Page 21 - All About History 55 - 2017 UK

DINNER

This was the main meal of the day, though snacks
were allowed at other times, especially as the days
grew longer. The typical diet was based on cereals,
fruit and vegetables, with a little fish or eggs
from time to time. Daily allotments of wine and
ale varied widely and those in poor health were
entitled to a portion or two of meat.
Not all monks worked in the
scriptorium — some tended to the
SPECIAL DELIVERY
land or worked in the kitchen
One of the crucial materials of the scribe’s trade
was parchment. Often sourced locally, it was
generally made from the skins of cows, sheep
and sometimes the occasional goat. However,
the arrival of uterine vellum usually represented
a special occasion. This was constructed from
the skin of aborted or stillborn calves and, as
unsavoury as that sounds, it resulted in the finest
parchment imaginable.

COMPLINE

The other divine offices — Prime, Terce, Sext,
None and Vespers — punctuated the working day
at regular intervals and drew monks away from
their labours. Finally came Compline, ahead of the
setting of the sun. Afterwards, the doors to the
cloister would be locked and the monastery’s abbot
or prior would make a tour of inspection to ensure
that all was well.
TIME FOR BED

Monastic accommodation varied widely. In many
houses, monks shared a dormitory, free from
partitions, in which they were given a bed, a hook
on which to hang clothes and a shelf. More rigorous
orders preferred individual cells and members
spent much more of their day in isolation. Abbots,
as one might expect, typically enjoyed private and
cosier billets.
MIDNIGHT VIGIL

All of the day’s services were heralded by the
tolling of bells, but a rude awakening in the middle
of the night alerted monks that it was time for
Vigils. In some of the more rigorous religious
orders, monks were expected to remain awake
following these devotions but more often than
not they were granted the opportunity for an
additional snooze.

© Alamy, Getty Images

The scriptorium, often located close to
the monastery’s library, was a place of
intense and usually silent industry
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