The Plan of St. Gall :: :: University of Virginia Library

Peripherally ranged around these two center spaces are
the quarters of the workmen, measuring 12½ feet by 32½
feet and 12½ feet by 30 feet, respectively. They are distributed
as follows: on the entrance side, to the left and right
of the vestibule, the "shoemakers" (sutores) and the "saddlers"

190

[ILLUSTRATION]

419. PLAN OF ST. GALL. GREAT COLLECTIVE WORKSHOP

MAIN WORKSHOP AND ITS ANNEX

The layout of the main house here is identical with what we refer to as the "standard house" of the Plan: a large rectangular center space
with open fireplace serving as living room, with peripheral outer rooms around it (figs. 392, 397, 402, 404, 407). The Workshop, as in the
Outer School, is divided by a median wall partition into two center areas, each with its own fireplace. These rooms are designated the office
and dwelling of the chamberlain, whose duty it was to oversee the craftsmen who used the shop.

Although housing a great variety of activities, the shop was neatly balanced in its division: flanking the north vestibule were leatherworkers
(shoemakers, saddlers); in the center, flanking the chamberlain's quarters were metalworkers (grinders, sword polishers); on the south were those
engaged in finish work: woodworkers who made tools and utensils, and curriers who prepared leather for various purposes. In the Annex were
placed those activities involving fire hazards (goldsmithing, blacksmithing) and the fullers, who probably shared some craft facilities with the
curriers, across the aisle to their north.

191

[ILLUSTRATION]

PLAN OF ST. GALL. GREAT COLLECTIVE WORKSHOP. AUTHORS' INTERPRETATION

420.B

420.A

GROUND PLAN AND LONGITUDINAL SECTION

This Workshop affords a notable embodiment of the enterprising and innovative spirit of the men who developed the Plan. In marked contrast
to the secular world, where craftsmen tended to be isolated and scattered over a wider geographic area, perhaps among several villages, the
workmen of the Plan were assembled under one roof. Here they manufactured tools, utensils, harness and saddle gear and footwear, as well as
weaponry; the farrier as well as the goldsmith were housed here. The aisled hall, with its constructionally conditioned bay division, lent itself
with ease to such intensive and disparate use.

192

[ILLUSTRATION]

PLAN OF ST. GALL. GREAT COLLECTIVE WORKSHOP. AUTHORS' INTERPRETATION

420.D

420.C

SOUTH ELEVATION AND NORTH ELEVATION

The criteria for reconstructing this building are the same governing those of the reconstructions of the Hospice for Pilgrims and Paupers (figs.
393.A-E), House for Distinguished Guests (figs. 397.A-F), and the Outer School (fig. 408.A-F). We have gone on the assumption that this
workshop was built entirely in wood. The layout makes perfect sense if we presume the roof was supported by five principal trusses (fig. 420.
A-B) with hips over each terminal bay. As in all other houses of this type there is only one entrance, in the middle of the northern long wall.

193

[ILLUSTRATION]

PLAN OF ST. GALL. GREAT COLLECTIVE WORKSHOP. AUTHORS' INTERPRETATION

420.F

420.E

WEST ELEVATION AND TRANSVERSE SECTION WITH ANNEX (AT RIGHT)

Our assumption that the house had windows to admit light to the outer rooms is purely conjectural. They may have been needed for functional
reasons, since these rooms were probably to be used for both sleeping and working. Windows were not part of the pre- and protohistoric
tradition of this building type, because they afforded the risk that a house could be entered through them by enemies, a primary consideration
for people living in small groups and at considerable distance from one another, and dependent solely upon themselves for defense.

194

[ILLUSTRATION]

PLAN OF ST. GALL. GREAT COLLECTIVE WORKSHOP, ANNEX. AUTHORS' INTERPRETATION

421.C

421.B

421.A

PLAN, LONGITUDINAL SECTION, AND NORTH ELEVATION

The layout is identical with that of the Annex of the Abbot's House (fig. 251): a main space, internally divided into three areas for the
performance of different tasks, plus a lean-to, also tripartite, serving as bedrooms for the Coopers and Wheelwrights. That the space between
the main house and the annex should be interpreted as an open court may be inferred from its comparison with the Abbot's House (fig. 251) and
the Hospice for Pilgrims and Paupers (fig. 392) where main house and annex are separated in a similar way.

195

(sellarii). Their duties require no further comment.
In the two lean-to's at the western and eastern end of the
house are the "grinders or polishers of swords" (emundatores
† politores gladiorum) and the "shieldmakers" (scutarii).
Their presence is not surprising in view of the monastery's
military obligations, discussed in an earlier chapter.[422] The
"grinders and polishers of swords" were probably also in
charge of the production of the monastery's cutlery and
other cutting tools.[423] This is suggested by the fact that this
work is not assigned to any other craftsmen listed on the
Plan. By the same token, the shieldmakers, too, may have
been involved in the manufacture of tools other than
shields. The two rooms in the southern aisle of the house,
to the left and right of the vestibule that gives access to
court and annex, are occupied by the "turners" (tornatores)
and the "curriers" (coriarii). The turners are the men who
manufacture the wooden bowls, dishes, and trays that are
used in eating, the handles of such tools as axes and hoes,
and perhaps the smaller pieces of furniture, such as cupboards
and chairs. Their work may also have included the
making of wooden sculpture.[424] The curriers dress and prepare
leather after tanning; they pare off roughnesses and
inequalities and make the leather soft and pliable. Since the
Plan does not provide for any special facilities for the manufacture
of parchment, it is probable that the curriers' workshop
was also the place where this important material was
made.

The stripping of hides, whether used for the production
of parchment or other commodities, depended on the
availability of water and lime, which was also needed by
the fullers who were quartered in the Annex. It is no accident
that the workshops of the curriers and the fullers face
each other on either side of an open court, where lime pits
and other baths can be installed easily.[425]

[422]

See I, p. 347.

[423]

Each monk, as the reader may remember, was entitled to carry a
knife on his belt; cf. I, p. 249.

[424]

Tornator is the classical and also the common medieval form.
(Carolingian examples: Capitulare de villis, chap. 45, ed. Gareis, 1895,
49; Breve memorationis Walae Abbatis, ed. Semmler, 1963, in Corp.
cons. mon., I, 422.) Tornarius occurs in a charter of Duke Brzestilav of
Bohemia, written around 1052: "Aratores ad praedictas villas dedi
Miross, Lasen, Seek. . . . Tornarium scutellarium Bozetham . . . et alium
qui toreumata facit" (Du Cange, 2nd ed., 1938, 129).

[425]

For more detail on the work of the fullers, see Singer, Holmyard,
Hall, and Williams, II, 1956, 214ff, and 189ff.