south transept. 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 discipline 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 vis 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 calefactory 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 furthest removed from it. In the Cistercian monasteries, to keep the noise and sound of dinner still further 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. Further 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 required 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 (I), 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 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 agriculturalists 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.
Bird's eye View of Citeaux.
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A. Cross. B. Gate-House, C. Almonry. D. Chapel. E. Inner Gate-House. F. Stable. G. Dormitory of Lay Brethren. H. Abbot's House. I. Kitchen. K. Refectory. L. Staircase to Dormitry. M. Dormitory. N. Church. P. Library. R. Infirmary. S. Door to the Church. for the Lay Brothers T. Base Court. V. Great Cloister. W. Small Cloister. X. Boundary Wall.
This stereotyped arrangement is further illustrated by Citeaux the accompanying bird's eye view of the mother establishment of Citeaxix. A cross (A), planted on the high road
