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The library at Rievaulx
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Books that were used in the church,
refectory, infirmary and cloister were kept in a cupboard, the
armarium, under the auspices of the precentor and succentor. This
large, round-headed recess was set against the south transept.
According to Stephen
of Sawley’s guide for novices, the more mature novice should ‘indulge
in more solid food’ by studying the Old and New Testaments. He
was not simply to read these works to acquire knowledge - ‘that
is merely curiosity’- but rather, to employ the Scriptures as a
mirror, to detect what was corrupt and correct this, and to see what
was beautiful. Stephen also urged the novice to memorise what he had
learnt.
[Stephen of Sawley, Treatises, ‘A Mirror for Novices’ ch. 15, pp.
106-7.]
Read more about what
novices read. |
At the start of Lent each monk
was given a book for the year which he was to read thoroughly during
the daily period allocated to
reading, as stipulated in chapter 48 of the Rule of St Benedict. He was not to keep his book overnight but to return it each day
to the book cupboard for safekeeping. The monks sat on stone
benches in the north walkway of the cloister and read aloud, but
quietly.
Nobody was to leave the cloister during reading time and the
monks were to make sure that their hoods did not cover their faces
in
case anybody secretly nodded off. The monks spent more time reading
in winter and during Lent, when less time was allocated to work;
on Sundays they read during the work time as well as the reading
period.
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