Cloisters as a Place of Spiritual Awakening | by Manolis Iliakis Workshop DAS | Dance Architecture Spatiality in Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert © Manolis Iliakis The crossroads of daily and spiritual life in medieval monasteries of the West The English word for enclosed garden (cloister) is derived from the Latin parent word claustrum, meaning a bolt which secured the door. The more recent latch is the contemporary version of this bolt. This seems to be symbolic of the monks' isolation from the outside world, facilitating contact with the inner consciousness. The word is also associated with the footpaths outside the monastery courtyard, which were often used by monks for a kind of walking meditation. The English words cloistered and claustral describe the monastic way of life. The metonymic name “Kloster” in German means monastery. The German word for enclosed garden is Kreuzgang (meaning crossroads). Around the perimeter of an outdoor garden, a roofed portico (porch-like gallery) was constructed, its columns terminating in arcades. In larger monasteries, a second-level perimetric portico was built. Often, there was a well, fountain or water basin. This element was not always placed at the centre, as for example at the monastery of Ganagobie Abbey1. The resulting asymmetry, emphasized by the placement of plants and trees, brought another architectural aspect to the typically square floor plan. This typology is a characteristic of most Western medieval monasteries, as well as cathedrals. These spaces were adjacent to the main church or a chapel and are the heart of the monastery. A gateway facilitated direct access from one space to another, the sense that one has in the closed space of the church being conveyed to the cloister and vice-versa. Daily repetition of this conveyance was an important aspect of monastic life. The transition from a dimly-lit space, (usually a central or side aisle), to a courtyard and then to an open outdoor space, and the same progression in reverse, evokes the spiral development of the cosmos, the seasonal cycles and the movement of the sun. This functional aspect comprises the connecting and transitory spaces of all monastic structures. Apart from the rituals, prayer, walking or sitting meditation and silent reading of the Scriptures, the enclosed courtyard (or yard) was the centre of social life and an integral 1 A Benedictine monastery on the banks of the Durance river in France. The first monastery was founded in the 10th century. 1 part of daily monastic life. This is where the monks sewed their clothes, repaired their shoes, cut their hair, shaved and cut their nails. For the rite of Ash Wednesday (Dies cinerum), monks left their shoes in the enclosed courtyard to go barefoot, as prescribed by Canon Law2. There was usually a sharpening stone here, where they also washed their cups and laid out their clothes in the sun to dry 3. Regine Abegg's research4 answers many questions regarding the significance, function and use of the enclosed courtyard in monastic life. A researcher can obtain much information from the Libri Ordinarii, the liturgical books defining regulations for religious orders and performance of the Divine Liturgy, as well as other ceremonies during the year. Interesting references are found describing the ritualistic use of enclosed courtyards. The oldest surviving Libri Ordinarii date from the early 12th century. Ceremonial conventions (Consuetudines) were established for each monastery in accordance with these regulations. Customs and laws are preserved in written form in a number of medieval monasteries and describe daily schedules and regular annual rituals. We often see modifications and amendments of church laws, as well as detailed descriptions of daily life in the enclosed courtyard. Litanies, adapted to each region, were celebrated in the enclosed courtyard. Festive litanies with the psalms and exact locations of processional stops are described with explicit instructions in the Libri Ordinarii. During these litanies, participants always passed through the enclosed courtyard. Each Sunday, the ceremony of sanctification was performed and in the enclosed courtyard, they sprinkled all doors leading to rooms around the gallery. We find references to sanctification from as early as the 8th century. If there was some celebration on Sunday, it would be coordinated with the sanctification. The litanies and processions at cathedrals such as those in Zurich and Basel were also associated with the enclosed courtyard. In the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed for example on November 2nd, the procession passed through the enclosed courtyard, continuing, with stops at graves, to the parish, the Holy Gate and the Eastern wing of the choir, finally reaching the courtyard or cloister. The cloister also presented an alternative for litanies in a town, when conditions did not permit it. The 35th chapter of the Rule of St. Benedict defines foot washing as part of the care of the body and is associated with specific rituals. Saturday night was defined as the day of ritual group foot washing. This ceremony had great significance during Holy Week, being associated with the cleansing of feet of the disciples of Jesus. The Cistercian Order practiced the washing of feet on Holy Thursday, which was done by the abbots of monasteries in the enclosed courtyard in two consecutive ceremonies. The first was called Mandatum pauperum, (washing of the feet of the poor) and the second, Mandatum fratrum, (washing of the feet of the monks). This is described in great detail in the Liber Ordinis of St.Victor in Paris. The kitchen manager (Refectorarius) carried a jug of hot water and another with cold water to the Western wing of the cloister. The monks sat on the low wall between the columns and lifted their tunics with care and modesty, exposing only their feet. Without lifting their feet excessively, they then stretched them and shook off the water. After waiting for their lower limbs to dry completely under their cloaks, they donned their shoes and washed their hands in the Lavatorium. They shook out their socks carefully so as not to bother their neighbours and put them on again. They were permitted to have sharpened knives only in order to trim their nails. Knives were normally stored in the dormitories after the daily meal. 2 Cod. Sal. VII,80 Ordinarium Cisterciense et Liber Usuum Cisterciensis Salem, 1603 & 1604 3 Sourced from Regine Abbeg: Udalricus, Lib.II, cap.20 (Migne, PL 149,Sp.709); Constitutiones Hirsaugienses, cap. 59 (Migne, PL 150, Sp.988); Consuetudines Marbacenses, cap. 32, § 72 (Siegwart, S. 140). 4 Regine Abegg, Funktionen des Kreuzgangs im Mittelalter: Liturgie und Alltag, περιοδικό Kunst + Architektur in der Schweiz = Art + architecture en Suisse, Νο. 48 (1997), p. 6-24 2 Descriptions of clothes washing are also interesting. When speaking was permitted during the day, monks could get hot water from the kitchen and wash their clothes in the multiple basins carved in a tree trunk. Tunic overgarments ("stamineum") were washed separately from trousers ("femoralia"). Clothes were most likely then hung out on lines, secured between columns5. Shoes were cleaned in the same area and laid out to dry on the garden grass. Speaking was forbidden in all areas of the monastery in accordance with the strict rules of the Benedictines: in the dining room (Refectorium), kitchen, bedrooms (Dormitorium) and of course the church. A coded sign language helped when communication was needed. In keeping with these strict rules, the only place where speaking was permitted to some extent and at specific times was in the enclosed courtyard. Silence was of great importance, after the midday meal for example. Only reading, chanting or siestas were permitted. During this time, even communication with sign language or gestures was not permitted. The importance of maintaining a sense of tranquillity is noted in detailed descriptions of daily activities, becoming a sort of "choreography". For example, when monks would write in the cloister, they had to take care not to make noise when moving the quill over the parchment. This instruction seems oppressive at first, but from another perspective, facilitates concentration, preventing distraction of the mind with unnecessary thoughts. When a monk was late in returning to the garden gallery after his siesta, he had to walk discreetly, taking care not to disturb the calm. Was this simply to avoid disturbing one's neighbour, or to reflect while walking? Perhaps both. When speaking softly was permitted, (only in the area of the cloister), discussion topics were required to be spiritual in nature, or relate to essential practical matters. The Liber Ordinis (Liber Ordinii) of the Augustinian Order of St. Victor permits one single conversation period ("hora locutionis") per day. The monks sat in a row on one side of one of the four arcades and on the other side of the same gallery, an overseer maintained order, preventing any chatter, quarrels, slander etc. Those discussing were not to be at a distance from each other and were required to speak as softly and as little as possible, concise wording being a form of intellectual discipline. The acoustic effect of the semi-open and open space of the surrounding portico and garden was considerable. Every word was initially trapped in the gallery and then "freed". The sense of sound transmission resulting from the unique structure of the space, facilitated this "exercise" of expressing necessity and purpose. When an unnecessary thought is expressed verbally, it becomes more apparent and even distressing. Supervising monks were present during reading of the Holy Scriptures ("Lectione Divina") in the portico surrounding the courtyard. The 48th chapter of the Rule of St. Benedict defines the daily syllabus and manner of reading. Each monk was to sit at a specific distance from his neighbour, determined by stretching the elbows.