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III.2.4

INFIRMARY

LAYOUT OF THE CLOISTER

The cloister containing the Infirmary lies on the northern
side of the double chapel:

The layout of its buildings corresponds in every detail to
that of the Novitiate. The warming room (pisal) and the
dormitory (dormitoriū·) lie in the east wing; the supply

[ILLUSTRATION]

254. PLAN OF ST. GALL. ABBOT'S HOUSE

RECONSTRUCTION BY FIECHTER-ZOLLIKOFER

[after Fiechter-Zollikofer, 1936, 407, fig. 7]

Fiechter-Zollikofer's concept of a low roof—also suggested in his
reconstruction of the Outer School (fig. 278) is dependent on a house
tradition too narrowly associated with post-medieval alpine Switzerland,
to be acceptable for the interpretation of a document worked out in the
heart of the Frankish empire (see II, 27ff) where the traditional house
was covered by a steep-pitched roof (see II, 88ff). The absence of a
title specifying that the ground floor porches were surmounted by an
upper tier of porches suggests that the rooms on the second level did
not extend over the entire width of the building.

room (Camera) and the refectory (Refectorium) in the west
wing—but the sequence is reversed, resulting in a complete
mirror reflection of the arrangement of the corresponding
spaces of the Novitiate. The room which in the Novitiate is
reserved for the sick (infirmorum domus), is in the Infirmary
designated as "the place for those who suffer from acute
illness" (locus ualde infirmorum). The dormitory of the Infirmary
(dormitoriū·), then, must have served as sleeping
quarters for those afflicted with minor ailments, as well as
for the aged and infirm who made the Infirmary a permanent
home.[280] Its bedding capacity is the same as in the dormitory
of the novices: twelve beds, if they were ranged in single
file along the four walls of the room; about twenty, if they
were staggered. The apartment of the master of the
Infirmary (mansio magistri eorum) and the "room for the
critically ill" each have a corner fireplace, but lack the other
facility shown in the corresponding rooms of the Novitiate,
the privy. This is one of the few genuine oversights of the
Plan and may be an inadvertent omission by the copyist.[281]

CARE OF THE SICK:
THEIR DIETARY PREROGATIVES

The welfare of the sick was one of St. Benedict's primary
concerns:

The abbot is admonished to take the utmost care that they
suffer no neglect. They are allowed to take baths, as often
as their condition requires and, in contradistinction to the
healthy monks, to whom the meat of quadrupeds is categorically
interdicted, the sick are allowed to eat meat when
they are very weak, "for the restoration of their strength,"
but must abstain from it as usual, as soon as they are
better.[283]

St. Benedict stipulates that the Infirmary be established
as a separate building (cella super se deputata) under the
supervision of a "God-fearing, diligent, and careful" master,
and Hildemar, in his commentary to this passage, says
that it ought to consist of several rooms in order to be
prepared for all exigencies; otherwise it might happen that
"one is ready to die, another about to vomit, a third in need
of eating, and a fourth compelled to take care of his natural
needs."[284] As in the Refectory of the monks, the meal in this
refectory was accompanied by reading. If there were six
or less the text was read "in a subdued tone" (leniter); if
there were twenty, it was read "in full voice" (in voce).[285]
The Infirmary had to have its own oratory so that the sick
could attend mass.[286] If they were too weak to be taken into
the oratory, the office was read to them in the sick ward.[287]

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]