MONASTIC SPLENDOR AND POVERTY
To care for ill monks, monasteries had infirmaries—proto-hospitals that were
generally built at a short distance from the church and communal buildings (see
Figure 5.3 on p. 191). The Benedictine Rule imagined that each monastic community
would carry out most of its tasks within an enclosed building complex. One
Benedictine monastery that has been excavated particularly fully is Saint-Germain at
Auxerre. In the twelfth century (see Figure 5.1), it boasted a very large church with
an elaborate narthex that served as a grand entranceway for liturgical processions.
Toward the east of the church, where the altar stood and the monks sang the Offices,
stairs led down to a crypt housing saintly relics constructed during the Carolingian
period. To the north and south were the conventual buildings—the sacristy (which
stored liturgical vessels and vestments), the “chapter house” (where the Benedictine
Rule was read), the common room, dormitory (where the monks slept), refectory
(dining hall), kitchens, and cellar. At the center of all was the cloister, entirely
enclosed by graceful arcades. Beyond these buildings were undoubtedly others—not
yet excavated—for the craftsmen and servants of the monastery, for the ill, for
pilgrims and other guests. The whole purpose of this complex was to allow the
monks to carry out a life of arduous and nearly continuous prayer. Every detail of
their lives was ordered, every object splendid, every space adorned to render due
honor to the Lord of heaven.
