University of Virginia Library

IV.1.4

THE CELLARER
(CELLARARIUS)

The Cellarer was in charge of everything pertaining to the
kitchen or to food after it had reached the monastery (except
for bread and fruit in the case of the monasteries of
Bobbio and Corbie).[41] St. Benedict asks that he be "a man
who is prudent, of mature character, temperate, not a great
eater, not proud, not headstrong, not rough-spoken, not
lazy, not wasteful, but a God-fearing man, who may be like
a father to the whole community. . . . Let him not vex the
brethren. . . . Let him neither practice avarice, nor be
wasteful and a squanderer of the monastery's substance;
but let him do all things with measure and in accordance
with the instructions of the abbot"[42] to whom he had to
render a full and strict account of his expenditure. Adalhard
of Corbie paints a vivid picture of the various duties of the
cellarer in supervising the cooks in the kitchen: he was to
name what brothers were to serve in the kitchen every week,
to see that they did their job to satisfaction and to check
carefully all the utensils they had used at the end of their
service. He also was in charge of the laymen who did the
rough work of cleaning and dressing the food for the
kitchen.[43] In larger monasteries, such as Bobbio and Corbie,
the senior cellarer was assisted by a junior cellarer who
apportioned to each brother his daily measure (hemina) of
wine and looked out for the cleanliness of the Refectory and
its utensils.[44] Still another assistant cellarer, the cellarer of
the servants (cellararius familiae), took care of the monastery's
serfs and servants, under the supervision of the
prior.[45] The keeper of the bread (custos panis) was responsible
for the storage of the grain, after it had arrived in the
monastery, as well as for the bread and the bakers.[46] He had
to reckon in advance how much bread he would use each
day of the year, and like the cellarer, had to give a strict
account of his expenditures.[47]

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