VI.1.3
THE CLOISTER
It is clear that the cloister lay to the south of the church
where it still is today (although completely rebuilt), and it
is equally clear that the dormitory occupied the upper level
of the eastern range which adjoined the southern transept
arm precisely as on the Plan of St. Gall. This can be
inferred from Ekkehart's account of the ignominous visit
which Abbot Ruodman of Reichenau paid to the monastery
of St. Gall under the cover of night and the description
of the complicated route which he had to take in order to
get from the cloister to the monks' privy.[21]
From the same
passage we also learn that the parlor (
auditorium) was near
the entrance of the church, as we would expect it to be in
the light of the Plan of St. Gall. Ekkehart IV mentions a
warming room (
pyrale) in a context which suggests that in
the tenth and early eleventh century it was used for disciplinary
actions traditionally undertaken during chapter
meetings.
[22]
In the same chapter he also implies that the
washhouse (
lavatorium) was reached from the warming
room; in fact the text seems to suggest that it was part of
this room. In departure from the Plan of St. Gall, however,
the Scriptorium was not on the north side of the church
but next to the
pyrale.[23]
We know nothing about the location of the refectory
or the cellar but there is no reason to presume that they
were laid out in a manner other than that proposed on the
Plan. The Carolingian refectory and dormitory perished
in the great fire of 1418 and were completely rebuilt by
Abbot Eglolf (1427-1442).[24]