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V.8.3

HOSPICE FOR PILGRIMS AND PAUPERS

THE MAIN HOUSE

The Hospice for Pilgrims and Paupers (fig. 392) lies to
the south of the Church and west of the cloister in a yard
that is bounded to the east by the Monks' Cellar and Larder,
to the south and west by fences that separate the pilgrims
and paupers from the houses for the livestock and their
keepers, and to the north by the semicircular atrium of the
Church. Access to this yard is gained by a porch built
against the southern wall of the atrium, which also serves
as entrance for the monastery's servants. The house is
identified by the hexameter, "Here let the throng of pilgrims
find friendly reception" (hic peregrinorum la&etur
turba recepta).

The Hospice is composed of a main house for the reception
of the pilgrims and paupers, and an annex containing
kitchen, bakery, and brewing facilities. The main house
measures 50 by 60 feet. It has in its center a large rectangular
room that is designated as "living room" or "hall for
the pilgrims and paupers" (domus peregrinorum et pauperėm).
This space must also have served as dining room, as may
be gathered from the benches that run all around its circumference.
The draftsman did not enter the tables, but
the meaning of this seating arrangement is clear from the
corresponding space in the House for Distinguished Guests.
The house receives its warmth from a large central fireplace,
and the smoke escapes through a louver (testu) in the roof
above it.[291] Two rooms on the front side of the house are
used as quarters for the servants (seruientium mansiones),
two corresponding rooms at the rear as "supply room"
(camera) and "cellar" (cellarium). The spaces under the
lean-to's on the narrow sides of the house serve as dormitories
for the pilgrims and paupers (dormitorium and
aliud). The Statutes of Adalhard, written at about the same
time (822) that the Plan of St. Gall was drawn, make it
clear that the normal number of pilgrims expected to spend
the night in the monastery of Corbie was twelve[292] —this
corresponds quite closely to the number of pilgrims who
could be housed in the rooms which in the Plan of St. Gall
are designated as dormitories for pilgrims. They are capable
of accommodating eight beds each, ranging in a single row
all around the walls of the room. But, in an emergency, of
course, the bedding capacity of the Hospice for the paupers
could be increased by a wide margin, if the benches in the
hall were used as additional facilities for sleeping.

The Hospice for Pilgrims and Paupers is wanting of that
other convenience so profusely attached to the houses that
shelter the upper social strata of the monastic community:
the privy. I have already had occasion to remark that I do
not think that this is an oversight.[293]

[ILLUSTRATION]

PLAN OF ST. GALL. LODGING OF THE PORTER

395.A

395.B

The Porter's Lodging, with its corner fireplace, private privy, quarters for as many as five
assistants, and garden, reflects the importance of this official in monastic life; his quarters
were nearly twice the size of those of the Master of the Hospice for Pilgrims and Paupers, his
subordinate. St. Benedict stipulated that the Porter be selected with special care, for he was
charged with the reception of all guests and the distribution of food and services to fill all
their needs. His role was diplomat and administrator.

In particular his duties were to identify and greet distinguished guests of the monastery and
their retinues, and then see to their escort through the north reception porch into the grounds
and quarters provided for them in the House for Distinguished Guests and its Annex.
Guests of high social standing might have business with the internal life of the monastery,
but their reception area, though larger and better appointed than that for pilgrims and
paupers, was likewise closed off from any direct access to the inner monastery grounds;
similarly, unnecessary contact of such guests with the less exalted class of traveler lodged
upon the south was by these arrangements largely precluded.

*

1. Church- Ie. Lodging of the Porter- If. Porch of the Porter- Ig. Porch of Reception-Ik.
Tower of St Michael- 10. Kitchen, Bake & Brewhouse for Distinguished Guests- K.
Kitchen- L. Larder- B. Bakery- BH Brewery- 11. House for Distinguished Guests- DH
Dining Hall.

We have reconstructed the Hospice for Pilgrims and
Paupers as a large rectangular hall with central hearth and
louver in the roof above it, the hall being surrounded on
all four sides by aisles or lean-to's (fig. 393A-E). In view
of the constructional characteristics of the genus of houses
to which the guest and service buildings of the Plan of St.
Gall historically belong, it is reasonable to assume that the
roof of this, as well as of all other related houses of the Plan,
is carried by a frame of timber, consisting of two rows of
posts connected crosswise by tie beams and lengthwise by
post plates. The natural and historical place for alignment
for these two rows of posts are the lines that define the
boundaries between the aisles and the central hall of the
house. Since the Plan does not designate the location of the
structural members in this type of house, but confines
itself merely to delineating the boundaries of its component
spaces, we know nothing about the respective distances of
the roof-supporting posts. Ours are purely conjectural.
There is a variety of other possibilities.

As there is only one source of heat for both the hall and
the peripheral spaces, the latter can only have been partially
boarded off against the center hall. The separating wall
paneling may not have risen much higher than the backrest
of the benches that surround the hall. We have reconstructed
the roof as a simple rafter roof (of the type exemplified
by St. Mary's Hospital in Chichester, figs. 341-343), but
the roof might have belonged as well to the family of purlin
roofs.

We are well informed about the function and management
of the Hospice for Paupers through the Administrative
Directives of Adalhard of Corbie.[294] The management
of the Hospice for Paupers, we learn from this account, was
in the hands of the Hosteler (hostellarius) who was subject
to the directives of the Porter (portarius). On the Plan of
St. Gall the Hosteler is accommodated in a special apartment
which abuts the southern aisle of the church immediately
to the side of the Hospice for Paupers. The rooms
that are designated camera and cellarium in the Hospice for
Paupers are the Hosteler's food and supply rooms.

Adalhard orders that each pilgrim was to receive, each
day, a loaf of bread, weighing 3½ pounds and made of a
mixture of wheat and rye, and that on his departure he was
to be issued half a loaf of the same kind for his journey.

[ILLUSTRATION]

396. PLAN OF ST. GALL

HOUSE FOR DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, WITH ANNEX CONTAINING KITCHEN, BAKE & BREWING FACILITIES

The layout of this structure is in its basic dispositions the same as the Hospice for Pilgrims and Paupers. It also consists of a main house with
an annex to accommodate services involving fire hazards. Likewise the main house here consists of a central hall for dining and a subsidiary
suite of outer rooms used for sleeping, the accommodation of servants, and when appropriate, even horses. But the layout of the House for
Distinguished Guests is more explicit than its humbler counterpart. Here with great precision is portrayed placement of tables and benches in
the center hall, as well as the furnishings in bedrooms of the Distinguished Guests. These rooms are provided with corner fireplaces, making
their comfort independent of the open fireplace in the middle of the center hall, and thus affording their occupants the luxury of privacy. The
presence of these corner fireplaces induced us to assume that the outer walls of this house were intended to be of masonry.

The use of masonry and timber in a royal Carolingian hall is well attested through an important literary source, the Brevium Exempla
(p. 36ff, above), where the DOMUS REGALIS of an unnamed estate near Annapes is described as being constructed in timber "in the usual
fashion." This remark reveals that wood was the more common and traditional material for this house type. Hipped roofs are attested for the
windswept continental coastlands of the North Sea from the 7th century B.C. onward (figs. 295-297 and 314, above) and became a permanent
trait of rural architecture north of the Alps (figs. 335-336, above).

Windows are not part of the customary design of this house type. They became an indispensable adjunct when its outer rooms were partitioned,
separating them from the only other traditional light source: the lantern-covered opening in the roof ridge. Such was the case with the bedrooms
of the distinguished guests under the lean-to's of the two end bays of the house, and perhaps even with the servants quarters to the left and
right of the door, in the middle of the southern long wall. This door is the only means of access to the house, and through it both men and
animals were intended to pass. It leads to a vestibule which gives lateral access to the servants' quarters, and axially, to the large living and
dining hall that forms the center of the house, and from which all other rooms, including the servants' privy, are reached.

[ILLUSTRATION]

PLAN OF ST. GALL

397.B LONGITUDINAL SECTION

397.A PLAN

HOUSE FOR DISTINGUISHED GUESTS. AUTHORS' INTERPRETATION

[ILLUSTRATION]

PLAN OF ST. GALL

397.C SOUTH ELEVATION

397.D NORTH ELEVATION

HOUSE FOR DISTINGUISHED GUESTS. AUTHORS' INTERPRETATION

[ILLUSTRATION]

397.E TRANSVERSE SECTION

397.F EAST ELEVATION

[ILLUSTRATION]

398. PLAN OF ST. GALL. HOUSE FOR DISTINGUISHED GUESTS

AUTHORS' RECONSTRUCTION

This perspective shows the large center nave of the house, the communal living and dining area, and bedrooms of servants to the left, with
stables to the right. Tables and benches ranged around the walls of the center space presumably could be rearranged to meet particular needs of a
group of guests, or moved back altogether when not in use.

In each building of the Plan housing both animals and men, the layout is similar: servants' quarters flank (or guard) the entrance while
animals pass through the common room to the rear. This disposition may reflect a defensive posture of ancient antecedents. In the House for
Distinguished Guests it had the further convenience of proximity to the privy where, as an amenity afforded guests of high rank, refuse and
manure from the stables might be readily disposed of.

Carpentry details shown here derive from later medieval examples (cf. page 115ff, above); but the concept of a timber-framed roof dividing
the house into nave, aisles, and bays, is clearly in the historical tradition of the Germanic all-purpose house to which the preceding chapters
have been devoted.

This exterior view shows, in the left foreground of the main house, the privy for servants and guards. In the right background lies the annex
containing kitchen, baking, and brewing facilities. Bedrooms for distinguished guests, with individual corner fireplaces and private toilets, are
under the hips of the roof on the two narrow sides of the house. Stables are in the northern aisle parallel to the servants' privy. Bedrooms of
the latter are on the entrance side (not visible here).

[ILLUSTRATION]

399. ST. GALL
HOUSE FOR DISTINGUISHED GUESTS; ALSO ITS KITCHEN, BAKE, AND BREW HOUSE

Paupers arriving and leaving on the same day were to be
issued a quarter loaf of bread per head.

The daily ration in the Hospice also included two tankards
of beer, but whether or not any wine could be served
was left to the judgment of the prior. Special consideration
was to be given to the sick pilgrims, and to those who came
from distant lands, for whom the Hosteller could draw
additional rations "so that he should not incur any shortages
in his normal allotments." Provisions not spent on the
days when the number of visitors fell below the expected
norm were to be saved and used as a surplus to be drawn
against on days when the norm was exceeded.

Adalhard specifies the source and volume of beans, lard,
and cheese, as well as the amount of eel and meat, and all
of the other indispensible items, not omitting the "old
clothes and shoes of the monks, which the Hosteler receives
from the Chamberlain for distribution to the paupers
as is customary." He lists the amount of money that should
be distributed among the poor, pointing out that no rigidly
binding rules could be established in this delicate matter
where varying needs require varying action, and he terminates
this chapter of his statute with the wistful admonition:
"We therefore beseech all those upon whom this office will
be bestowed in our monastery that, in their generosity and
distribution, they bow to the will of God rather than to their
own parsimoniousness, since everyone is to be rewarded
according to the pattern he has set for himself."[295]

THE KITCHEN, BAKE AND BREW HOUSE FOR
PILGRIMS AND PAUPERS

The Kitchen, Bake and Brew House for Pilgrims and
Paupers lies ten feet west of the Hospice, and covers a
surface area of 22½ feet by 60 feet. Its layout repeats on a

[ILLUSTRATION]

400. PLAN OF ST. GALL

KITCHEN, BAKE AND BREWHOUSE FOR DISTINGUISHED GUESTS. AUTHORS' RECONSTRUCTION OF
ROOF FRAMING, WITH SOME TIMBERS REMOVED

A widened aisle forms an extended lean-to accommodating kitchen and larder on either side of the entrance. The wall plate for the main space
of the house provides footing for rafters over this enlarged lean-to. In the nave space are the oven, kneading troughs, and tables for shaping
loaves. At right are the brewing range and four tubs or cauldrons for steeping brew. The narrow aisle beyond and to the rear (its interior not
visible here) is of conventional width in relation to the main space, and houses at one end containers for cooling beer and at the other, troughs
for leavening dough.

smaller scale that of the Bake and Brew House of the
Monks, which shall be discussed later on. But it combines
with the facilities for brewing (bracitoriū) and baking
(pistrinū) a stove for cooking. This is the meaning that must
be attributed to the square in the bakery immediately in
front of the baking oven (fornax), which is internally divided
into four more squares by two lines crossing each other at
right angles. The same symbol is used for the stove in the
Kitchen for the Distinguished Guests.[296] There, in the
center, of a room, explicitly defined as "kitchen" (culina),
its meaning is unequivocal. The facilities for cooling the
beer (ad refrigerandū ceruisā) and for leavening the bread
(locus conspergendi) are installed in the aisle that runs along
the western side of the house. The equipment is identical
with that of the Bake and Brew House of the Monks, and
the design and construction of the house must also have
been very similar.