ADMISSION TO INFIRMARY
Admission to the Infirmary was neither a trifling nor a
purely private event. The first step was to appeal to the
abbot and the entire body of the assembled community for
entrance to the Infirmary. The
Concordus regularis, a monastic
consuetudinary of the end of the tenth century, based
partly on ancient English and partly on continental traditions,
defines the process as follows: When one of the brethren
is called upon to pay the debt of the common fragility
. . . he must declare to the abbot and the entire assembled
community the reasons of his distress, and then, after
having received their benediction, will be admitted to the
infirmary.
[288]
The Infirmary does not include space for physicians.
The quarters of these professionals are in an adjacent house,
to the north; it will be discussed in a later chapter.[289]
