Chapter CXV: , Of the precentor and his assistant. After describing his (2)

were all compleat and fair, adorned with glass of
excellent painting: In the South Cloyster was the
History of the Old Testament: In the East Cloyster of
the New: In the North Cloyster the Figures of the
successive Kings from King _Peada_: In the West Cloyster
was the History from the first foundation of the
Monastery of King _Peada_, to the restoring of it by
King _Edgar_. Every window had at the bottom the
explanation of the History thus in Verse[207].

At Westminster, as recorded above, traces of the insertion of glass have been observed.

In later times, when regular libraries had been built for the monasteries, a special series of portraits occasionally appeared in glass, on a system similar to that worked out in other materials in Roman and post-Roman libraries; and sometimes, in other libraries, subjects are to be met with instead of portraits, to indicate the nature of the works standing near them. But I cannot say whether cloister-glass was ever treated in this way.

FOOTNOTES:

[115] _Epist._ XLIX. Sec. 3. Ad Pammachium. Revolve omnium quos supra memoravi commentarios, et ecclesiarum bibliothecis fruere et magis concito gradu ad optata coeptaque pervenies.

[116] I have to acknowledge my indebtedness to the article "Libraries," in the _Dictionary of Christian Antiquities_, and to the references there given.

[117] _Hist. Eccl._ VI. 20. [Greek: ekmazon de kata touto pleious logioi kai ekklesiastikoi andres on kai epistolas as pros allelous diecharatton eti nun sozomenas enrein euporon ai kai eis emas ephylachthesan en te kata ten Ailian bibliotheke pros tou tenikade ten autothi diepontos paroikian Alexandrou episkeuastheioe, aph' hes kai autoi tas ulas tes meta cheiras upotheseos epi tauto sunagagein dedunemetha].

[118] _Epist._ XXXIV., _Ad Marcellum._ De aliquot locis Psalmi cxxvi. Migne, Vol. XXII. 448.

[119] _Ibid._ _De Viris Illustribus_, Chap. 3. Migne, Vol. XXIII. 613. Porro ipsum Hebraicum habetur usque hodie in Caesariensi bibliotheca quam Pamphilus martyr studiose confecit.

[120] _Comment. in Titum_, Chap. 3, v. 9. Unde et nobis curae fuit omnes Veteris Legis libros quos vir doctus Adamantius in Hexapla digesserat de Caesariensi bibliotheca descriptos ex ipsis authenticis emendare.

[121] Optatus: _De schismate Donatistarum._ Fol. Paris, 1702. App. p. 167.

[122] _Augustini Opera_, Paris, 1838, XI. p. 102.

[123] _Bullettino di Archeologia Christiana_, Serie terza, 1876, p. 48.

[124] _Epist._ XXXII. Sec. 10 (ed. Migne, Vol. LXI. p. 335). Basilica igitur illa ... reliquiis apostolorum et martyrum intra apsidem trichoram sub altaria sacratis.

[125] _Ibid._ Sec. 13. Cum duabus dextra laevaque conchulis intra spatiosum sui ambitum apsis sinuata laxetur, una earum immolanti hostias jubilationis antistiti parat; altera post sacerdotem capaci sinu receptat orantes ... Sec. 16. In secretariis vero duobus quae supra dixi circa apsidem esse hi versus indicant officia singulorum.

[126] Book I. Chap. 2. _De Acacia._ [Greek: pherei sperma en thulakois sunezeugmenois trichorois e tetrachorois]. Comp. also Book IV. Chap. 167. The use of the apse is discussed by Lenoir, _Architecture Monastique_, 4to. Paris, 1852, Vol. I. p. 111.

[127] Holsten, _Codex Regularum_, fol. 1759, 1. Regula S. Pachomii, No. c. p. 31. Nemo vadens ad collectam aut ad vescendum dimittat codicem non ligatum. Codices qui in fenestra id est intrinsecus parietis reponuntur ad vesperum erunt sub manu secundi qui numerabit eos et ex more concludet. The word fenestra is illustrated by a previous section of the Rule, No. LXXXII. p. 30. Nullus habebit separatim mordacem pavulam ad evellendas spinas si forte calcaverit absque Praeposito domus et secundo: pendeatque in fenestra in qua codices collocantur. Ducange says that the word is used for the small cupboard in which the Sacrament was reserved. Here it is evidently a recess in the wall closed by a door--like one of the later armaria. On Pachomius and his foundation see _The Lausiac History of Palladius_, by Dom Cuthbert Butler, Camb. 1898, and esp. p. 234.

[128] _Benedicti Regula Monachorum_, ed. E. Woelfflin, Leipzig, Teubner, 1895.

[129] _De secunda feria quadragesimae._ In capitulo nequaquam alia Regulae sententia legitur quam quae est de quadragesima. Recitatur quoque _Brevis_ librorum qui anno praeterito sunt ad legendum fratribus erogati. Cum quilibet frater nominatur, surgit, et librum sibi datum reddit: et si eum forte non perlegerit, pro indiligentia veniam petit. Est autem unus tapes ibi constratus super quem illi libri ponuntur, de quibus iterum quanti dantur, dantur cum _Brevi_; et ad hoc est una tabula aliquantulum major facta. _Antiquiores Consuetudines Cluniacensis Monasterii._ Lib. I. Cap. LII. D'Achery, _Spicilegium_, ed. 1723, I. 667.

[130] _Ibid._ Lib. III. Cap. X. _Ibid._ 690. _De Praecentore et Armario._ Praecentor et Armarius Armarii nomen obtinuit eo quod in ejus manu solet esse Bibliotheca quae et in alio nomine Armarium appellatur.

[131] Reyner. _Apostolatus Benedictinorum in Anglia_, fol. 1626. App. Part III. p. 211. As Lanfranc styles himself in the prologue Bishop of Rouen, these decrees must have been issued between August 1067 and August 1070, when he was made Archbishop of Canterbury.

[132] Reyner, _Apostolatus Benedictinorum in Anglia_, fol. 1626. App. Part III. p. 216.

[133] I am aware that the Customs printed by D'Achery are dated 1110; but it need not be assumed that they were written in that year. Similar directions are to be found among the Veteres Consuetudines of the Benedictine Abbey of S. Benoit sur Loire, or Fleury, founded A.D. 625. _Floriacensis vetus Bibliotheca_, 8vo. Lyons, 1605, p. 394.

[134] Cantor almaria puerorum juvenum et alia in quibus libri conventus reponentur innovabit fracta praeparabit [reparabit?] pannos librorum bibliothecae reperiet fracturas librorum reficiet. _Chronicon monasterii de Abingdon_ (De obedientariis Abbendoniae). Rolls Series, II. 371.

[135] Cantor non potest libros vendere dare vel impignorare. Cantor non potest libros accommodare nisi pignore, quod tanti vel majoris fuerit, reposito. Tutius est pignori incumbere quam in personam agere. Hoc autem licet facere tantum vicinis ecclesiis vel excellentibus personis. _Ibid._ pp. 373, 374.

[136] _Mon. Angl._ II. 39. The last sentence runs as follows in the original: Nullus librum capiat nisi scribatur in rotulo ejus; nee alicui liber aliquis mutuo tradatur absque competenti et sufficienti memoriali, et hoc ponatur in rotulo ipsius. I owe this quotation and the last to Father Gasquet's _Some Notes on Medieval Monastic Libraries_, 1891, p. 10.

[137] Adhuc etiam libros ad legendum de armario accipit duos quibus omnem diligentiam curamque prebere monetur ne fumo ne puluere vel alia qualibet sorde maculentur; Libros quippe tanquam sempiternum animarum nostrarum cibum cautissime custodiri et studiosissime volumus fieri vt qui ore non possumus dei verbum manibus predicemus. Guigonis, Prioris Carthusiae, _Statuta_. Fol. Basle, 1510. _Statuta Antiqua_, Part 2, Cap. XVI. Sec. 9.

[138] Libros cum commodantur nullus contra commodantium retineat voluntatem. _Ibid._ Cap. XXXII. Sec. 16.

[139] _Les Monuments primitifs de la Regle Cistercienne_, par Ph. Guignard, 8vo. Dijon, 1878, p. 237.

[140] _The Observances in use at the Augustinian Priory of S. Giles and S. Andrew at Barnwell_: ed. J. W. Clark. 8vo. Camb., 1897, p. 15. This passage also occurs in the Customs of the Augustinian House at Groenendaal near Brussels. MS. in the Royal Library, Brussels, fol. 53 v^o. _De Armario._

[141] As I know of no other passage in a medieval writer which describes an _armarium_, I transcribe the original text: Armarium, in quo libri reponuntur, intrinsecus ligno vestitum esse debet ne humor parietum libros humectet vel inficiat. In quo eciam diversi ordines seorsum et deorsum distincti esse debent, in quibus libri separatim collocari possint, et distingui abinvicem, ne nimia compressio ipsis libris noceat, vel querenti moram inuectat.

[142] Statuta primaria Praemonstratensis Ordinis, Cap. VII. ap. Le Paige, _Bibliotheca Praem. Ord._ fol. Paris, 1633, p. 803. The words are: Ad Armarium pertinet libros custodire, et si sciverit emendare; Armarium librorum, cum necesse fuerit, claudere et aperire ... libros mutuo accipere cum necesse fuerit et nostros quaerentibus commodare sed non sine licentia Abbatis vel Prioris absente Abbate et non sine memoriali competenti.

[143] The delightful story of S. Francis and the brother who wished for a psalter of his own is told in the _Speculum Perfectionis_, ed. Sabatier, 8vo. Paris, 1898, p. 11.

[144] These Constitutions have been printed by Father F. Ehrle in a paper called _Die aeltesten Redactionen der Generalconstitutionen des Franziskanerordens_, in "Archiv fuer Literatur und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters," Band VI. pp. 1-138. The passages cited above will be found on p. 111.

[145] _The Philobiblon of Richard de Bury._ ed. E. C. Thomas, 8vo. Lond. 1888, p. 203.

[146] In the Cluniac Customs those volumes only which had been assigned to particular brethren are to be laid on the carpet. It is difficult to understand the reason for this formal assignment of a book to each brother who chose to ask for one. As brethren in those early times had no separate cubicles or cells, it could hardly imply more than a precaution against the difficulty of two brethren requiring the use of the same volume. Possibly the whole intention was disciplinary, to ensure study as prescribed by the Rule.

[147] Delisle, _Bibl. de l'Ecole des Chartes_, Ser. 3, Vol. I. p. 225. Interdicimus inter alia viris religiosis, ne emittant juramentum de non commodando libros suos indigentibus, cum commodare inter praecipua misericordiae opera computetur. Sed, adhibita consideratione diligenti, alii in domo ad opus fratrum retineantur; alii secundum providentiam abbatis, cum indemnitate domus, indigentibus commodentur. Et a modo nullus liber sub anathemate teneatur, et omnia predicta anathemata absolvimus. Labbe, _Concilia_, XI. 69.

[148] Delisle, _Cab. des Manuscrits_, II. 226.

[149] M. Delisle (_ut supra_, II. 124) cites an inscription in one of the MSS. of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris: "Liber iste de Corbeia: sed prestaverunt nobis usque Pascha."

[150] Mabillon, _Thesaurus Anecdotorum_, Vol. 1. p. 151.

[151] _Opera Thomae a Campis_, fol. 1523. Fol. XLVII. 7. The passage occurs in his _Doctrinale Juvenum_, Cap. V.

[152] _Medieval Monastic Libraries_: by F. A. Gasquet, p. 15. The passage translated above occurs in a Custumary of S. Augustine's, Canterbury, MSS. Cotton, Faustina, c. XII. fol. 196 b.

[153] _Cat. Monte Cassino_, II. 299.

[154] Theodmarus Cassinensis to Charlemagne, ap. Haeften, _Disquisitiones Monasticae_, fol. 1644, p. 1088.

[155] Delisle, _ut supra_, II. 227.

[156] Delisle, _ut supra_, II. 227. Tu, quicunque studebis in hoc libro, prospice, et leviter atque dulciter tractes folia, ut cavere possis rupturam propter ipsorum tenuitatem; et imitare doctrinam Jesu Christi, qui cum modeste aperuisset librum Ysaie et attente legisset, tandem reverenter complicuit ac ministro reddidit. This injunction occurs, in substance, in the _Philobiblon_ of Richard de Bury, ed. Thomas, p. 241.

[157] _Opera Thomae a Campis_, fol. 1523. Fol. XLVII.

[158] Amice qui legis, retro digitis teneas, ne subito litteras deleas, quia ille homo qui nescit scribere nullum se putat habere laborem; quia sicut navigantibus dulcis est portus, ita scriptori novissimus versus. Calamus tribus digitis continetur, totum corpus laborat. Deo gratias. Ego, in Dei nomine, Vuarembertus scripsi. Deo gratias. From a MS. in the Bibl. Nat. Paris (MS. Lat. 12296) from the Abbey of Corbie: "les caracteres denotent l'epoque carlovingienne." Delisle, _ut supra_, II. 121.

[159] On the curse invariably used at S. Victor's, see Delisle, _ut supra_, II. 227 _note_.

[160] Hic est liber Sancti Maximini Miciacensis monasterii, quem Petrus abbas scribere jussit et proprio labore providit atque distinxit, et die caenae domini super sacrum altare sancti Stephani Deo et sancto Maximino habendum obtulit, sub hujusmodi voto ut quisquis eum inde aliquo ingenio non reddituius abstulerit, cum Juda proditore, Anna et Caiapha atque Pilato damnationem accipiat. Amen. From a Benedictine House at Saint Mesmin, Loiret. Delisle, _ut supra_, III. 384. M. Delisle considers that the words "providit atque distinxit" mean "a ete revue et ponctuee."

[161] Quem si quis vel dolo seu quoquo modo isti loco substraxerit anime sue propter quod fecerit detrimentum patiatur, atque de libro viventium deleatur et cum iustis non scribatur. From the Missal of Robert of Jumieges, ed. H. Bradshaw Soc., 8vo. 1896, p. 316.

[162] Hic est liber sancti Albani quem qui ei abstulerit aut titulum deleverit anathema sit. Amen. I owe this quotation to the kindness of my friend Dr James.

[163] _Cat. des MSS. des Departements_, 4to. Vol. I. p. 128 (No. 255).

[164] Quicunque hunc titulum aboleverit vel a prefata ecclesia Christi dono vel vendicione vel accommodacione vel mutacione vel furto vel quocunque alio modo hunc librum scienter alienaverit malediccionem Ihesu Christi et gloriosissime Virginis matris ejus et beati Thome martiris habeat ipse in vita presenti. Ita tamen quod si Christo placeat qui est patronus ecclesie Christi eius spiritus salvus in die judicii fiat. Given to me by Dr James, from a MS. in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge.

[165] I have to thank my friend Dr Venn for this quotation. He tells me that it was first pointed out by Dr Swete in _The Caian._ II. p. 127.

[166] See above, p. 71.

[167] Delisle, _ut supra_, II. 124.

[168] _Ibid._ p. 239.

[169] _Ibid._ p. 365. Edwards, _Memoirs of Libraries_, I. 283.

[170] _Supplement to Bentham's Ely_, by Wm Stevenson, 4to. 1817, p. 51. I have to thank my friend the Rev. J. H. Crosby, Minor Canon of Ely Cathedral, for a transcript of Bp Nigel's deed.

[171] _Monumenta Moguntina_, ed. Jaffe, 8vo. Berlin, 1866, in _Bibl. Rer. Germ._ Vol. III. p. 301; quoted in Bede's works, ed. Plummer, p. xx.

[172] See Church's _S. Anselm_, ed. 1885, p. 48. The words are: Nunc hyemali frigore rigens, aliis occupationibus vacabo, praesentemque libellum hic terminare fatigatus decerno. Redeunte vero placidi veris sereno, etc. _Hist. Eccl._ Pars II. lib. IV.

[173] This couplet, written on the fly-leaf of a MS. in the library of the University of Cambridge (Hh. VI. II), was pointed out to me by my friend F. J. H. Jenkinson, M.A., Librarian.

[174] Herimanni liber de restauratione S. Martini Tornacensis: ap. Pertz, _Mon. Germ._ XIV. 313.

[175] See above, p. 37.

[176] See _Dictionnaire du Mobilier_, par Henri Havard, S. V. _Armoire_, and the passages there quoted.

[177] See above, p. 71.

[178] The Cistercian Customs prescribe the possession of nine volumes at least, chiefly service-books, before a house can be founded. _Documents_, p. 253.

[179] _Origines Francaises de l'Architecture Gothique en Italie_, par G. Enlart, 8vo. Paris, 1894. p. 9. This valuable work contains a full and accurate description, copiously illustrated, of Fossa Nuova and other abbeys in remote parts of Italy.

[180] _The Monastery and Cathedral of Worcester_, by John Noake, Lond., 1866, p. 414.

[181] _Chronica monasterii de Melsa._ Rolls Series, Vol. III. App. p. lxxxiii.

[182] The word _theca_ signified in classical Latin a case or receptacle in which any object was kept. In medieval Latin it was specially used (_fide_ Ducange) for the chest in which the bodies or bones or relics of saints, were kept. In this catalogue it is obvious that it may mean either a shelf or a cupboard.

[183] Sunt enim in libraria de Tychefeld quatuor columpnae pro libris imponendis, unde in orientali fronte due sunt videlicet prima et secunda. In latere vero australi est tercia. Et in latere boreali est quarta. Et earum singule octo habent gradus [etc.].

[184] _Trans. Cumb. and West. Antiq. and Archaeol. Soc._ Vol. XVI. p. 259. I take this opportunity of thanking my friend Mr Hope for allowing me to use his plan of Furness Abbey, and also for pointing out to me the evolution of the Cistercian book-rooms which I have done my best to describe in the text.

[185] _Calder Abbey: its Ruins and its History._ By A. G. Loftie, M.A.

[186] Mr Hope tells me that he has lately re-examined these recesses, and failed to discover traces of furniture or fittings of any kind within them.

[187] _Voyage Litteraire_, Paris, 1717, Vol. I. p. 101.

[188] _Cat. des Manuscrits des Bibliotheques Publiques de France._ Departements, Tom. V. Catalogue des Manuscrits de Citeaux, No. 635 (p. 405). Parvus liber incathenatus ad analogium cathedre ex opposito capituli.

[189] _The Rites of Durham_, ed. Surtees Soc. 1844, p. 70.

[190] _Notes on the Abbey Buildings of Westminster_, Arch. Journ. XXXIII. pp. 15-49.

[191] _Notes on the Abbey Buildings of Westminster_, Arch. Journ. XXXIII. pp. 21, 22.

[192] _Notes on the Abbey Buildings of Westminster_, Arch. Journ. XXXIII. p. 16.

[193] MSS, Mus. Brit. MSS. Cotton, Otho. c. XI. fol. 84.

[194] See a paper by myself in _Camb. Ant. Soc. Proc. and Comm._ IX. pp. 47-56.

[195] _Voyage Litteraire_, ed. 1717. Part I. 297.

[196] _Dictionnaire du Mobilier_, s. v. _Armoire_.

[197] Viollet-le-Duc, _ut supra_, p. 4, where full details of the press at Obazine are given. The photograph from which my illustration has been made was specially taken for my use through the kind help of my friend Dr James, who had seen the press in 1899.

[198] Viollet-le-Duc, _ut supra_, p. 14. I have myself examined this press. My friend Mr Hope informs me that there is a press of this character in the nether vestry at S. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, described by him in _Inventories of the parish church of S. Peter Mancroft, Norwich_, Norf. and Norw. Archaeol. Soc, XIV. p. 29.

[199] See Mr Hope's _Notes on the Benedictine Abbey of S. Peter at Gloucester_, in _Records of Gloucester Cathedral_, 1897, p. 23.

[200] See above, p. 93.

[201] _Memorials of S. Edmund's Abbey_, Rolls Series, II. 327. The writer is describing the mischief done by the rioters of 1327: Deinde claustrum ingressi, cistulas, id est caroles, et armariola fregerunt, et libros et omnia in eis inventa similiter asportaverunt. I owe this quotation to Dr James, _On the Abbey of S. Edmund at Bury_, Camb. Ant. Soc. Octav. Publ. No. XXVIII. p. 158.

[202] _Liber Evesham_, Hen. Bradshaw Soc. 1893, p. 196. Abbat Ombresleye (1367-79) built "paginam illam claustri contiguam ecclesie ubi carolae fratrum consistunt."

[203] _Accounts of the Obedientiaries of Abingdon Abbey_, ed. Camden Society, 1892, p. 47. "Expense circa sedilia claustri" is the heading of an account for wood bought and for carpenter's work. The sum spent was L2. 15_s._ 3_d._

[204] _Arch. Hist. of the Conventual Buildings of the Monastery of Christ Church, Canterbury_. By R. Willis. 8vo, Lond. 1869, p. 45.

[205] MSS. Mus. Brit. MSS. Cotton, Faustina, c. XII., fol. 149. De karulis in claustro habendis hanc consideracionem habere debent quibus committitur claustri tutela ut videlicet celerarius seu alii fratres qui raro in claustro resident suas karulas in claustro non habeant, set nec aliqui fratres nisi in scribendo vel illuminando aut tantum notando communitati aut et sibimet ipsis proficere sciant.

[206] MSS. Mus. Brit. MSS. Cotton, Faustina, c. XII., fol. 145. ... precentorem et succentorem quibus committitur armariorum custodia. Cantor habebit cathedram suam ante armarium in claustro stantem et carulam suam iuxta desuper lapidem inter columpnas. Succentor vero super scannum iuxta armarium carulam et sedem suam habebit, ut hii duo vel saltem unus eorum possint semper esse parati ad respondendum fratribus seruicium petentibus.

[207] _History of the Church of Peterburgh._ By Symon Gunton: fol. 1686, p. 103. The author gives the subjects and legends of nine windows. I owe this quotation to the kindness of Mr Hope.