom's writings. The monks
lived in separate huts, kalbbia, forming a religious hamlet
on the mountain side. They were subject to an abbot, and
observed a common rule. (They had no refectory, but ate their
common meal, of bread and water only, when the day's labour
was over, reclining on strewn grass, sometimes out of doors,)
Four times in the day they joined in prayers and psalms.

Santa Laura, Mount Athos.

The necessity for defence from hostile attacks, economy of
space and convenience of access from one part of the community
to another, by degrees dictated a more compact and orderly
arrangement of the buildings of a monastic coenobium. Large
piles of building were erected, with strong outside walls,
capable of resisting the assaults of an enemy, within which
all the necessary edifices were ranged round one or more
open courts, usually surrounded with cloisters. The usual
Eastern arrangement is exemplified in the plan of the convent
of Santa Laura, Mount Athos (Laura, the designation of a
monastery generally, being converted into a female saint).

This monastery, like the oriental monasteries generally, is
surrounded by a strong and lofty blank stone wall, enclosing
an area of between 3 and 4 acres. The longer side extends to
a length of about 500 feet. There is only one main entrance,
on the north side (A), defended by three separate iron
doors. Near the entrance is a large tower (M), a constant
feature in the monasteries of the Levant. There is a small
postern gate at L. The enceinte comprises two large open
courts, surrounded with buildings connected with cloister
galleries of wood or stone. The outer court, which is much the
larger, contains the granaries and storehouses (K), and the
kitchen (H) and other offices connected with the refectory
(G). Immediately adjacent to the gateway is a two-storied
guest-house, opening from a cloister (C). The inner court is
surrounded by a cloister (EE), from which open the monks' cells
(II). In the centre of this court stands the catholicon
or conventual church, a square building with an apse of
the cruciform domical Byzantine type, approached by a domed
narthex. In front of the church stands a marble fountain
(F), covered by a dome supported on columns. Opening from
the western side of the cloister, but actually standing in
the outer court, is the refectory (G), a large cruciform
building, about 100 feet each way, decorated within with
frescoes of saints. At the upper end is a semicircular
recess, recalling the triclinium of the Lateran Palace

A. Gateway.
B. Chapels.
C. Guest-house.
D. Church.
E. Cloister.
F. Fountain.
G. Refectory.
H. Kitchen.
I. Cells.
K. Storehouses.
L. Postern gate.
M. Tower.
FIG. 1.---Monastery of Santa Laura, Mount Athos (Lenoir).

at Rome, in which is placed the seat of the hegumenos or
abbot. This apartment is chiefly used as a hall of meeting, the
oriental monks usually taking their meals in their separate cells.

Vatopede

St Laura is exceeded in magnitude by the convent of Vatopede
also on Mount Athos. This enormous establishment covers at
least 4 acres of ground, and contains so many separate buildings
within its massive walls that it resembles a fortified town. It
lodges above 300 monks, and the establishment of the hegumenos is
described as resembling the court of a petty sovereign prince.
The immense refectory, of the same cruciform shape as that of
St Laura, will accommodate 500 guests at its 24 marble tables.

The annexed plan of a Coptic monastery, from Lenoir,
shows a church of three aisles, with cellular apses, and
two ranges of cells on either side of an oblong gallery.

Benedictine.

Monasticism in the West owes its extension and development
to Benedict of Nursia (born A.D. 480). His rule was
diffused with miraculous rapidity from the parent foundation
on Monte Cassino through the whole of western Europe, and
every country witnessed the erection of monasteries far
exceeding anything that had yet been seen in spaciousness and
splendour. Few great towns in Italy were without their
Benedictine convent, and they quickly rose in all the great
centres of population in England, France and Spain. The number
of these monasteries founded between A.D. 520 and 700 is
amazing. Before the Council of Constance, A.D. 1415, no
fewer than 15,070 abbeys had been established of this order
alone. The buildings of a Benedictine abbey were uniformly
arranged ofter one plan, modified where necessary (as at
Durham and Worcester, where the monasteries stand close to the
steep bank of a river) to accommodate the arrangement to local
circumstances. We have no existing examples of the earlier
monasteries of the Benedictine order. They have all yielded
to the ravages of time and the violence of man. But we
have fortunately preserved to us an elaborate plan of the
great Swiss monastery of St Gall, erected about A.D. 820,
which puts us in possession of the whole arrangements of a
monastery of the first class towards the early part of the 9th
century. This curious and interesting plan has been made
the subject of a memoir both by Keller (Zurich, 1844) and by
Professor Robert Willis (Arch. Journal, 1848, vol. v. pp.
86-117. To the latter we are indebted for the substance of
the following description, as well as for the plan, reduced
from his elucidated transcript of the original preserved

FIG. 2.---Plan of Coptic Monastery.
A. Narthex. B. Church.
C. Corridor, with cells on each side.
D. Staircase.

in the archives of the convent. The general apperance
of the convent is that of a town of isolated houses with
streets running between them. It is evidently planned in
compliance with the Benedictine rule, which enjoined that,
if possible, the monastery should contain within itself
every necessary of life, as well as the buildings more
intimately connected with the religious and social life of its
inmates. It should comprise a mill, a bakehouse, stables
and cow-houses, together with accommodation for carrying
on all necessary mechanical arts within the walls, so as to
obviate the necessity of the monks going outside its limits.

The general distribution of the buildings may be thus
described:-The church, with its cloister to the south, occupies
the centre of a quadrangular area, about 430 feet square. The
buildings, as in all great monasteries, are distributed into
groups. The church forms the nucleus, as the centre of the
religious life of the community. In closest connexion with
the church is the group of buildings appropriated to the
monastic line and its daily requirements---the refectory for
eating, the dormitory for sleeping, the common room for social
intercourse, the chapter-house for religious and disciplinary
conference. These essential elements of monastic life
are ranged about a cloister court, surrounded by a covered
arcade, affording communication sheltered ftom the elements
between the various buildings. The infirmary for sick monks,
with the physician's house and physic garden, lies to the
east. In the same group with the infirmary is the school for
the novices. The outer school, with its headmaster's house
against the opposite wall of the church, stands outside the
convent enclosure, in close proximity to the abbot's house,
that he might have a constant eye over them. The buildings
devoted to hospitality are divided into three groups,--one
for the reception of distinguished guests, another for monks
visiting the monastery, a third for poor travellers and
pilgrims. The first and third are placed to the right and
left of the common entrance of the monastery,---the hospitium
for distinguished guests being placed on the north side of the
church, not far from the abbot's house; that for the poor
on the south side next to the farm buildings. The monks are
lodged in a guest-house built against the north wall of the
church. The group of buildings connected with the material
wants of the establishment is placed to the south and west
of the church, and is distinctly separated from the monastic
buildings. The kitchen, buttery and offices are reached by a
passage from the west end of the refectory, and are connected
with the bakehouse and brewhouse, which are placed still farther
away. The whole of the southern and western sides is devoted to
workshops, stables and farm-buildings. The buildings, with some
exceptions, seem to have been of one story only, and all but
the church were probably erected of wood. The whole includes
thirty-three separate blocks. The church (D) is cruciform,
with a nave of nine bays, and a semicircular apse at either
extremity. That to the west is surrounded by a semicircular
colonnade, leaving an open ``paradise'' (E) between it and
the wall of the church. The whole area is divided by screens
into various chapels. The high altar (A) stands immediately
to the east of the transept, or ritual choir; the altar
of St Paul (B) in the eastern, and that of St Peter (C) in
the western apse. A cylindrical campanile stands detached
from the church on either side of the western apse (FF).

The ``cloister court', (G) on the south side of the nave of the

FIG. 3.--Ground-plan of St

CHURCH. U. House for blood-letting.
A. High altar. V. School.
B. Altar of St Paul. W. Schoolmaster's lodgings.
C. Altar of St Peter. X1X1. Guest-house for those
D. Nave. of superior rank
E. Paradise. X2X2. Guest-house for the poor.
FF. Towers. Y. Guest-chamber for strange monks.
MONASTIC BUILDINGS
G. Cloister. MENIAL DEPARTMENT.
H. Calefactory, with Z. Factory.
dormitory over. a. Threshing-floor
I. Necessary. b. Workshops.
J. Abbot's house. c, c. Mills.
K. Refectory. d. Kiln.
L. Kitchen. e. Stables.
M. Bakehouse and brewhouse. f Cow-sheds.
N. Cellar. g. Goat-sheds.
O. Parlour. (over. h. Pig-sties. i. Sheep-folds.
P1. Scriptorium with library k, k, k. Servants' and workmen's
P2. Sacristy and vestry. sleeping-chambers.
Q. House of Novices--1.chapel; l. Gardener's house
2. refectory; 3. calefactory; m,m. Hen and duck house.
4. dormitory; 5. master's room n. Poultry-keeper's house.
6. chambers. o. Garden.
R. Infirmary--1--6 as above in q. Bakehouse for sacramental
the house of novices.
S. Doctor's house. s, s, s. Kitchens.
T. Physic garden. t, t, t. Baths.

church has on its east side the ``pisalis'' or ``calefactory',
(H), the common sitting-room of the brethren, warmed by
flues beneath the floor. On this side in later monasteries
we invariably find the chapterhouse, the absence of
which in this plan is somewhat surprising. It appears,
however, from the inscriptions on the plan itself, that the
north walk of the cloisters served for the purposes of a
chapter-house, and was fitted up with benches on the long
sides. Above the calefactory is the ``dormitory'' opening
into the south transept of the church, to enable the monks
to attend the nocturnal services with readiness. A passage
at the other end leads to the ``necessarium'' (I), a portion
of the monastic buildings always planned with extreme
care. The southern side is occupied by the ``refectory''
(K), from the west end of which by a vestibule the kitchen
(L) is reached. This is separated from the main buildings
of the monastery, and is connected by a long passage with
a building containing the bake house and brewhouse (M), and
the sleeping-rooms of the servants. The upper story of the
refectory is the ``vestiarium,'' where the ordinary clothes of
the brethren were kept. On the western side of the cloister
is another two story building (N). The cellar is below,
and the larder and store-room above. Between this building
and the church, opening by one door into the cloisters, and
by another to the outer part of the monastery area, is the
``parlour'' for interviews with visitors from the external
world (O). On the eastern side of the north transept is the
``scriptorium'' or writing-room (P1), with the library above.

To the east of the church stands a group of buildings comprising
two miniature conventual establishments, each complete in
itself. Each has a covered cloister surrounded by the usual
buildings, i.e. refectory, dormitory, &c., and a church or
chapel on one side, placed back to back. A detached building
belonging to each contains a bath and a kitchen. One of these
diminutive convents is appropriated to the ``oblati'' or novices
(Q), the other to the sick monks as an ``imfirmary'' (R).

The ``residence of the physicians'' (S) stands contiguous to the
infirmary, and the physic garden (T) at the north-east corner of
the monastery. Besides other rooms, it contains a drug store,
and a chamber for those who are dangerously ill. The ``house
for bloodletting and purging'' adjoins it on the west (U).

The ``outer school,'' to the north of the convent area, contains
a large schoolroom divided across the middle by a screen or
partition, and surrounded by fourteen little rooms, termed
the dwellings of the scholars. The head-master's house (W)
is opposite, built against the side wall of the church. The
two ``hospitia or `' guest-houses for the entertainment
of strangers of different degrees (X1 X2) comprise a large
common chamber or refectory in the centre, surrounded by
sleeping-apartments. Each is provided with its own brewhouse
and bakehouse, and that for travellers of a superior order has
a kitchen and storeroom, with bedrooms for their servants and
stables for their horses. There is also an ``hospitium'' for
strange monks, abutting on the north wall of the church (Y).

Beyond the cloister, at the extreme verge of the convent
area to the south, stands the `factory'' (Z), containing
workshops for shoemakers, saddlers (or shoemakers, sellarii),
cutlers and grinders, trencher-makers, tanners, curriers,
fullers, smiths and goldsmiths, with their dwellings in the
rear. On this side we also find the farmbuildings, the large
granary and threshing-floor (a), mills (c), malthouse
(d). Facing the west are the stables (e), ox-sheds
(f), goatstables (gl, piggeries (h), sheep-folds (i),
together with the servants' and labourers' quarters (k).
At the south-east corner we find the hen and duck house, and
poultry-yard (m), and the dwelling of the keeper (n).
Hard by is the kitchen garden (o), the beds bearing the
names of the vegetables growing in them, onions, garlic,
celery, lettuces, poppy, carrots, cabbages, &c., eighteen in
all. In the same way the physic garden presents the names
of the medicinal herbs, and the cemetery (p) those of
the trees, apple, pear, plum, quince, &c., planted there.

Canterbury Cathedral.

A curious bird's-eye view of Canterbury Cathedral and its
annexed conventual buildings, taken about 1165, is preserved
in the Great Psalter in the library of Trinity College,
Cambridge. As elucidated by Professor Willis,1 it exhibits
the plan of a great Benedictine monastery in the 12th century,
and enables us to compare it with that of the 9th as seen at St
Gall. We see in both the same general principles of arrangement,
which indeed belong to all Benedictine monasteries, enabling
us to determine with precision the disposition of the various
buildings, when little more than fragments of the walls
exist. From some local reasons, however, the cloister and
monastic buildings are placed on the north, instead, as is far
more commonly the case, on the south of the church. There is
also a separate chapter-house, which is wanting at St Gall.

The buildings at Canterbury, as at St Gall, form separate
groups. The church forms the nucleus. In immediate contact
with this, on the north side, lie the cloister and the
group of buildings devoted to the monastic life. Outside of
these, to the west and east, are the ``halls and chambers
devoted to the exercise of hospitality, with which every
monastery was provided, for the purpose of receiving as
guests persons who visited it, whether clergy or laity,
travellers, pilgrims or paupers.'' To the north a large
open court divides the monastic from the menial buildings,
intentionally placed as remote as possible from the conventual
buildings proper, the stables, granaries, barn, bakehouse,
brewhouse, laundries, &c., inhabited by the lay servants of the
establishment. At the greatest possible distance from the
church, beyond the precinct of the convent, is the eleemosynary
department. The almonry for the relief of the poor,
with a great hall annexed, forms the paupers' hospitium.

The most important group of buildings is naturally that devoted
to monastic life. This includes two Cloisters, the great
cloister surrounded by the buildings essentially connected with
the daily life of the monks,---the church to the south, the
refectory or frater-house here as always on the side opposite
to the church, and farthest removed from it, that no sound or
smell of eating might penetrate its sacred precincts, to the
east the dormitory, raised on a vaulted undercroft, and the
chapter-house adjacent, and the lodgings of the cellarer to the
west. To this officer was committed the provision of the
monks' daily food, as well as that of the guests. He was,
therefore, appropriately lodged in the immediate vicinity of
the refectory and kitchen, and close to the guest-hall. A
passage under the dormitory leads eastwards to the smaller
or infirmary cloister, appropriated to the sick and infirm
monks. Eastward of this cloister extend the hall and chapel of
the infirmary, resembling in form and arrangement the nave and
chancel of an aisled church. Beneath the dormitory, looking
out into the green court or herbarium, lies the ``pisalis''
or ``calefactory,'' the common room of the monks. At its
north-east corner access was given from the dormitory to the
necessarium, a portentous edifice in the form of a Norman
hall, 145 ft. long by 25 broad, containing fifty-five seats. It
was, in common with all such offices in ancient monasteries,
constructed with the most careful regard to cleanliness and
health, a stream of water running through it from end to
end. A second smaller dormitory runs from east to west for
the accommodation of the conventual officers, who were bound
to sleep in the dormitory. Close to the refectory, but outside
the cloisters, are the domestic offices connected with it:
to the north, the kitchen, 47 ft. square, surmounted by a
lofty pyramidal roof, and the kitchen court; to the west, the
butteries, pantries, &c. The infirmary had a small kitchen of its
own. Opposite the refectory door in the cloister are two
lavatories, an invariable adjunct to a monastic dining-hall,
at which the monks washed before and after taking food.

The buildings devoted to hospitality were divided into three
groups. The prior's group ``entered at the south-east angle
of the green court, placed near the most sacred part of the
cathedral, as befitting the distinguished ecclesiastics or
nobility who were assigned to him.'' The cellarer's buildings
were near the west end of the nave, in which ordinary visitors
of the middle class were hospitably entertained. The inferior
pilgrims and paupers were relegated to the north hall or almonry,
just within the gate, as far as possible from the other two.

Westminster Abbey.

Westminster Abbey is another example of a great Benedictine
abbey, identical in its general arrangements, so far as they
can be traced, with those described above. The cloister and
, monastic buildings lie to the south side of the church.
Parallel to the nave, on the south side of the cloister,
was the refectory, with its lavatory at the door. On the
eastern side we find the remains of the dormitory, raised
on a vaulted substructure and communicating with the south
transept. The chapter-house opens out of the same alley of the
cloister. The small cloister lles to the south-east of
the larger cloister, and still farther to the east we have
the remains of the infirmary with the table hall, the
refectory of those who were able to leave their chambers. The
abbot's house formed a small courtyard at the west entrance,
close to the inner gateway. Considerable portions of this
remain, including the abbot's parlour. celebrated as ``the
Jerusalem Chamber,'' his hall, now used for the Westminster
King's Scholars, and the kitchen and butteries beyond.

York.

St Mary's Abbey, York, of which the ground-plan is annexed,
exhibits the usual Benedictine arrangements. The precincts
are surrounded by a strong fortified wall on three sides,
the river Ouse being sufficient protection on the fourth
side. The entrance was by a strong gateway (U) to the
north. Close to the entrance was a chapel, where is now
the church of St Olaf (W), in which the new-comers paid
their devotions immediately on their arrival. Near the
gate to the south was the guest-hall or hospitium (T).
The buildings are completely ruined, but enough remains to
enable us to identify the grand cruciform church (A), the
cloister-court with the chapterhouse (B), the refectory (I),
the kitchen-court with its offices (K, O, O) and the other
principal apartments. The infirmary has perished completely.

Some Benedictine houses display exceptional arrangements,
dependent upon local circumstances, e.g. the dormitory of
Worcester runs from east to west, from the west walk of the
cloister, and that of Durham is built over the west, instead of

FIG. 4

St Mary's Abbey, York (Benedictine).--Churton's Monnastic Ruins.
A. Church. O. Offices.
B. Chapter-house. P. Cellars.
C. Vestibule to ditto. Q. Uncertain.
E. Library or scriptorium. R. Passage to abbot's house.
F. Calefactory. S. Passage to common house.
G. Necessary. T. Hospitium.
H. Parlour. U. Great gate.
I. Refectory. V. Porter's lodge.
K. Great kitchen and court. W. Church of St Olaf.
L. Cellarer's office. X. Tower.
M. Cellars. Y. Entrance from Bootham.
N. Passage to cloister.

as usual, over the east walk; but, as a general rule, the arrangements
deduced from the examples described may be regarded as invariable.

The history of monasticism is one of alternate periods of
decay and revival. With growth in popular esteem came increase
in material wealth, leading to luxury and worldliness. The
first religious ardour cooled, the strictness of the rule was
relaxed, until by the 10th century the decay of discipline
was so complete in France that the monks are said to have
been frequently unacquainted with the rule of St Benedict,
and even ignorant that they were bound by any rule at
all. The reformation of abuses generally took the form of
the establishment of new monastic orders, with new and more
stringent rules, requiring a modification of the architectural
arrangements. One of the earliest of these reformed orders
was the Cluniac. This order took its name from,the little
village of Cluny, 12 miles N.W. of Macon, near which, about
A.D. 909, a reformed Benedictine abbey was founded by William,
duke of Aquitaine and count of Auvergne, under Berno, abbot of
Beaume. He was succeeded by Odo, who is often regarded as
the founder of the order. The fame of Cluny spread far and
wide. Its rigid rule was adopted by a vast number of the
old Benedictine abbeys, who placed themselves in affiliation
to the mother society, while new foundations sprang up in
large numbers, all owing allegiance to the ``archabbot,''
established at Cluny. By the end of the 12th century the
number of monasteries affiliated to Cluny in the various
countries of western Europe amounted to 2000. The monastic
establishment of Cluny was one of the most extensive
and magnificent in France. We may form some idea of its
enormous dimensions from the fact recorded, that when, A.D.
1245, Pope Innocent IV., accompanied by twelve cardinals,

FIG. 5--Abbey of Cluny, from

A. Gateway. F. Tomb of St Hugh. M. Bakehouse.
B. Narthex. G. Nave. N. Abbey buildings.
C. Choir. H. Cloister. O. Garden.
D. High-altar. K. Abbot's house. P. Refectory.
E. Retro-altar. L. Guest-house.

a patriarch, three archbishops, the two generals of the
Carthusians and Cistercians, the king (St Louis), and three
of his sons, the queen mother, Baldwin, count of Flanders
and emperor of Constantinople, the duke of Burgundy, and
six lords, visited the abbey, the whole party, with their
attendants, were lodged withn the monastery without disarranging
the monks, 400 in number. Nearly the whole of the abbey
buildings, including the magnificent church, were swept away
at the close of the 18th century. When the annexed ground-plan
was taken, shortly before its destruction, nearly all the
monastery, with the exception of the church, had been rebuilt.

The church, the ground-plan of which bears a remarkable
resemblance to that of Lincoln Cathedral, was of vast
dimensions. It was 656 ft. high. The nave (G) had double
vaulted aisles on either side. Like Lincoln, it had an
eastern as well as a western transept, each furnished with
apsidal chapels to the east. The western transept was 213
ft. long, and the eastern 123 ft. The choir terminated in
a semicircular apse (F), surrounded by five chapels, also
semicircular. The western entrance was approached by an
ante-church, or narthex (B), itself an aisled church of
no mean dimensions, flanked by two towers, rising from a
stately flight of steps bearing a large stone cross. To the
south of the church lay the cloister-court (H), of immense
size, placed much farther to the west than is usually the
case. On the south side of the cloister stood the refectory
(P), an immense building, 100 ft. long and 60 ft. wide,
accommodating six longitudinal and three transverse rows of
tables. It was adorned with the portraits of the chief
benefactors of the abbey, and with Scriptural subjects. The
end wall displayed the Last Judgment. We are unhappily unable
to identify any other of the principal buildings (N). The
abbot's residence (K), still partly standing, adjoined the
entrance-gate. The guest-house (L) was close by. The bakehouse
(M), also remaining, is a detached building of immense size.

English Cluniac

The first English house of the Cluniac order was that of
Lewes, founded by the earl of Warren, c. A.D. 1077. Of
this only a few fragments of the domestic buildings exist.
The best preserved Cluniac houses in England are Castle Acre,
Norfolk, and Wenlock, Shropshire. Ground-plans of both are
given in Britton's Architectural Antiquities. They show
several departures from the Benedictine arrangement. In
each the prior's house is remarkably perfect. All Cluniac
houses in England were French colonies, governed by priors
of that nation. They did not secure their independence nor
become ``abbeys'' till the reign of Henry VI. The Cluniac
revival, with all its brilliancy, was but short-lived.
The celebrity of this, as of other orders, worked its moral
ruin. With their growth in wealth and dignity the Cluniac
foundations became as worldly in life and as relaxed in
discipline as their predecessors, and a fresh reform was needed.

Cistercian

The next great monastic revival, the Cistercian, arising in
the last years of the 11th century, had a wider diffusion,
and a longer and more honourable existence. Owing its real
origin, as a distinct foundation of reformed Benedictines, in
the year 1098, to Stephen Harding (a native of Dorsetshire,
educated in the monastery of Sherborne), and deriving its
name from Citeaux (Cistercium), a desolate and almost
inaccessible forest solitude, on the borders of Champagne and
Burgundy, the rapid growth and wide celebrity of the order
are undoubtedly to be attributed to the enthusiastic piety
of St Bernard, abbot of the first of the monastic colonies,
subsequently sent forth in such quick succession by the
first Cistercian houses, the far-famed abbey of Clairvaux
(de Clara Valle), A.D. 1116. The rigid self-abnegation,
which was the ruling principle of this reformed congregation
of the Benedictine order, extended itself to the churches and
other buildings erected by them. The characteristic of the
Cistercian abbeys was the extremest simplicity and a studied
plainness. Only one tower--a central one --was permitted, and
that was to be very low. Unnecessary pinnacles and turrets
were prohibited. The triforium was omitted. The windows
were to be plain and undivided, and it was forbidden to
decorate them with stained glass. All needless ornament was
proscribed. The crosses must be of wood; the candlesticks of
iron. The renunciation of the world was to be evidenced
in all that met the eye. The same spirit manifested itself
in the choice of the sites of their monasteries. The more
dismal, the more savage, the more hopeless a spot appeared,
the more did it please their rigid mood. But they came
not merely as ascetics, but as improvers. The Cistercian
monasteries are, as a rule, found placed in deep well-watered
valleys. They always stand on the border of a stream; not
rarely, as at Fountains, the buildings extend over it. These
valleys, now so rich and productive, wore a very different
aspect when the brethren first chose them as the place of their
retirement. Wide swamps, deep morasses, tangled thickets,
wild impassable forests, were their prevailing features. The
``bright valley,'' Clara Vallis of St Bernard, was known
as the ``valley of Wormwood,'' infamous as a den of robbers.
``It was a savage dreary solitude, so utterly barren that
at first Bernard and his companions were reduced to live on
beech leaves.''-(Milman's Lat. Christ. vol. iii. p. 335.)

Clairvaux

All Cistercian monasteries, unless the circumstances of the
locality forbade it, were arranged according to one plan. The
general arrangement and distribution of the various
buildings, which went to make up one of these vast
establishments, may be gathered from that of St Bernard's own
abbey of Clairvaux, which is here given. It will be observed
that the abbey precincts are surrounded by a strong wall,
furnished at intervals with watch-towers and other defensive
works. The wall is nearly encircled by a stream of water,
artificially diverted from the small rivulets which flow
through the precincts, furnishing the establishment with
an abundant supply in every part, for the litigation of
the gardens and orchards, the sanitary requirements of the
brotherhood and for the use of the offices and workshops.

The precincts are divided across the centre by a wall,
running from N. to S., into an outer and inner ward,--the
former containing the menial, the latter the monastic
buildings. The precincts are entered by a gateway (P), at
the extreme western extremity, giving admission to the lower
ward. Here the barns, granaries, stables, shambles, workshops
and workmen,s lodgings were placed, without any regard to
symmetry, convenience being the only consideration. Advancing
eastwards, we have before us the wall separating the

FIG. 6.--.Clairvaux, No. 1 (Cistercian), General

A. Cloisters. I. Wine-press and O. Public presse.
B. Ovens, and corn hay-chamber P. Gateway.
oil-mills K. Parlour R. Remains of old monastery
C. St Bernard's cell. L. Workshops and.
D. Chief entrance. workmen's lodgings S. Oratory.
E. Tanks for fish. V. Tile-works.
F. Guest-house. M. Slaughter-house. X. Tile-kiln.
G. Abbot's house. N. Barns and stables. V. Water-courses.
H. Stables.

outer and inner ward, and the gatehouse (D) affording communication
between the two. On passing through the gateway, the outer
court of the inner ward was entered, with the western facade
of the monastic church in front. Immediately on the right
of entrance was the abbot's house (G), in close proximity to
the guest-house (F). On the other side of the court were the
stables, for the accommodation of the horses of the guests
and their attendants (H). The church occupied a central
position. To the south was the great cloister (A),
surrounded by the chief monastic buildings, and farther to
the east the smaller cloister, opening out of which were
the infirmary, novices' lodgings and quarters for the aged
monks. Still farther to the east, divided from the monastic
buildings by a wall, were the vegetable gardens and orchards,
and tank for fish. The large fish-ponds, an indispensable
adjunct to any ecclesiastical foundation, on the formation
of which the monks lavished extreme care and pains, and
which often remain as almost the only visible traces of these
vast establishments, were placed outside the abbey walls.

Plan No. 2 furninshes the ichnography of the distinctly
monastic buildings on a larger scale. The usually unvarying
arrangement of the Cistercian houses allows us to accept
this as a type of the monasteries of this order. The church
(A) is the chief feature. It consists of a vast nave of
eleven bays, entered by a narthex, with a transept and short
apsidal choir. (It may be remarked that the eastern limb in
all unaltered Cistercian churches is remarkably short, and
usually square.) To the east of each limb of the transept
are two square chapels, divided according to Cistercian
rule by solid walls. Nine radiating chapels, similarly
divided, surround the apse. The stalls of the monks,
forming the ritual choir, occupy the four eastern bays of the
nave. There was a second range of stalls in the extreme
western bays of the nave for the fratres conversi, or lay
brothers. To the south of the church, so as to secure as
much sun as possible, the cloister was invariably placed,
except when local reasons forbade it. Round the cloister
(B) were ranged the buildings connected with the monks' daily
life. The chapter-house (C) always opened out of the east
walk of the cloister in a line with the south transept.

FIG. 7.--Clairvaux, No. 2 (Cistercian), Monastic

A. Church. L. Lodgings of novices. S. Cellars and storehouses.
B. Cloister.
C. Chapter-house. M. Old guest-house. T. Water-course.
D. Monks' parlour. N. Old abbot's lodgings. U. Saw-mill and oil mill
E. Calefactory.
F. Kitchen and court. O. Cloister of V. Currier's shop.
G. Refectory. supernumerary monks.
H. Cemetery. X. Sacristy.
I. Little cloister. P. Abbot's hall. Y. Little library.
K. Infirmary. Q. Cell of St Bernard. Z. Undercroft of dormitory.
R. Stables.

In Cistercian houses this was quadrangular, and was divided
by pillars and arches into two or three aisles. Between
it and the transept we find the sacristy (X), and a small
book-room (Y) armariolum, where the brothers deposited the
volumes borrowed from the library. On the other side of the
chapter-house, to the south, is a passage (D) communicating
with the courts and buildings beyond. This was sometimes
known as the parlour, colloquii locus, the monks having the
privilege of conversation here. Here also, when iscipline
became relaxed, traders, who had the liberty of admission,
were allowed to display their goods. Beyond this we often
find the calefactorium or day-room--an apartment warmed
by flues beneath the pavement, where the brethren, half
frozen during the night offices, betook themselves after
the conclusion of lauds, to gain a little warmth, grease
their sandals and get themselves ready for the work of the
day. In the plan before us this apartment (E) opens from the
south cloister walk, adjoining the refectory. The place usually
assigned to it is occupied by the vaulted substructure of the
dormitory (Z). The dormitory, as a rule, was placed on the
east side of the cloister, running over the calethetory and
chapter-house, and joined the south transept, where a flight
of steps admitted the brethren into the church for nocturnal
services. Opening out of the dormitory was always the
necessarium, planned with the greatest regard to health and
cleanliness, a water-course invariably running from end to
end. The refectory opens out of the south cloister at G.
The position of the refectory is usually a marked point of
difference between Benedictine and Cistercian abbeys. In the
former, as at Canterbury, the refectory ran east and west
parallel to the nave of the church, on the side of the cloister
farthest removed from it. In the Cistercian monasturies, to
keep the noise and smell of dinner still farther away from
the sacred building, the refectory was built north and south,
at right angles to the axis of the church. It was often
divided, sometimes into two, sometimes, as here, into three
aisles. Outside the refectory door, in the cloister,
was the lavatory, where the monks washed their hands at
dinner-time. The buildings belonging to the material life of
the monks lay near the refectory, as far as possible from the
church, to the S.W. With a distinct entrance from the outer
court was the kitchen court (F), with its buttery, scullery
and larder, and the important adjunct of a stream of running
water. Farther to the west, projecting beyond the line of
the west front of the church, were vast vaulted apartments
(SS), serving as cellars and storehouses, above which was
the dormitory of the conversi. Detached from these, and
separated entirely from the monastic buildings, were various
workshops, which convenience repuired to be banished to
the outer precincts, a saw-mill and oil-mill (UU) turned
by water, and a currier's shop (V), where the sandals
and leathern girdles of the monks were made and repaired.

Returning to the cloister, a vaulted passage admitted to the small
cloister (l), opening from the north side of which were eight
small cells, assigned to the scribes employed in copying works
for the library, which was placed in the upper story, accessible
by a turret staircase. To the south of the small cloister
a long hall will be noticed. This was a lecture-hall, or
rather a hall for the religious disputations customary among the
Cistercians. From this cloister opened the infirmary (K),
with its hall, chapel, cells, blood-letting house and other
dependencies. At the eastern verge of the vast group of buildings
we find the novices' lodgings (L), with a third cloister
near the novices' quarters and the original guest-house (M).
Detached from the great mass of the monastic edifices was the
original abbot's house (N), with its dining-hall (P). Closely
adjoining to this, so that the eye of the father of the whole
establishment should be constantly over those who stood the
most in need of his watchful care,--those who were training
for the monastic life, and those who had worn themselves
out in its duties,--was a fourth cloister (O), with annexed
buildings, devoted to the aged and infirm members of the
establishment. The cemetery, the last resting-place of the
brethren, lay to the north side of the nave of the church (H).

It will be seen from the above account that the arrangement of
a Cistercian monastery was in accordance with a clearly defined
system, and admirably adapted to its purpose. The base court
nearest to the outer wall contained the buildings belonging to
the functions of the body as agriculturists and employers of
labour. Advancing into the inner court, the buildings`devoted
to hospitality are found close to the entrance; while those
connected with the supply of the material wants of the brethren,
--the kitchen, cellars, &c.,--form a court of themselves
outside the cloister and quite detached from the church.
The church refectory, dormitory and other buildings belonging
to the professional life of the brethren surround the great
cloister. The small cloister beyond, with its scribes' cells,
library, hall for disputations, &c., is the centre of the
literary life of the community. The requirements of sickness
and old age are carefully provided for in the infirmary
cloister and that for the aged and infirm members of the
establishment. The same group contains the quarters of the novices.

This stereotyped arrangement is further shown by the
illustration of the mother establishment of Citeaux.

Citeaux.

A cross (A), planted on the high road, directs travellers to
the gate of the monastery. reached by an avenue of trees. On
one side of the gate-house (B) is a long building (C), probably
the almonry, with a dormitory above for the lower class of
guests. On the other side is a chapel (D). As soon as the
porter heard a stranger knock at the gate, he rose, saying,
Deo gratias, the opportunity for the exercise of hospitality
being regarded as a cause for thankfulness. On opening the
door he welcomed the new arrival with a blessing --Benedicite.
He fell on his knees before him, and then went to inform the
abbot. However important the abbot's occupations might
be, he at once hastened to receive him whom heaven had
sent. He also threw himself at his guest's feet, and
conducted him to the chapel (D) purposely built close to the
gate. After a short prayer, the abbot committed the guest
to the care of the brother hospitaller, whose duty it was
to provide for his wants and conduct the beast on which he
might be riding to the stable (F), built adjacent to the inner
gatehouse (E). This inner gate conducted into the base court
(T), round which were placed the barns, stables, cow-sheds, &c.
On the eastern side stood the dormitory of the lay brothers,
fratres conversi (G), detached from the cloister, with
cellars and storehouses below. At H, also outside the monastic
buildings proper, was the abbot's house, and annexed to it the
guest-house. For these buildings there was a separate door
of entrance into the church (S). The large cloister, with its
surrounding arcades, is seen at V. On the south end projects
the refectory (K), with its kitchen at I, accessible from
the base court. The long gabled building on the east side of
the cloister contained on the ground floor the chapter-house
and calefactory, with the monks' dormitory above (M),
communicating with the south transept of the church. At L
was the staircase to the dormitory. The small cloister is at
W, where were the carols or cells of the scribes, with the
library (P) over, reached by a turret staircase. At R we see
a portion of the infirmary. The whole precinct is surrounded
by a strong buttressed wall (XXX), pierced with arches,

FIG. 8.---Bird's-eye view of

A. Cross. H. Abbot's house. R. Infirmary.
B. Gate-house. I. Kitchen. S. Door to the church
C. Almonry. K. Refectory. for the lay brothers.
D. Chapel. L. Staircase to dormitory.
E. Inner gate-house. T. Base court.
F. Stable. M. Dormitory. V. Great cloister.
G. Dormitory of lay N. Church. W. Small cloister.
brethren. P. Library. X. Boundary wall.

through which streams of water are introduced. It will
be noticed that the choir of the church is short, and has
a square end instead of the usual apse. The tower, in
accordance with the Cistercian rule, is very low. The windows
throughout accord with the studied simplicity of the order.

Kirkstall Abbey.

The English Cistercian houses, of which there are such extensive
and beautiful remains at Fountains, Rievaulx, Kirkstall,
Tintern, Netley, &c., were mainly arranged after the same
plan, with slight local variations. As an example, we give
the groundplan of Kirkstall Abbey. which is one of the best
preserved. The church here is of the Cistercian type, with
a short chancel of two squares, and transepts with three
eastward chapels to each, divided by solid walls (2 2 2).
The whole is of the most studied plainness. The windows
are unornamented, and the nave has no triforium. The
cloister to the south (4) occupies the whole length of the
nave. On the east side stands the two-aisled chapter-house
(5), between which and the south transept is a small
sacristy (3), and on the other side two small apartments,
one of which was probably the parlour (6). Beyond this
stretches southward the calefactory or day-room of the monks
(14). Above this whole range of building runs the monks'
dormitory, opening by stairs into the south transept of the
church. At the other end were the necessaries. On thc south
side of the cloister we have the remains of the old refectory
(11), running, as in Benedictine houses, from east to west,
and the new refectory (12), which, with the increase of the
inmates of the house, superseded it, stretching, as is usual
in Cistercian houses, from north to south. Adjacent to this
apartment are the remains of the kitchen, pantry and buttery.
The arches of the lavatory are to be seen near the refectory
entrance. The western side of the cloister is, as usual,
occupied by vaulted cellars, supporting on the upper story
the dormitory of the lay brothers (8). Extending from the

FIG. 9 Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire

1. Church. 10. Common room.
2. Chapels. 11. Old refectory.
3. Sacristy. 12. New refectory.
4. Cloister. 13. Kitchen court.
5. Chapter-house. 14. Calefactory or day-room.
6. Parlour. 15. Kitchen and offices.
7. Punishment cell (?). 16-19. Uncertain; perhaps offices
8. Cellars, with dormitories for connected with the infirmary.
conversi over.
9. Guest-house. 20. Infirmary or abbot's house.

south-east angle of the main group of buildings are the
walls and foundations of a secondary group of considerable
extent. These have been identified either with the hospitium
or with the abbot's house, but they occupy the position in
which the infirmary is more usually found. The hall was
a very spacious apartment, measuring 83 ft. in length by
48 ft. 9 in. in breadth, and was divided by two rows of
columns. The fish-ponds lay between the monastery and
the river to the south. The abbey mill was situated
about 80 yards to the north-west. The millpool may be
distinctly traced, together with the gowt or mill stream.

Fountains Abbey.

Fountains Abbey, first founded A.D. 1132, is one of the
largest and best preserved Cistercian houses in England.
But the earlier buildings received considerable additions
and alterations in the later period of the order, causing
deviations from the strict Cistercian type. The church
stands a short distance to the north of the river Skell, the
buildings of the abbey stretching down to and even across the
stream. We have the cloister (H) to the south, with the
three-aisled chapter-house (I) and calefactory (L) opening from
its eastern walk, and the refectory (S), with the kitchen (Q)
and buttery (T) attached, at right angles to its southern walk.

FIG. 10.--Ground-plan of Fountains Abbey,

A. Nave of the church. N. Cellar. Z. Gate-house.
B. Transept. O. Brewhouse. ABBOT'S HOUSE.
C. Chapels. P. Prisons. 1. Passage
D. Tower. Q. Kitchen. 2. Great hall.
E. Sacristy. R. Offices. 3. Refectory.
F. Choir. S. Refectory. 4. Refectory.
G. Chapel of nine alters. T. Buttery. 5. Storehouse.
H. Cloister. U. Cellars and storehouses. 6. Chapel.
I. Chapter-house. V. Necessary. 7. Kitchen.
K. Base court. W. Infirmary (?). 8. Ashpit.
L. Calefactory. X. Guest-houses. 9. Yard.
M. Water-course. Y. Mill bridge. 10. Kitchen tank.

Parallel with the western walk is an immense vaulted substructure
(U), incorrectly styled the cloisters, serving as cellars and
store-rooms, and supporting the dormitory of the conversi
above. This building extended across the river. At its S.W.
corner were the necessaries (V), also built, as usual, above
the swiftly flowing stream. The monks' dormitory was in its
usual position above the chapter-house, to the south of the
transept. As peculiarities of arrangement may be noticed
the position of the kitchen (Q), between the refectory and
calefactory, and of the infirmary (W) (unless there is some
error in its designation) above the river to the west, adjoining
the guest-houses (XX). We may also call attention to the
greatly lengthened choir, commenced by Abbot John of York,
1203-1211, and carried on by his successor, terminating, like
Durham Cathedral, in an eastern transept, the work of Abbot
John of Kent, 1220-1247, and to the tower (D), added not long
before the dissolution by Abbot Huby, 1494-1526, in a very
unusual position at the northern end of the north transept.
The abbot's house, the largest and most remarkable example of
this class of buildings in the kingdom, stands south to the
east of the church and cloister, from which it is divided by
the kitchen court (R), surrounded by the ordinary domestic
offices. A considerable portion of this house was erected on
arches over the Skell. The size and character of this house,
probably, at the time of its erection, the most spacious
house of a subject in the kingdom, not a castle, bespeaks
the wide departure of the Cistercian order from the stern
simplicity of the original foundation. The hall (2) was one
of the most spacious and magnificent apartments in medieval
times, measuring 170 ft. by 70 ft. Like the hall in the
castle at Winchester, and Westminster Hall, as originally
built, it was divided by 18 pillars and arches, with 3
aisles. Among other apartments, for the designation of which
we must refer to the ground-plan, was a domestic oratory or
chapel, 46 1/2 ft. by 23 ft. and a kitchen (7), 50 ft. by 38
ft. The whole arrangements and character of the building
bespeak the rich and powerful feudal lord, not the humble
father of a body of hard-working brethren, bound by vows to a
life of poverty and self-denying toil. In the words of Dean
Milman, ``the superior, once a man bowed to the earth with
humility, care-worn, pale, emaciated, with a coarse habit
bound with a cord, with naked feet, had become an abbot
on his curvetting palfrey, in rich attire, with his silver
cross before him, travelling to take his place amid the
lordliest of the realm.'' --(Lat. Christ. vol. iii. p. 330.)

Austin Canons.

The buildings of the Austin canons or Black canons (so
called from the colour of their habit) present few distinctive
peculiarities. This order had its first seat in England at
Colchester, where a house for Austin canons was founded about
A.D. 1105, and it very soon spread widely. As an order
of regular clergy, holding a middle position between monks
and secular canons, almost resembling a community of parish
priests living under rule, they adopted naves of great length
to accommodate large congregations. The choir is usually
long, and is sometimes, as at Llanthony and Christ Church
(Twynham), shut off from the aisles, or, as at Bolton, Kirkham,
&c., is destitute of aisles altogether. The nave in the northern
houses, not unfrequently, had only a north aisle, as at Bolton,
Brinkburn and Lanercost. The arrangement of the monastic
buildings followed the ordinary type. The prior's lodge was
almost invariably attached to the S.W. angle of the nave.

Bristol Cathedral.

The annexed plan of the Abbey of St Augustine's at Bristol,
now the cathedral church of that city, shows the arrangement
of the buildings, which departs very little from the
ordinary Benedictine type. The Austin canons' house at
Thornton, in Lincolnshire, is remarkable for the size
and magnificence of its gate-house, the upper floors of
which formed the guest-house of the establishment, and for
possessing an octagonal chapter-house of Decorated date.

Premonstratensians.

The Premonstratensian regular canons, or White canons, had
as many as 35 houses in England, of which the most perfect
remaining are those of Easby. Yorkshire, and Bayham, Kent.
The head house of the order in England was Welbeck. This order
was a reformed branch of the Austin canons, founded, A.D.
1119, by Norbert (born at Xanten, on the Lower Rhine, c.
1080) at Premontre, a secluded marshy valley in the forest
of Coucy in the diocese of Laon. The order spread widely.
Even in the founder's lifetime it possessed houses in Syria and
Palestine. It long maintained its rigid austerity, till in
the course of years wealth impaired its discipline, and its
members sank into indolence and luxury. The Premonstratensians
were brought to England shortly after A.D. 1140, and were
first settled at Newhouse, in Lincolnshire, near the Humber.
The ground-plan of Easby Abbey, owing to its situation on the
edge of the steeply sloping banks of a river, is singularly
irregular. The cloister is duly placed on the south side of the
church, and the chief buildings occupy their usual positions
round it. But the cloister garth, as at Chichester, is not
rectangular, and all the surrounding buildings are thus made
to sprawl in a very awkward fashion. The church follows
the plan adopted by the Austin canons in their northern
abbeys, and has only one aisle to the nave--that to the
north; while the choir is long, narrow and aisleless. Each
transept has an aisle to the east, forming three chapels.

The church at Bayham was destitute of aisles either to nave or
choir. The latter terminated in a three-sided apse. This church
is remarkable for its exceeding narrowness in proportion to its
length. Extending in longitudinal dimensions 257 ft., it is

FIG. 11.--St Augustine's Abbey, Bristol (Bristol

A. Church. H. Kitchen. S. Friars' lodging.
B. Great cloister. I. Kitchen court. T. King's hall.
C. Little cloister. K. Cellars. V. Guest-house.
D. Chapter-house. L. Abbot's hall. W. Abbey gateway.
E. Calefactory. P. Abbot's gateway. X. Barns, stables, &c
F. Refectory. R. Infirmary. Y. Lavatory.
G. Parlour.

not more than 25 ft. broad. Stern Premonstratensian canons
wanted no congregations, and cared for no possessions;
therefore they built their church like a long room.

Carthusians.

The Carthusian order, on its establishment by St Bruno,
about A.D. 1084, developed a greatly modified form and
arrangement of a monastic institution. The principle of this
order, which combined the coenobitic with the solitary life,
demanded the erection of buildings on a novel plan. This
plan, which was first adopted by St Bruno and his twelve
companions at the original institution at Chartreux, near
Grenoble, was maintained in all the Carthusian establishments
throughout Europe, even after the ascetic severity of the order
had been to some extent relaxed, and the primitive simplicity
of their buildings had been exchanged for the magnificence
of decoration which characterizes such foundations as the
Certosas of Pavia and Florence. According to the rule of
St Bruno, all the members of a Carthusian brotherhood lived
in the most absolute solitude and silence. Each occupied a
small detached cottage, standing by itself in a small garden
surrounded by high walls and connected by a common corridor or
cloister. In these cottages or cells a Carthusian monk
passed his time in the strictest asceticism, only leaving
his solitary dwelling to attend the services of the Church,
except on certain days when the brotherhood assembled in the
refectory. The peculiarity of the arrangements of a Carthusian
monastery, or charter-house, as it was called in England,
from a corruption of the French chartreux, is exhibited
in the plan of that of Clermont, from Viollet-le-Duc.

Clermont.

The whole establishment is surrounded hy a wall, furnished
at intervals with watch towers (R) . The enclosure is divided
into two courts, of which the eastern court, surrounded by a
cloister, from from which the cottages of the monks (I) open,
is musch the larger. The two courts are divided by the main
buildings of the monastery, including the church, the sanctuary
(A), divided from B, the monks' choir, by a screen with two
altars, the smaller cloister to the south (S) surrounded by
the chapter-house (E), the refectory (X)---these buildings
occupying their normal position--and the chapel of Pontgibaud
(K). The kitchen with its offices (V) lies behind the
relectory, accessible ftom the outer court without entering the
cloister. To the north of the church, beyond the sacristy
(L), and the side chapels (M), we find the cell of the sub-prior
(a), with its garden. The lodgings of the prior (G) occupy
the centre of the outer court, immediately in front of the
west door of the church, and face the gateway of the convent
(O). A small raised court with a fountain (C) is before
it. This outer court also contains the guest-chambers (P),
the stables and lodgings of the lay brothers (N), the barns
and granaries (Q), the dovecot (H) and the bakehouse (T).
At Z is the prison. In this outer court, in all the earlier
foundations, as at Witham, there was a smaller church in
addition to the larger church of the monks.) The outer and
inner courts are connected by a long passage (F), wide enough
to admit a cart laden with wood to supply the cells of the
brethren with fuel. The number of cells surrounding the great

A. Church.
B. Monks' choir.
C. Prior's garden.
D. Great cloister.
E. Chapter-house.
F. Passage.
G. Prior's lodgings.
H. Dovecot.
I. Cells.
K. Chapel of Pontgibaud.
L. Sacristy.
M. Chapel.
N. Stables.
O. Gateway.
P. Guest-chambers.
Q. Barns and granaries.
R. Watch-tower.
S. Little cloister.
T. Bakehouse.
V. Kitchen.
X. Refectory.
Y. Cemetery.
Z. Prison.
a. Cell of subprior
b. Garden of do.
FIG. 12.--Carthusian monastery of Clermont.

cloister is 18. They are all arranged on a uniform plan.
Each little dwelling contains three rooms: a sitting-room
(C), warmed by a stove in winter; a sleeping-room (D),
furnished with a bed, a table, a bench, and a bookcase; and
a closet (E). Between the cell and the cloister gallery (A)
is a passage or corridor (B), cutting off the inmate of the
cell from all sound or movement which might interrupt his
meditations. The superior had free access to this corridor, and
through open niches was able to inspect the garden without being
seen. At I is the hatch or turn-table, in which the daily
allowance of food was deposited by a brother appointed for that
purpose, affording no view either inwards or outwards. H is the
garden, cultivated by the occupant of the cell. At K is the
wood-house. F is a covered walk, with the necessary at the end.

The above arrangements are found with scarcely any variation
in all the charter-houses of western Europe. The Yorkshire
Charter-house of Mount Grace, founded by Thomas Holland, the
young duke of Surrey, nephew of Richard II. and marshal of
England, during the revival of the popularity of the order,
about A.D. 1397, is the most perfect and best preserved English
example. It is characterized by all the simplicity of the
order. The church is a modest building, long, narrow and
aisleless. Within the wall of enclosure are two courts.
The smaller of the two, the south, presents the usual
arrangement of church, refectory, &c., opening out of a
cloister. The buildings are plain and solid. The northern
court contains the cells, 14 in number. It is surrotmded by a
double stone wall, the two walls being about 30 ft. or 40 ft.
apart. Between these, each in its own garden, stand the cells;
low-built two-storied cottages, of two or three rooms on the
ground-floor, lighted by a larger and a smaller window to the
side, and provided with a doorway to the court, and one at the
back, opposite to one in the outer wall, through which the
monk may have conveyed the sweepings of his cell and the refuse
of his garden to the ``eremus'' beyond. By the side of the
door to the court is a little hatch through which the daily
pittance of food was supplied, so contrived by turning at an
angle in the wall that no one could either look in or look
out. A very perfect example of this hatch---an arrangement
belonging to all Carthusian houses--exists at Miraflores, near
Burgos, which remains nearly as it was completed in 1480.

A. Cloister gallery.
B. Corridor.
C. Living-room.
D. Sleeping-room.
E. Closets.
F. Covered walk.
G. Necessary.
H. Garden.
I. Hatch.
K. Wood-house.
FIG. 13--Carthusian cell, Clermont.

There were only nine Carthusian houses in England. The
earliest was that at Witham in Somersetshire, founded
by Henry II., by whom the order was first brought into
England. The wealthiest and most magnificent was that of
Sheen or Richmond in Surrey, founded by Henry V. about A.D.
1414. The, dimensions of the buildings at Sheen are stated
to have been remarkably large. The great court measured
300 ft. by 250 ft.; the cloisters were a square of 500 ft.;
the hall was 110 ft. in length by 60 ft. in breadth. The
most celebrated historically is the Charter house of London,
founded by Sir Walter Manny A.D. 1371, the name of which
is preserved by the famous public school established on the
site by Thomas Sutton A.D. 1611, now removed to Godalming.

Mendicant Friars.

An article on monastic arrangements would be incomplete without
some account of the convents of the Mendicant or Preaching
Friars, including the Black Friars or Dominicans, the Grey
or Franciscans, the White or Carmelites, the Eremite or
Austin, Friars. These orders arose at the beginning of the
13th century, when the Benedictines, together with their
various reformed branches, had terminated their active
mission, and Christian Europe was ready for a new religious
revival. Planting themselves, as a rule, in large towns,
and by preference in the poorest and most densely populated
districts, the Preaching Friars were obliged to adapt their
buildings to the requirements of the site. Regularity of
arrangement, therefore, was not possible, even if they had
studied it. Their churches, built for the reception of
large congregations of hearers rather than worshippers, form
a class by themselves, totally unlike those of the elder
orders in ground-plan and character. They were usually long
parallelograms unbroken by transepts. The nave very usually
consisted of two equal bodies, one containing the stalls
of the brotherhood, the other left entirely free for the
congregation. The constructional choir is often wanting,
the whole church forming one uninterrupted structure, with
a continuous range of windows. The east end was usually
square, but the Friars Church at Winchelsea had a polygonal
apse. We not unfrequently find a single transept, sometimes of
great size, rivalling or exceeding the nave. This arrangement
is frequent in Ireland, where the numerous small friaries
afford admirable exemplifications of these peculiarities of
ground-plan. The friars' churches were at first destitute of
towers; but in the 14th and 15th centuries, tall, slender towers
were commonly inserted between the nave and the choir. The
Grey Friars at Lynn, where the tower is hexagonal, is a good
example. The arrangement of the monastic buildings is equally
peculiar and characteristic. We miss entirely the regularity
of the buildings of the earlier orders. At the Jacobins at
Paris, a cloister lay to the north of the long narrow church
of two parallel aisles, while the refectory--a room of immense
length, quite detached from the cloister--stretched across
the area before the west front of the church. At Toulouse the
nave also has two parallel aisles, but the choir is apsidal,
with radiating chapel. The refectory stretches northwards at
right angles to the cloister, which lies to the north of the
church, having the chapter-house and sacristy on the east.

Norwich. Gloucester.

As examples of English friaries, the Dominican house at
Norwich, and those of the Dominicans and Franciscans at
Gloucester, may be mentioned. The church of the Black
Friars of Norwich departs from the original type in the
nave (now St Andrew's Hall), in having regular aisles. In
this it resembles the earlier examples of the Grey Friars at
Reading. The choir is long and aisleless; an hexagonal tower
between the two, like that existing at Lynn, has perished. Thc
cloister and monastic buildings remain tolerably perfect to the
north. The Dominican convent at Gloucester still exhibits the
cloister-court, on the north side of which is the desecrated
church. The refectory is on the west side and on the south
the dormitory of the 13th century. This is a remarkably good
example. There were 18 cells or cubicles on each side, divided
by partitions, the bases of which remain. On the east side
was the prior's house, a building of later date. At the Grey
or Franciscan Friars, the church followed the ordinary type in
having two equal bodies, each gabled, with a continuous range of
windows. There was a slender tower between the nave and the choir.

Hulne.

Of the convents of the Carmelite or White Friars we have a
good example in the Abbey of Hulne, near Alnwick, the first
of the order in England, founded A.D. 1240. The church
is a narrow oblong, destitute of aisles, 123 ft. long by
only 26 ft. wide. The cloisters are to the south, with
the chapter-house, &c., to the east, with the dormitory
over. The prior's lodge is placed to the west of the
cloister. The guest-houses adjoin the entrance gateway, to
which a chapel was annexed on the south side of the conventual
area. The nave of the church of the Austin Friars or Eremites
in London is still standing. It is of Decorated date, and
has wide centre and side aisles, divided by a very light and
graceful arcade. Some fragments of the south walk of the
cloister of the Grey Friars remained among the buildings of
Christ's Hospital (the Blue-Coat School), while they were still
standing. Of the Black Friars all has perished but the
name. Taken as a whole, the remains of the establishments of
the friars afford little warrant for the bitter invective of
the Benedictine of St Alban's, Matthew Paris:---``The friars
who have been founded hardly 40 years have built residences
as the palaces of kings. These are they who, enlarging day
by day their sumptuous edifices, encircling them with lofty
walls, lay up in them their incalculable treasures, imprudently
transgressing the bounds of poverty and violating the very
fundamental rules of their profession.'' Allowance must here be
made for jealousy of a rival order just rising in popularity.

Cells.

Every large monastery had depending upon it one or more smaller
establishments known as cells. These cells were monastic
colonies, sent forth by the parent house, and planted on some
outlying estate. As an example, we may refer to the small
religious house of St Mary Magdalene's, a cell of the great
Benedictine house of St Mary's, York, in the valley of the
Witham, to the south-east of the city of Lincoln. This consists
of one long narrow range of building, of which the eastern part
formed the chapel and the western contained the apartments of
the handful of monks of which it was the home. To the east
may be traced the site of the abbey mill, with its dam and
mill-lead. These cells, when belonging to a Cluniac house,
were called Obedientiae. The plan given by Viollet-le-Duc
of the Priory of St Jean des Bons Hommes, a Cluniac cell,
situated between the town of Avallon and the village of
Savigny, shows that these diminutive establishments comprised
every essential feature of a monastery,---chapel, cloister,
chapter-room, refectory, dormitory, all grouped according to the
recognized arrangement. These Cluniac obedientiae differed
from the ordinary Benedictine cells in being also places of
punishment, to which monks who had been guilty of any grave
infringement of the rules were relegated as to a kind of
penitentiary. Here they were placed under the authority of a
prior, and were condemned to severe manual labour, fulfilling
the duties usually executed by the lay brothers, who acted as
farmservants. The outlying farming establishments belonging to
the monastic foundations were known as villae or granges.
They gave employment to a body of conversi and labourers
under the management of a monk, who bore the title of Brother
Hospitaller ---the granges, like their parent institutions,
affording shelter and hospitality to belated travellers.

AUTHORITIES.--Dugdale, Monasticon; Lenoir,
Architecture monastique (1852--1856); Veollet-le-Duc,
Dictionnaire raisonnee de l'architecture francaise;
Springer, Klosterleben und Klosterkunst (1886); Kraus,
Geschichte der christlichen Kunst (1896). (E. V.)

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