The Plan of St. Gall a study of the architecture & economy of & life in a paradigmatic Carolingian monastery |
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| I. |
| II. |
 | III. |
| III. 1. |
| III. 2. |
| III. 3. |
| III.3.1. |
| III.3.2. |
| III.3.3. |
| III.3.4. | III.3.4 |
| III.3.5. |
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 | The Plan of St. Gall |  |
III.3.4
THE ABBOT'S RIGHT TO LIVE IN
A SEPARATE HOUSE
St. Benedict, in a chapter the brevity of which reflects its
importance, grants the abbot the right to live in a separate
house:
Let the abbot always eat with the guests and pilgrims. But when
there are no guests, let him have the power to invite whom he will
of the brethren. Yet, for discipline's sake, let one or two seniors
always be left with the brethren.[327]
During the preliminary discussions of the first synod of
Aachen a movement was under way to curtail these freedoms.
I have dealt with the dynamics of these attempts at
length in a previous chapter.[328]
A word should be said, however,
to explain the fact that the abbot's bedroom contained
seven beds in addition to his own.
Chapter 22 of the Rule of St. Benedict prescribes that if
possible, all monks should sleep in one place, but if their
number does not permit this, they should sleep by tens or
twenties, with seniors to supervise them (Si potest fieri,
omnes in uno loco dormiant; sin autem multitudo non sinit,
deni aut uiceni cum senioribus, qui super eos solliciti sint,
in 794, this was interpreted to mean "that the abbot should
sleep with the monks in conformity with the Rule" (Ut
abbas cum suis dormiat monachis secundum regulam sancti
Benedicti).[330] In one of the preliminary resolutions formulated
during the first synod of Aachen (816) this view was
reemphasized: "The abbots shall be subject to the same
rules as the brethren in meal and drink, in their sleep and
in all other matters" (Ut abates communes esse debeant suis
monachis in manducando, in bibendo, in dormiendo seu in
ceteris quibuslibet causis.)[331] This can only have been intended
to mean that the abbot should be brought back into the
company of the monks, at least when he slept. To enlarge
the abbot's bedroom into a dormitory, so that he could sleep
in the same room with others, may have been an ingenious
compromise between the rigorous views of the reformists
and the abbot's traditional right to live in a separate house.
Hildemar makes some interesting suggestions concerning
the criteria which should govern the abbot's selection,
should he make use of his "power to invite whom he will
of the brethren":
This must not be interpreted to mean that the abbot should choose
according to his own volition and invite without necessity such men
as the dean or the prior; rather should he call upon those who are
weak and in need (of his company).[332]
"Mensa abbatis cum hospitibus et peregrinis sit semper. Quotiens tamen
minus sunt hospites, quos uult de fratribus uocare, in ipsius sit potestate.
Seniore tamen uno aut duo semper cum fratribus dimittendum propter
disciplinam." (Benedicti regula, chap. 56; ed. Hanslik, 1960, 131: ed.
McCann, 1952, 126-27; ed. Steidle, 1952, 273).
Benedicti regula, chap. 22; ed. Hanslik, 1960, 77-78; ed. McCann,
1952, 70-71; ed. Steidle, 1952, 200-201. See above, p. 249.
Synodus Franconofurtensis, June 794, chap. 13, ed. Boretius, Mon.
Germ. Hist., Legum II, Capit. I, 1883, 75.
Expositio Hildemari; ed. Mittermüller, 1880, 522: "Non debet
intelligi ut illos, quos ad suum libitum vult, i.e. decanum aut praepositum sine
necessitate, sed illos debet vocare, qui debiles sunt, quibus necessitas fuerit."
Hafner (in Studien, 1962, 190) expressed the view that the dormitory in
the Abbot's House was the place where visiting abbots and bishops found
accommodation. This appears improbable to me. The appropriate place
for dignitaries of such high rank, who always traveled with servants and
a protective guard, was the House for Distinguished Guests, which was,
in fact, designed so that it could accommodate the retinue as well (see
II, 155-65.
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