AbbeY

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.)