What role did monasteries play in the life of Western Europe in the Middle Ages. The oldest medieval monasteries in Europe What role did the monasteries play in the Middle Ages
We all heard about monasteries in France, Spain, Italy, Greece... but almost nothing is known about German monasteries, and all because due to the Reformation of the Church in the 16th century, most of them were abolished and have not survived to this day. . However, in the south of Germany near Tübingen, one very interesting monastery has been preserved.
Bebenhausen was founded in 1183 by the count palatine of Tübingen and the monks of the Cistercian Order settled there, although the monks of another Order, the Premonsians, built the monastery, but for some reason they left the monastery a couple of years after its construction. The monastery was quite rich and owned good allotments, on which the monks were engaged in agriculture, including the cultivation of vineyards. The independence of the monastery was ensured by the charter of Emperor Henry VI and the bull of Pope Innocent III. In addition, the monastery owned a large area of forest where it was possible to hunt. In 1534, the monastery was abolished due to the fact that Protestantism came to these lands and catholic monasteries were no longer needed here, but the monks continued to live here until 1648. Since then, the monastery has been used as a Protestant school, at one time was the residence of the Württemberg kings, who hunted in the same forest, and was also used as a place where the regional parliament met. Now it is just a museum, but the monastery is unique in that it has been preserved much better than others. The architecture of the monastery is an excellent example of the German Gothic of the late 15th century. The original Romanesque buildings of the 12th and 13th centuries were simply rebuilt.
Plan of the monastery
There is no more than a kilometer from the northern outskirts of Tübingen, so you can do without a car. In addition, there are buses between and Tübingen with a stop at the monastery - 826 (828) and 754, plying between Sinterfingen and Tübingen.
For those who drive, just turn off the L1208 road and almost immediately you will see free parking right at the very walls of the monastery.
Just right in front of the red bus goes
The monastery itself is more like a medieval, fortified village. There are powerful walls and towers here, but there are also cozy private houses, as well as vegetable gardens. Go beyond the walls is not difficult - it's free. You can see most of the monastery in this way.
First you go up the stairs and fall behind the first walls
Then we rise even higher
One of the two fortification towers
parade ground
Green tower. Apparently named after the color of the tiles.
Between the walls
Village behind the walls
it former House abbots, now the directorate of the museum is located here
House of Abbots
This, as I understand it, is the castle of the kings of Württemberg. It consists of several halls and a kitchen and is connected by a corridor with the main building of the monastery.
Corridor connecting the castle and monastery
Hall under the main building of the castle
Beyond the walls
The main building of the monastery on the right
In the depths of the courtyard, against the back walls, there is a monastery church, but there is no entrance to it.
In this part of the monastery, near the walls, there is a monastery cemetery.
Here on the corner of the walls is the second fortification tower - the Recording Tower (Schreibturm). Below it is another entrance to the monastery, obviously the main one.
Houses outside the walls of the monastery. There is another public car park here.
South wall of the monastery
Western wall of the monastery
record tower
Abbots' house
medicinal garden
And finally, having gone around the entire territory of the monastery, we approached the main building
Here you can buy a ticket and see the main building of the monastery and its church. At the checkout, do not forget to ask for a description of the monastery in Russian, then you will be given a pack of files that will tell you about all the premises of the monastery
At first glance, this is just a souvenir shop with cash desks, in fact there was a monastery kitchen, as evidenced by the preserved stove. According to the monastery charter, the monks ate here 2 times a day, and in winter, due to the shortened daylight hours - only 1 time. The diet consisted of 410 grams of bread, vegetables, fruits and eggs. Sick brothers were allowed to eat meat. On holidays they gave white bread, fish, wine.
Inside the monastery, traditional galleries around the garden await us.
The first hall in this part of the monastery will be the refectory, it was located right next to the kitchen, but until the end of the 15th century, laymen, not monks, ate here. In 1513, a refectory was built on this site - that is, a warm heated room for winter time (the room was heated by stoves located in the basement). This is the winter dining hall.
There are many interesting patterns on the carved columns that support the ceiling, including pretzel and crayfish.
The fresco depicts the visit of Abbot Humbert von Sieto in 1471
The walls and ceilings of the hall are decorated with coats of arms of the founders of the monastery, monks, abbots and German princes.
From 1946 to 1952, the local Landtag met here
From the winter refectory we find ourselves in the refectory of novices, which until 1513 was a pantry. This room, like the next one, was heated. The painting on the ceiling is original and dates back to 1530. A door in the far right corner led to the novices' bedrooms.
As for the number of novices, there is information that at the end of the 13th century there were 130 people at the monastery at once. The novices ate the same as the monks.
Now there is a small museum of the treasures of the monastery.
Pay attention to the arrow of St. Sebastian, this is how they tried to kill him. The relic is very important, since Saint Sebastian was believed to protect against the plague, and because of it, many people died in the monastery at one time.
From the part of the monastery intended for novices, we find ourselves in the northern wing of the gallery. Here the monks read, and also some rituals took place here, for example, washing the feet. In addition, dead brothers were often buried in this wing. On the other side of the gallery is the entrance to the monastery church, there are carved marks on the wall about the size of the burial places of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, which were brought from the holy land by Count Eberhard in 1492
West gallery, novices wing
Here on the walls after the Reformation, many left information about themselves
From the northern wing of the gallery we get to the monastery church in honor of the Virgin Mary. It was built in 1228. This is a three-nave Romanesque basilica, very austere, as befits the architecture of the Cistercians. Indeed, before the Reformation
the church was decorated much richer, in particular, it contained as many as 20 altars.
According to the monastic daily routine, services were held here 7 times during the day and 1 time at night.
The most noteworthy detail here is the office (pulpit) of 1565, decorated with stucco
Immediately at the entrance to the church there is a staircase that leads to the cells of the monks - the dormitorium. This is the only place in the monastery where the second floor is available to visitors. Until 1516 there was a common bedroom, then separate rooms (cells) appeared. The walls and ceiling are decorated with floral motifs. In addition, at the entrance, inscriptions from the monastery charter have been preserved. The tiles here are also ancient, dating back to the 13th century. In the middle of the 20th century, when the Landtag was located in the monastery building, parliamentarians slept here
One of the rooms is available for viewing.
Washbasins
At the stairs to the floor there are a number of rooms, for example, there was a library and archive of the monastery.
The first room on the ground floor of this part of the building is the chapter house, the place where the monks used to gather. This happened every day at 6 am. There were benches along the walls, and the abbot sat opposite the entrance. The most worthy were also buried here, as evidenced by the large number of tombstones. This is the oldest part of the monastery, it dates back to 1220. The vaults were painted in 1528.
To the left at the far end of the chapter house is a small room, here in 1526 Archduke Ferdinand of Austria lived, preparing for confession
The next room in the east wing is the parlatorium. The fact is that according to the charter, the Cistercian monks were forbidden to speak, the only room where this could be done was the parlatorium. Moreover, it was possible to come here only for a short conversation on the case. Initially, a staircase led up to the bedrooms, but in the 19th century it was destroyed.
Under the floor of the hall was a heating installation, which was older than the monastery itself.
Some of the exhibits are now on display.
On the color scheme of the monastery, you can see which eras certain parts of the building belong to.
In the southern wing of the building there is one of the largest and most beautiful premises of the monastery - the Summer Refectory. It was built in 1335 in the Gothic style to replace a similar Romanesque building.
The walls here are decorated with coats of arms
And the original ceiling painting tells about the plant world and depicts fantastic animals.
And only here, in the southern wing of the galleries, I discovered that their vaults were decorated no less exquisitely. Each intersection is crowned with 130 relief decorations and none of them is repeated. Initially, a calofactory (a heated room) was located in this part, but after it was built to the west, the one located here was destroyed.
And the last room of the monastery, accessible to visitors, is the source, a kind of gazebo, located opposite the entrance to the refectory. In the center of this room was a fountain with drinking water, in addition, the brothers washed their hands here before eating. Unfortunately, the room itself and the fountain were destroyed and were only restored in 1879.
Above the entrance to the room with the source, two interesting images have been preserved.
Man in fur hat seems to be the builder himself
And this is the legendary jester and joker, the hero of fairy tales - Til Ulenspiegel
And after exploring all the halls of the monastery, we finally go out into the garden with a fountain
The 19th century fountain
As you can see, all the galleries had a second floor, unfortunately, only the dormitorium in the east wing is available to tourists.
In the warm season, the monastery is open every day from 9 to 18.00, and only on Mondays there is lunch from 12 to 13 hours. In winter, the monastery is closed on Mondays, and on other days it is open from 10 am to 12 pm and from 1 pm to 5 pm. The ticket costs 5 euros. True, shooting on the territory is paid. In addition, separately, but only with a guide, on the territory of the monastery you can see the palace of the Württemberg kings of the 19th century, as well as the castle kitchen.
If you are in these parts, then do not forget to see Tübingen itself - a very interesting city. You can also stay there for the night, I recommend the hotel for this
Joseph Anton von Koch (1768-1839) "The Monastery of San Francesco di Civitella in the Sabine Mountains". Italy, 1812Wood, oil. 34 x 46 cm.
State Hermitage. The building of the General Staff. Room 352.
Sounds of time
The fine tuning of monastic life would not have been possible without a multitude of sound signals, primarily the ringing of large and small bells. They called the monks to the services of the hours and to mass, informed them that it was time to go to the refectory, and regulated physical labor.
Guillaume Durant, Bishop of Menda, in the 13th century distinguished six types of bells: squilla in the refectory, cimballum in the cloister, nola in church choirs, nolula or dupla in the clock, campana in the bell tower, signum in the tower.
Miniature from the manuscript "Hausbuch der Mendelschen Zwölfbrüderstiftung". Germany, around 1425. Stadtbibliothek Nürnberg
Depending on the tasks, the bells were rung in different ways. For example, when calling monks to the service of the first hour and to Compline, they struck once, and to the services of the third, sixth and ninth hours - three times. In addition, a wooden board (tabula) was used in the monasteries - for example, they beat it to announce to the brethren that one of the monks was dying.
Schedule
Different abbeys had their own daily routine - depending on the day of the week, simple or public holidays etc. For example, in Cluny during the spring equinox, closer to Easter, the schedule could look like this (all references to astronomical hours are approximate):
Near 00:30
First awakening; the monks gather for the vigil.
02:30
The brethren go back to sleep.
04:00
Matins.
04:30
They fall asleep again.
05:45-06:00
They rise again at dawn.
06:30
First canonical hour; after him, the monks from the church go to the chapter hall (readings from the charter or the Gospel; discussion of administrative issues; accusatory chapter: the monks confess their own violations and blame other brothers for them).
07:30
Morning mass.
08:15-09:00
Individual prayers.
09:00-10:30
Service of the third hour, followed by the main mass.
10:45-11:30
Physical work.
11:30
Sixth hour service.
12:00
Meal.
12:45-13:45
Afternoon rest.
14:00-14:30
Ninth hour service.
14:30-16:15
Work in the garden or in the scriptorium.
16:30-17:15
Vespers.
17:30-17:50
Light dinner (except fasting days).
18:00
Compline.
18:45
The brethren go to sleep.
IV. Monastery architecture
Benedict of Nursia, in his charter, prescribed that the monastery should be built as a closed and isolated space, allowing you to isolate yourself from the world and its temptations as much as possible:
“The monastery, if this is possible, should be arranged in such a way that everything necessary, that is, water, a mill, a fish tank, a vegetable garden and various crafts, are inside the monastery, so that there is no need for monks to go outside the walls, which does not at all serve the benefit of souls. them".
If the architecture of the Romanesque and especially the Gothic temple, with their high windows and vaults directed to heaven, was often likened to a prayer in stone, then the layout of the monastery, with its premises intended only for monks, novices and converse, can be called a discipline embodied in the walls. and galleries. A monastery is a closed world where dozens, and sometimes hundreds of men or women, must go together to salvation. This is a sacred space (the church was likened to Heavenly Jerusalem, the cloister was likened to the Garden of Eden, etc.) and at the same time a complex economic mechanism with barns, kitchens and workshops.
Of course, medieval abbeys were not built according to the same plan at all and were completely different from each other. An early medieval Irish monastery, where a dozen hermit brothers who practiced extreme asceticism lived in tiny stone cells, can hardly be compared with the huge abbey of Cluny in its heyday. There were several cloister courtyards (for monks, novices and the sick), separate chambers for the abbot and a giant basilica - the so-called. Church of Cluny III (1088-1130), which until the construction of the current St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome (1506-1626) was the most big temple the Catholic world. The monasteries of the mendicant orders (primarily the Franciscans and Dominicans, which were usually built in the middle of the cities where the brothers went to preach) are not at all like the Benedictine cloisters. The latter were often erected in forests or on mountain cliffs, like Mont Saint-Michel on a rocky islet off the coast of Normandy or Sacra di San Michele in Piedmont (this abbey became the prototype of the Alpine monastery described in Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose).
The architecture of the monastery churches and the organization of the entire abbey, of course, depended on local traditions, available building materials, the size of the brethren and their financial capabilities. However, it was also important how open the monastery was to the world. For example, if a monastery, thanks to the relics or miraculous images stored there, attracted a lot of pilgrims (like the Abbey of Sainte-Foy in Conques, France), it was necessary to equip the infrastructure for their reception: for example, to expand and rebuild the temple so that pilgrims could access the desired shrines and did not pass each other, to build hospitable houses.
The oldest and most famous of the medieval monastic plans was drawn up in the first half of the ninth century in the German abbey of Reichenau for Gosbert, abbot of St. Gallen (in modern Switzerland). Five sheets of parchment (with a total size of 112 × 77.5 cm) depict not a real, but an ideal monastery. This is a huge complex with dozens of buildings and 333 inscriptions that indicate the names and purpose of various buildings: churches, scriptorium, dormitory, refectory, kitchens, bakery, brewery, abbot's residence, hospital, houses for guest monks, etc.
We will choose a simpler plan, which shows how a typical Cistercian monastery, similar to the abbey of Fontenay, founded in Burgundy in 1118, could be arranged in the 12th century. Since the structure of the Cistercian abbeys largely followed older models, this plan has much to say about life in the monasteries and other Benedictine "families".
Model monastery
1. Church
2. Cloister
3. Washbasin
4. Sacristy
5. Library
6. Chapter Hall
7. Room for conversations
8. Bedroom
9. Warm room
10. Refectory
11. Kitchen
12. Refectory for converse
13. Entrance to the monastery
14. Hospital
15. Other buildings
16. Large pantry
17. Converse corridor
18. Cemetery
1. Church
Unlike the Cluniacs, the Cistercians strove for maximum simplicity and asceticism of form. They abandoned the crowns of chapels in favor of a flat apse and almost completely expelled figurative decor from the interiors (statues of saints, stained-glass windows, scenes carved on capitals). In their churches, which were supposed to conform to the ideal of severe asceticism, geometry triumphed.
Like the vast majority Catholic churches At that time, the Cistercian churches were built in the form of a Latin cross (where the elongated nave was crossed at right angles by a transept), and their interior space was divided into several important zones.
At the eastern end was the presbytery (A), where the main altar stood, on which the priest celebrated Mass, and nearby in the chapels arranged in the arms of the transept, additional altars were placed.
The gate arranged on the north side of the transept (B), usually led to the monastery cemetery (18) . C south side, which adjoined other monastic buildings, it was possible to climb the stairs (C) go up to the monastery bedroom - dormitory (8) , and next to it was a door (D) through which the monks entered and exited the cloister (2) .
Further, at the intersection of the nave with the transept, there were choirs (E). There the monks gathered for the services of the hours and for masses. In the choirs, opposite each other, there were two rows of benches or chairs (English stalls, French stalles) in parallel. In the late Middle Ages, reclining seats were most often made in them, so that monks during tedious services could either sit or stand, leaning on small consoles - misericords (remember the French word misericorde - "compassion", "mercy" - such shelves, indeed, were a mercy to the weary or infirm brothers).
Benches were placed behind the choir. (F) where, during the service, the sick brothers, temporarily separated from the healthy ones, as well as novices, were located. Next came the partition (English rood screen, French jubé), on which a large crucifix was installed (G). In parish churches, cathedrals and monastery churches, where pilgrims were admitted, it separated the choir and presbytery, where worship was held and the clergy were located, from the nave, where the laity had access. The laity could not go beyond this border and in fact did not see the priest, who, in addition, stood with his back to them. In modern times, most of these partitions were demolished, so when we enter some medieval temple, we need to imagine that earlier its space was not at all uniform and accessible to everyone.
In Cistercian churches in the nave there could be a choir for converse (H) worldly brothers. From their cloister they entered the temple through a special entrance (I). It was located near the western portal (J) through which the laity could enter the church.
2. Cloister
A quadrangular (more rarely, polygonal or even round) gallery, which adjoined the church from the south and connected the main monastic buildings together. A garden was often laid out in the center. In the monastic tradition, the cloister was likened to Eden surrounded by a wall, Noah's Ark, where the family of the righteous was saved from the waters sent to sinners as punishment, Solomon's temple or Heavenly Jerusalem. The name of the galleries comes from the Latin claustrum - "enclosed, enclosed space." Therefore, in the Middle Ages, both the central courtyard and the entire monastery could be called that.
The cloister served as the center of monastic life: along its galleries, the monks moved from the bedroom to the church, from the church to the refectory, and from the refectory, for example, to the scriptorium. There was a well and a place for washing - lavatorium (3) .
Solemn processions were also held in the cloister: for example, in Cluny every Sunday between the third hour and the main mass, the brothers, led by one of the priests, marched through the monastery, sprinkling all the premises with holy water.
In many Benedictine monasteries, such as the abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos (Spain) or Saint-Pierre-de-Moissac (France), many scenes from the Bible, lives of saints, allegorical images (as a confrontation between vices and virtues), as well as frightening figures of demons and various monsters, animals intertwined with each other, etc. The Cistercians, who sought to get away from excessive luxury and any images that could distract the monks from prayer and contemplation, expelled such decor from their monasteries.
3. Washbasin
AT Clean Thursday on the Holy Week- in memory of how Christ washed the feet of his disciples before the Last Supper (John 13:5-11) - the monks, led by the abbot, there humbly washed and kissed the feet of the poor, who were brought to the monastery.
In the gallery that adjoined the church, every day before Compline, the brethren gathered to listen to the reading of some pious text - collatio. This name arose from the fact that St. Benedict recommended for this “Conversation” (“Collationes”) by John Cassian (about 360 - about 435), an ascetic who was one of the first to transfer the principles of monastic life from Egypt to the West. Then the word collatio began to be called a snack or a glass of wine, which in fast days were given out to the monks at this evening hour (hence the French word collation - “snack”, “light dinner”).
4. Sacristy
The room in which liturgical vessels, liturgical vestments and books were kept under the castle (if the monastery did not have a special treasury, then relics), as well as the most important documents: historical chronicles and collections of charters, which listed purchases, donations and other acts from which depended on the material well-being of the monastery.
5. Library
There was a library next to the sacristy. AT small communities it looked more like a small closet with books, in huge abbeys it looked like a majestic vault in which the characters of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose are looking for the forbidden volume of Aristotle.
What the monks read at different times and in different parts of Europe, we can imagine thanks to the inventories of medieval monastic libraries. These are lists of the Bible or individual bible books, commentaries on them, liturgical manuscripts, writings of the Church Fathers and authoritative theologians (Ambrose of Milan, Augustine of Hippo, Jerome of Stridon, Gregory the Great, Isidore of Seville, etc.), lives of saints, collections of miracles, historical chronicles, treatises on canon law, geography, astronomy, medicine, botany, Latin grammars, works of ancient Greek and Roman authors... It is well known that many ancient texts have survived to this day only because they were preserved by medieval monks, despite their suspicious attitude towards pagan wisdom.
In Carolingian times, the richest monasteries - such as St. Gallen and Lorsch in the German lands or Bobbio in Italy - possessed 400-600 volumes. The catalog of the library of the monastery of Saint-Riquier in northern France, compiled in 831, consisted of 243 volumes. A chronicle written in the 12th century at the monastery of Saint-Pierre-le-Vief in Sens, lists the manuscripts ordered to be rewritten or restored by the abbe Arnaud. In addition to biblical and liturgical books, it included comments and theological writings by Origen, Augustine of Hippo, Gregory the Great, the passion of the martyr Tiburtius, a description of the transfer of the relics of St. Benedict to the monastery of Fleury, the History of the Lombards by Paul Deacon, etc.
In many monasteries, the library functioned as scriptoria, where the brothers copied and decorated new books. Until the 13th century, when workshops for lay scribes began to multiply in the cities, monasteries remained the main producers of books, and monks their main readers.
6. Chapter Hall
The administrative and disciplinary center of the monastery. It was there that every morning (after the service of the first hour in summer; after the third hour and morning mass in winter) the monks gathered to read one of the chapters (capitulum) of the Benedictine Rule. Hence the name of the hall. In addition to the charter, they read out a fragment from the martyrology (a list of saints whose memory was celebrated on each day) and an obituary (a list of the deceased brothers, patrons of the monastery and members of his “family”, for whom the monks should offer prayers on this day).
In the same hall, the abbot instructed the brethren and sometimes consulted with selected monks. There, the novices who passed the probationary period again asked to be tonsured as monks. There the abbot received the mighty of this world and resolved conflicts between the monastery and church authorities or secular lords. The “accusatory chapter” also took place there - after reading the charter, the abbot said: “If someone has something to say, let him speak.” And then those monks who knew for someone or for themselves some kind of violation (for example, they were late for the service or left the found thing with them for at least one day), they had to confess to the rest of the brethren in it and suffer the punishment, which appointed by the pastor.
The frescoes that adorned the capitular halls of many Benedictine abbeys reflected their disciplinary vocation. For example, in the St. Emmeram Monastery in Regensburg, paintings were made on the theme of the “angelic life” of monks struggling with temptations, following the model of St. Benedict, their father and legislator. In the monastery of Saint-Georges-de-Bocherville in Normandy, on the arcades of the capitular hall, images of corporal punishment were carved, to which the guilty monks were sentenced.
Granet Francois-Marius (1775-1849) "Meeting of the monastery chapter". France, 1833
Canvas, oil. 97 x 134.5 cm.
State Hermitage.
7. Room for conversations
The Rule of St. Benedict ordered the brethren to remain silent most of the time. Silence was considered the mother of virtues, and a closed mouth was considered “a condition for the rest of the heart.” Collections of the customs of various monasteries sharply limited those places and moments of the day when the brothers could communicate with each other, and the lives described heavy punishments that fall on the heads of talkers. In some abbeys, a distinction was made between "great silence" (when it is forbidden to speak at all) and "little silence" (when one could speak in an undertone). In separate rooms - churches, dormitories, a refectory, etc. - idle conversations were completely prohibited. After Compline, there was to be absolute silence in the entire monastery.
In case of emergency, it was possible to talk in special rooms (auditorium). In Cistercian monasteries there could be two of them: one for the prior and monks (next to the chapter hall), the second, primarily for the cellar and convers (between their refectory and kitchen).
To facilitate communication, some abbeys developed special sign languages that made it possible to transmit the simplest messages without formally violating the charter. Such gestures did not mean sounds or syllables, but whole words: the names of various premises, everyday objects, elements of worship, liturgical books, etc. Lists of such signs were preserved in many monasteries. For example, in Cluny there were 35 gestures for describing food, 22 for items of clothing, 20 for worship, etc. To “say” the word “bread”, one had to make two little fingers and two index fingers circle, as bread was usually baked round. In different abbeys, the gestures were completely different, and the gesticulating monks of Cluny and Hirsau would not have understood each other.
8. Bedroom, or dormitorium
Most often, this room was located on the second floor, above the chapter hall or next to it, and it could be accessed not only from the cloister, but also through the passage from the church. The 22nd chapter of the Benedictine charter prescribed that each monk should sleep on a separate bed, preferably in the same room:
«<…>... but if their numbers do not allow this to be arranged, let them sleep by ten or twenty, with the elders, on whom lies the care of them. Let the lamp in the bedroom burn until morning.
They should sleep in their clothes, girded with belts or ropes. When they sleep, let them not have their little knives with which they work, cut off branches and the like, so as not to injure themselves during sleep. The monks should always be ready and, as soon as the sign is given, get up without delay, hasten, preempting one another, to the work of God, decorously, but modestly. The youngest brethren should not have beds next to each other, but let them be mixed with the elders. Standing up for the cause of God, let them fraternally encourage each other, dispelling the excuses invented by the drowsy.
Benedict of Nursia instructed that the monk should sleep on a simple mat, covered with a blanket. However, his charter was intended for a monastery located in southern Italy. In northern lands—say, Germany or Scandinavia—observance of this directive required much greater (often almost impossible) selflessness and contempt for the flesh. In various monasteries and orders, depending on their severity, different measures of comfort were allowed. For example, Franciscans were required to sleep on bare ground or planks, and mats were only allowed for those who were physically weak.
9. Warm room, or calefactorium
Since almost all the premises of the monastery were not heated, a special warm room was arranged in the northern lands, where the fire was maintained. There the monks could warm up a little, melt the frozen ink or wax their shoes.
10. Refectory, or refectorium
AT large monasteries the refectories, which were supposed to accommodate the entire brethren, were very impressive. For example, in the Parisian abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the refectory was 40 meters long and 20 meters wide. Long tables with benches were placed in the shape of the letter "P", and all the brethren were seated behind them in order of seniority - just like in the choir of the church.
In the Benedictine monasteries, where, unlike the Cistercian ones, there were many cult and didactic images, frescoes depicting the Last Supper were often painted in the refectories. The monks had to identify themselves with the apostles gathered around Christ.
11. Kitchen
The Cistercian diet was mostly vegetarian, with the addition of fish. There were no special cooks - the brothers worked in the kitchen for a week, on Saturday evening the brigade on duty gave way to the next one.
For most of the year, the monks received only one meal a day, in the late afternoon. From mid-September until Lent (beginning around mid-February), they could eat for the first time after the ninth hour, and at great post— after supper. Only after Easter did the monks get the right to have another meal around noon.
Most often, the monastic dinner consisted of beans (beans, lentils, etc.), designed to satisfy hunger, after which they served the main course, which included fish or eggs and cheese. On Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, each usually received a whole portion, and on the days of fasting, Monday, Wednesday and Friday - one portion for two.
In addition, to support the strength of the monks, every day they were given a portion of bread and a glass of wine or beer.
12. Refectory for converse
In the Cistercian monasteries, lay brothers were separated from full-fledged monks: they had their own dormitory, their own refectory, their own entrance to the church, etc.
13. Entrance to the monastery
The Cistercians strove to build their abbeys as far as possible from towns and villages in order to overcome the secularization in which the “black monks”, primarily the Clunians, had been mired in the centuries since the time of St. Benedict. Nevertheless, the “white monks” also could not completely fence themselves off from the world. Lay people came to them, members of the monastic "family", connected with the brothers by ties of kinship or who decided to serve the monastery. The gatekeeper, who watched over the entrance to the monastery, periodically welcomed the poor, who were given bread and leftover food left uneaten by the brothers.
14. Hospital
In large monasteries, a hospital has always been set up - with a chapel, a refectory, and sometimes with its own kitchen. Unlike healthy counterparts, patients could count on increased nutrition and other benefits: for example, they were allowed to exchange a few words during meals and not attend all the long services.
All brothers were periodically sent to the hospital, where they underwent bloodletting (minutio) - a procedure that was considered extremely useful and even necessary to maintain the correct balance of humors (blood, mucus, black bile and yellow bile) in the body. After this procedure, the weakened monks received temporary relief for several days in order to restore their strength: exemption from the all-night service, evening rations and a glass of wine, and sometimes delicacies like fried chicken or goose.
15. Other buildings
In addition to the church, the cloister and the main buildings where the life of monks, novices and converse passed, the monasteries had many other buildings: the personal apartments of the abbot; a hospice for poor wanderers and a hotel for important guests; various outbuildings: barns, cellars, mills and bakeries; stables, dovecotes, etc. Medieval monks were engaged in many crafts (made wine, brewed beer, dressed leather, processed metals, worked on glass, produced tiles and bricks) and actively mastered natural resources: they uprooted and felled forests, mined stone, coal , iron and peat, mastered salt mines, built water mills on rivers, etc. As we would say today, monasteries were one of the main centers of technical innovation.
Klodt, Mikhail Petrovich (1835-1914) "The Laundry in the Catholic Franciscan Monastery". 1865
Canvas, oil. 79 x 119cm.
Ulyanovsk Regional Art Museum.
Literature:
. Dyuby J. Time of cathedrals. Art and Society, 980-1420. M., 2002.
. Karsavin L.P. Monasticism in the Middle Ages. M., 1992.
. Leo of Marsicansky, Peter the Deacon. Chronicle of Montecassino in 4 books. Ed. prepared by I. V. Dyakonov. M., 2015.
. Moulin L. Daily life of medieval monks in Western Europe (X-XV centuries). M., 2002.
. Peter Damiani. Life of St. Romuald. Monuments of medieval Latin literature of the X-XI centuries. Rep. ed. M. L. Gasparov. M., 2011.
. Uskov N.F. Christianity and monasticism in Western Europe in the early Middle Ages. German lands II / III - mid-XI. SPb., 2001.
. Ekkehard IV. History of St. Gallen Monastery. Monuments of Medieval Latin Literature X-XII centuries. M., 1972.
. Monastic Rule of Benedict. Middle Ages in his monuments. Per. N. A. Geinike, D. N. Egorova, V. S. Protopopov and I. I. Schitz. Ed. D. N. Egorova. M., 1913.
. Cassidy-Welch M. Monastic Spaces and Their Meanings. Thirteenth-Century English Cistercian Monasteries. Turnout, 2001.
. D'Eberbach C. Le Grand Exorde de Cîteaux. Berlioz J. (ed.). Turnout, 1998.
. Davril A., Palazzo E. La vie des moines au temps des grandes abbayes, Xe-XIIIe siècles. Paris, 2010.
. Dohrn-van Rossum G. L'histoire de l'heure. L'horlogerie et l'organization moderne du temps. Paris, 1997.
. Dubois J. Les moines dans la société du MoyenÂge (950-1350). Revue d'histoire de l "Église de France. Vol. 164. 1974.
. Greene P. J. Medieval Monasteries. London; New York, 2005.
. Kinder T. N. Cistercian Europe: Architecture of Contemplation. Cambridge, 2002.
. Miccoli G. Les moines. L'homme mediéval. Le Goff J. (dir.). Paris, 1989.
. Schmitt J.-C. Les rythmes au MoyenÂge. Paris, 2016.
. Vauchez A. La Spiritualité du Moyen Âge occidental, VIIIe-XIIIe siècle. Paris, 1994.
. cluny. Roux-Périno J. (ed.). Vic-en-Bigorre, 2008.
. Elisabeth of Schonau. The Complete Works. Clark A. L. (ed.). New York, 2000.
. Raoul Glaber: les cinq livres de ses histoires (900-1044). Prou M. (ed.). Paris, 1886.
Cuvier Armand (active c. 1846) "The Monastery of the Dominicans at Voltri". France, Paris, first half of the 19th century.
Chinese paper, lithograph. 30 x 43 cm.
State Hermitage. 
Hanisch Alois (b. 1866) "Melk Monastery". Austria, late 19th - early 20th century.
Paper, lithography. 564 x 458 mm (sheet)
State Hermitage. 
J. Howe "The Procession of the Monks". UK, 19th century
Paper, steel engraving. 25.8 x 16 cm.
State Hermitage. 
This is Louis (1858-1919) "Thistle flower with a view of the monastery in the background." Album "Golden Book of Lorraine". France, 1893 (?)
Paper, ink pen, watercolor. 37 x 25 cm.
State Hermitage. 
Stefano della Bella (1610-1664) View of the Monastery of Villambrosa. Sheets from the suite of illustrations for the biography of St. John Gualbert "Views of the Monastery of Villambroso". Italy, 17th century
Paper, etching. 17.4 x 13.2 cm.
State Hermitage. 
Bronnikov Fedor Andreevich (1827-1902) "Capuchin". 1881
Wood, oil. 40.5 x 28 cm.
Kherson Regional Art Museum named after A.A. Shovkunenko. 
Eduard von Grützner (1846-1925) Monk with a Newspaper. Germany, third quarter of the 19th century.
Canvas, oil. 36 x 27 cm.
State Hermitage. 
Callot Jacques (1592-1635) Pogrom of the monastery. Sheets from the suite "The Great Disasters of War (Les grandes miseres de la guerre)". France, 17th century
Paper, etching. 9 x 19.4 cm
State Hermitage. 
Unknown Flemish artist, con. 17th century "The Hermit Monks". Flanders, 17th century
Wood, oil. 56 x 65.5 cm.
State Hermitage. 
Initial Gregor and Moralia at work. 12th century Bavarian State Library, Munich
In the Middle Ages, monasteries were the most important centers of spiritual and cultural life. In the Romanesque time, many monasteries appeared on the territory of Europe, monastic orders were formed, new monastic complexes were built and old ones were rebuilt.
The emergence of monasticism
The first monastic communities appeared as early as the 3rd century in Syria, Palestine and Egypt. But these were not yet monasteries in the medieval sense of the word, but rather associations of hermit monks (Eremits). Hermitage is the most early form monasticism. The word “monk” itself comes from the Greek “hermit”. Monasticism appeared in Europe in the second half of the 4th century. The emergence of the first Western monasteries is associated with the name of St. Martin of Tours. But until the VI century. there was no single set of rules designed to regulate the life of the monastic community. The authorship of the first charter belongs to St. Benedict of Nursia.
In 530 St. Benedict founded a monastery on Mount Cassino near Naples. In Monte Cassino, he created his famous "Charter", which enjoyed unquestioned authority over the following centuries, until the appearance of others. monastic orders. (However, the Benedictine monasteries continued to exist quite successfully throughout the Middle Ages and exist to this day.)
The main means of achieving the holiness of life, according to St. Benedict, was the principle of monastic community, based on the virtues of humility and obedience. The charter establishes the principle of unity of command of the abbot of the monastery (abbot). The abbot is responsible for his decisions only before God, although the removal of bad abbots by the authority of the local bishop is provided. A strict daily routine of the monk was established, the daily circle of services was scheduled, the order of reading prayers, time was allotted for classes and for physical labor.
The main feature of monastic life is that a monk does not have a single free minute that he could devote to idleness harmful to the soul or sinful thoughts. The daily routine of a monk is subject to the course of the Liturgy of the Hours (a strictly defined divine service is held at a strictly defined time). The Rule also contains provisions regarding food, clothing, shoes, and other things, with particular emphasis on the need for common possession of property. Entering the monastic community, the monk took a vow of obedience, settled life (he did not have the right to leave the walls of the monastery without the special permission of the abbot) and, of course, celibacy, thus renouncing everything worldly.
The ideal plan of the monastery
In the Middle Ages, not only attempts were made to regulate the life of the monastic community, but also to create the monastic complexes themselves according to uniform rules. For these purposes, during the reign of Charlemagne, a plan of an “ideal monastery” was developed, approved church cathedral(c. 820), it was kept in the library of the monastery of St. Gallen (Switzerland). It was assumed that during the construction of this monastery complex they would clearly follow this plan.
This plan, designed for an area measuring 500 by 700 feet (154.2 by 213.4 m), included more than fifty buildings for various purposes. Undoubtedly, the cathedral was the center of the monastery complex - a three-aisled basilica with a transept. In the eastern part there were choirs for monks. The main nave traditionally ended with an altar. Several small altars were located in the side aisles and in the western part, but they did not form a single space with the main nave. The cathedral was planned taking into account the course of the monastic worship, which differed from masses served for the laity. The western facade of the church was framed by two round towers dedicated to the archangels Gabriel and Michael. As the archangels were the guardians of the City of Heaven, so these towers were the stone guardians of the abbey. The first thing that appeared before the eyes of those who entered the territory of the monastery was precisely this facade of the cathedral with towers.
Abbey of Fontevraud. Scheme
The buildings of the library and sacristy (treasury) adjoin the cathedral. To the right of the cathedral there was a closed courtyard for monks to walk (in later times, just such a courtyard - the cloister would become the center of the composition of the monastery complex). The plan shows monastic cells, the abbot's house, a hospital, kitchens, hotels for pilgrims and many outbuildings: a bakery, a brewery, barns, barns, etc. There is also a cemetery combined with an orchard (such a decision should have found a philosophical interpretation among the inhabitants of the monastery).
It is doubtful that there were monastic complexes built exactly according to this plan. Even St. Gallen, in whose library the plan was kept, only approximately corresponded to the original plan (unfortunately, the Carolingian buildings of this abbey have not survived to this day). But approximately according to this principle, monasteries were built throughout the entire Middle Ages.
Fortified monasteries
At first glance, many medieval monasteries look more like the well-fortified castles of warlike feudal lords than the abode of humble monks. This was due to many reasons, including the fact that such monasteries could really play the role of a fortress. During enemy attacks, the inhabitants of the city or surrounding villages hid within the walls of the monastery. One way or another, hard-to-reach areas were often chosen as a place for the construction of the monastery. Probably, the original idea was to reduce the access of the laity to the monastery as much as possible.
The famous abbey founded by St. Benedict, Monte Cassino. The real fortress is the abbey of Mont Saint Michel. Founded in the 8th century, the abbey is dedicated to Archangel Michael and built on a rocky island, which made it impregnable.
Cluniacs and Cistercians
In the 11th-12th centuries, the monastic culture reached an unprecedented flourishing. Many new monasteries are being built, the prosperity of which sometimes allows the construction of such architectural masterpieces as, for example, the famous cathedral in the abbey of Cluny. Founded at the beginning of the X century. the Benedictine abbey of Cluny occupied a special position, formally reporting directly to the pope. Cluny had a huge impact on the spiritual and political life of medieval Europe. Its main cathedral, before the advent of Gothic cathedrals, was the largest church building Christendom. This outstanding work of architecture was decorated with truly stunning stone carvings (portal, capitals of columns). The luxurious interiors of the Cluny III church were designed to amaze the imagination.
The complete opposite of the Cluniacs were the abbeys of the new monastic congregation - the Cistercians (from the name of the first monastery of the order - the Cistercium). The Cistercians sharply rejected even any hint of luxury, their charter was particularly strict. They considered physical labor to be the basis of monastic service, therefore in Cistercian manuscripts we often find images of monks at work. The architecture of the Cistercian monasteries was also laconic. Carved stone decor, for example, was virtually banned. But the severity of monastic life did not at all prevent the Cistercian monasteries, along with the Benedictine ones, from actively participating in the spiritual and political life of Europe. The monasteries of both orders were real centers of culture: scientific treatises were written here, ancient and often Arabic authors were translated and copied, real masterpieces of book art were created in their scriptoria. The monasteries also had schools for the laity.
Plan of an ideal monastery. OK. 820
1. house for the retinue of distinguished guests
2. outbuilding
3. house for distinguished guests
4. external school
5. abbot's house
6. outbuilding
7. room for bloodletting
8. doctor's house and pharmacy
9. herbalist
10. bell tower
11. gatekeeper
12. school mentor
13. scriptorium, library
14. bath and kitchen
15. hospital
16. covered gallery
17. entrance to the monastery
18. reception room
19. choir
20. cathedral
21. house for servants
22. sheepfold
23. pigsty
24. goat shed
25. stable for mares
26. barn
27. kitchen
28. pilgrims' quarters
29. cellar, pantry
30. garden for monks walks, covered gallery
31. rooms for heating, bedroom (dormitory)
32. sacristy
33. a room for the preparation of a host and oil
34. covered gallery
35. kitchen
36. school for novices
37. stable
38. bullpen
39. cooperage
40. lathe
41. barn
42. malt dryer
43. kitchen
44. refectory
45. bath
46. cemetery, orchard
47. brewery
48. bakery
49. thresher
50. mill
51. various workshops
52. threshing floor
53. granary
54. gardener's house
55. vegetable garden
56. chicken coop, goose house
Monasteries in the Middle Ages were well-fortified church centers. They served as fortresses, collection points church taxes, spreading the influence of the church. The high walls protected the monks and church property from being plundered during enemy attacks and during civil conflicts.
The monasteries enriched the Church. Firstly, they owned vast lands, with serfs assigned to them. Up to 40% of serfs in Russia belonged to monasteries. And the clergy exploited them mercilessly. To be a serf at a monastery was considered among ordinary people, one of the most difficult fates, not much different from hard labor. Therefore, peasant riots often broke out on the lands that belonged to the monasteries. Therefore, during the October Revolution, the peasants gladly destroyed monasteries and church exploiters, along with churches.
“... The most ruinous for the peasants was the corvée: work on the land of the owner took the time necessary to cultivate their own plot. In church and monastery lands, this form of duties was especially actively spread. In 1590, Patriarch Job introduced corvee in all the patriarchal lands. His example was immediately followed by the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. In 1591, the largest landowner - the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery - transferred all the peasants to the corvée: "And which villages were on quitrent, and now they plowed for the monastery." Own peasant plowing has been steadily declining. Statistics on the economic books of monasteries shows that if in the 50-60s. in the monastic estates of the central counties, the average size of a plot per peasant household was equal to 8 quarters, then by 1600 it had dropped to 5 quarters (candidate of historical science A. G. Mankov). The peasants responded with uprisings ... "
“... The history of unrest in the Antoniev-Siysky Monastery is curious. The king donated 22 previously independent villages to the monastery. The peasants soon felt the difference between freedom and slavery. To begin with, the monastic authorities "taught them to imati by force tribute and quitrent three times": instead of 2 rubles, 26 altyns and 4 money, 6 rubles each, 26 altyns and 4 money. “Yes, in addition to tribute and dues for monastic labors, they had 3 people from a bipod for every summer”, “yes, on top of that, they, the peasants, made food” - they plowed the land and mowed hay for the monastery. Finally, the monks “confiscated the best arable lands and hayfields and brought them to their monastery lands”, “and from other peasants they, the elders, took away the villages with bread and hay, and yards were broken and transported, and from their villages the peasants from that abbot violence, with wives and children fled from the yards.
But not all peasants were ready to flee from their land. In 1607, the abbot of the monastery submitted a petition to the tsar:
“The monastic peasants have become strong to him, the abbot, they don’t listen to our letters, they don’t pay tribute and dues and third-grade bread to the monastery, as other monastic peasants pay, and they don’t make monastic products, and in no way does he, the abbot and the brethren they listen, and in that he, the hegumen, suffer great losses.
Shuisky already had enough problems with Bolotnikov and False Dmitry II, so in 1609 the monastery began to solve its problems itself, organizing punitive expeditions. Elder Theodosius with the monastery servants killed the peasant Nikita Kryukov, “and everyone took the remnants of the stomach [property] to the monastery.” Elder Roman "with many people, they have peasants, they put out doors from huts and broke stoves." The peasants, in turn, killed several monks. The victory remained with the monastery ... "
Back in the fifteenth century, when in Russia, there was a struggle in the church environment between the “non-possessors” led by Nil Sorsky and the “Josephites”, supporters of Joseph of Polotsk, the non-possessor monk Vassian Patrikeev spoke of the then monks:
“Instead of eating from our needlework and labor, we wander around the cities and look into the hands of the rich, obsequiously please them in order to beg from them a village or a village, silver or some kind of cattle. The Lord commanded to distribute to the poor, and we, overcome by the love of money and greed, insult our miserable brothers living in the villages in various ways, impose on them interest for interest, without mercy we take away their property, take away a cow or a horse from a villager, torture our brothers with scourges. .
Secondly, according to church laws, all the property of people who had gone into monks became the property of the Church.
And thirdly, those who went to the monastery themselves turned into free laborers, meekly serving the church authorities, earning money for the church treasury. At the same time, without demanding anything for himself personally, being content with a modest cell and bad food.
Back in the Middle Ages Russian Orthodox Church was "built into" the state system of execution of punishment. Often accused of heresy, blasphemy and other religious crimes were sent to monasteries under strict supervision. Political prisoners were often exiled to monasteries, both in Europe and in Russia.
For example, Peter the Great sent his wife Evdokia Lopukhina to the Intercession Monastery, 11 years after the wedding.
The oldest and most famous monastic prisons were located in the Solovetsky and Spaso-Evfimevsky monasteries. Dangerous state criminals were traditionally exiled to the first, the second was originally intended for keeping the mentally ill and those in heresy, but then prisoners accused of state crimes were also sent to it.
The remoteness of the Solovetsky Monastery from the habitable places and the inaccessibility made it an ideal place of confinement. Initially, the casemates were located in the fortress walls and towers of the monastery. Often these were cells without windows, in which one could stand, bending over, or lie on a short trestle bed with legs crossed. It is interesting that in 1786 the archimandrite of the monastery, where 16 prisoners were kept (15 of them - for life), did not know about the reason for the imprisonment of seven. The decree on the conclusion of such persons was usually laconic - "for important guilt to the content until the death of the stomach."
Among the prisoners of the monastery were priests accused of drunkenness and blasphemy, and various sectarians, and former officers who, in a drunkenness, spoke unflatteringly about the moral qualities of the next empress, and major dignitaries who were plotting a coup d'état, and "truth seekers" who wrote complaints against government officials. . The French nobleman de Tournelle spent five years in this prison on an unknown charge. The youngest prisoner went to prison at the age of 11 on charges of murder, he had to spend 15 years in prison.
The regime in the monastery prison was distinguished by extreme cruelty. The power of the abbot not only over the prisoners, but also over the soldiers guarding them was practically uncontrollable. In 1835, the complaints of the prisoners “leaked” behind the monastery walls, and an audit led by the gendarmerie colonel Ozeretskovsky arrived in Solovki. Even the gendarme, who had seen everyone in his lifetime, was forced to admit that "many prisoners suffer punishments that greatly exceed the extent of their guilt." As a result of the audit, three prisoners were released, 15 were sent to military service, two were transferred from cells to cells, one was accepted as a novice, and a blind prisoner was sent to the “mainland” to the hospital.
"Prison Corner" - the place where the cells of the prisoners of the Solovetsky Monastery were mainly concentrated. The Spinning Tower is visible in the distance.
But even after the revision, the regime in the prison was not eased. The prisoners were fed poorly, they were forbidden any connection with the will, they were not given writing materials and books, except for religious ones, and for violations of the rules of behavior they were subjected to corporal punishment or put on a chain. Particularly cruel treatment was given to those whose religious beliefs did not coincide with official Orthodoxy. Even sincere repentance and the conversion to Orthodoxy of such prisoners did not guarantee their release. Some "heresy" prisoners spent their entire conscious life in this prison.
As fortified centers in which there were many educated people, monasteries became centers religious culture. Monks worked there as scribes of religious books needed for conducting services. After all, the printing press had not yet appeared, and each book was written by hand, often with rich ornamentation.
The monks also kept historical chronicles. True, their content was often changed, for the sake of the authorities, forged and rewritten.
The oldest manuscripts about the history of Russia are of monastic origin, although there are no originals left, there are only "lists" - copies from them. How reliable they are, scientists are still arguing. In any case, we have no other written information about what happened in the Middle Ages.
Over time, the oldest and most influential churches and monasteries in the Middle Ages were transformed into full-fledged educational institutions.
The central place in the medieval monastery was occupied by the church, around which there were household and residential buildings. There was a common refectory (dining room), a bedroom for monks, a library, a repository of books and manuscripts. A hospital was usually located in the eastern part of the monastery, and rooms for guests and pilgrims were located in the north. Any traveler could apply here for shelter, the charter of the monastery obliged to accept him. In the western and southern parts of the monastery there were barns, stables, a barn and a poultry yard.
Today's monasteries largely continue the traditions of the Middle Ages.
What role did monasteries play in the life of Western European countries in the Middle Ages?
Answer
People pinned their main hopes on the monasteries in the salvation of their souls. The monks were needed then to pray to the Lord for all people.
In addition, monasteries played a big role in the economy: they owned large lands. These holdings were constantly growing. For example, many rich and noble people bequeathed part of their estates to monks so that they would pray for their souls. Thanks to their acquaintance with books, it was often the monasteries that introduced advanced technologies: they built water mills, drained swamps, etc.
The monasteries were also cultural centers, at one time the main ones, although then they began to cede this role to universities. Books were copied here, new ones were often written. By order of the monasteries, many architects, sculptors, jewelers and other craftsmen worked, who created true masterpieces of the Middle Ages.
Large monasteries sometimes influenced politics. Rather, it was influenced by the abbots with the support of their monasteries. And this refers to politics, both secular and ecclesiastical. For example, the monasteries of the Cluniac movement several times sought to have their own person become the pope. We must not forget that monasteries often united into orders and in this case acted together.
Finally, it must be remembered that the Inquisition was also in the hands of the monks (Dominicans), and the Inquisition decided the fate of people, sending many to the stake.
