Michael JECKS - Belladonna at Belstone

Michael Jecks

Dartmoor

March 1999

Calefactory– Every monastery or nunnery would have had a calefactory or ‘warming room’, in which a good, blazing fire would be kept going through the colder months or when the days were chill.

Chapterhouse– This was the chamber in which the nuns would meet to discuss important business. Elections for new leaders could take place here, as could discussions of any issue which might affect the smooth running of the community.

Choir(also quire) – In a religious institution, this was the name given both to the clergy involved in performing the services and to the part of the church where they did so.

Cloister– This could refer to the whole religious precinct or an enclosed area set apart from the rest of the world; in this story the cloister mainly refers to the specific area in which nuns or monks would work, read, or merely walk. At the centre (see Garthbelow) was often a good-sized, square lawned area, around which all the other buildings were ranged.

Dorter– This was the dormitory block in which the nuns would have slept.

Familia– In the slacker convents, groups would tend to eat together regularly. While their Rule said all should dine together in common, often nuns chose to eat at slightly different times with their own familia.

Frater(also refectory) – The name given to the hall in which the nuns would eat.

Garth( cloister-garth) – This is the name given to the small yard, usually grassed, which was situated at the middle of the cloister.

Horarium– This was the timetable by which monks and nuns regulated their day, beginning with Nocturns, the first service, usually held at aboul 2.30 a.m., and ending with Compline, the final service. For the full sequence, please see over.

Laver– The room in which nuns or monks would wash. In many convents the laver would have had fresh water piped from a spring or river, sometimes brought a great distance in lead pipes.

Rere-dorter– This was the toilet block, often, like at Castle Acre, out at the rear of the dorter itself. It would lie over the lop of alarge channel so that running water could wash it clean. Wastes were sometimes allowed to build up and the water blocked off by means of a wooden sluice so that the deposits could be collected for fertiliser. Similarly urinals were used less for convenience and more because urine was used to manufacture vellum, or to bleach linens.

Suffragan– When a bishop was forced to spend time away from his diocese he would install a suffragan to act as his deputy and to see to the cure of the souls.

Programme of offices to be held during winter months taken from Archbishop Lanfranc’s schedule for the Benedictines of Canterbury. The times given are estimates only, for a small convent like St Mary’s would have had no accurate clocks.

At about 2.30 a.m. the nuns would all be roused from sleep and called to attend the choir of the church. Here they would sing psalms and offer prayers until the first of the services, the Nocturns, after which the nuns would continue with Matins, which would be followed by Prime at dawn.

Once Prime was over the nuns would go out and sit in the cloister, reading until about 8.00 a.m. when they would all return to their dorter, or bedchamber. Here they would change their shoes, then go to the laver, where they would wash in preparation for the next service.

Terce was followed by Morrow Mass, after which the nuns would all go to their chapterhouse for their daily meeting. At this any admissions of failings or accusations of lapses could be brought up. and apologies or penances offered or imposed.

Once the daily chapter had concluded, the nuns would spend their time either working or reading until noon. Then they would all go back to the church.

Sext, High Mass and None were all celebrated, and at last the nuns could go to the frater for their only full meal of the day. This was followed by more work or studying until about 5 p.m., at which they would return for Vespers in the church.

Vespers was the last ceremony of the active day, and afterwards the choir would change into their night slippers and go to the frater to drink. In the medieval age people depended upon a diet which included much ale or wine, because the solid diet did not provide enough essential vitamins or protein.

Finally the nuns would troop back to church to listen to a reading, and then would hear the last service: Compline.

After this, at between 6.30 and 7 p.m., the nuns should have gone to the dorter to sleep.

From the records, it seems clear that many did not.

She was lucky not to have died.

It was a glorious day in late winter, almost early spring. The sun beamed down on the lay sisters as they hung out the washing, larking and joking. In this weather the land took on a more cheerful aspect; the moors glowed with a salmon freshness in the morning and even the drab grey of the moorstone was touched with a pink glow.

They were in the yard where the lines were strung. To get there they had to step carefully round the muddy pools with their wicker baskets on their hips, avoiding the cowpats which led to the dairy, stepping delicately over the small round pebbles of sheep excrement and the tiny deposits left by the prioress’s terrier. There were many hazards in a busy priory’s yard.

Agnes didn’t hear them at first. The novice was too busy thinking about her meeting later with the priest. It was only a short while since she had seen him with another novice, Katerine, and Agnes still wondered whether she ought to forgive him, or whether she should refuse to speak to him ever again – but that would mean cutting off her nose to spite her face, not an attractive prospect. Brightening, she reflected that Katerine would find it intolerable, should Agnes win him back; it would mean he preferred her to Kate. Agnes was persuaded. She’d go to see him as he’d begged, and provided he showed true remorse, she would forgive him. Pleased with her decision, and feeling the thrill of anticipation, she hastened her steps as she rounded the corner of the rere-dorter to come to the yard north of the cloister.

Seeing the lay sisters and their antics, she stood watching them wistfully. Lay sisters weren’t full nuns, they were women who were prepared to take their own vows, but lacked the education or intelligence to give spiritual service. Instead they offered their labour to the glory of God. As such they weren’t political or ambitious – unlike nuns – and at times like this Agnes could feel a twinge of jealousy for the simplicity of their lives.

Agnes had enough troubles with Kate, but Kate wasn’t her only problem. There was that miserable God-botherer Moll as well. The young novice was so full of cant, she wouldn’t be truly happy until she’d died; Moll’s sole pleasure appeared to be watching over the other nuns and pointing out their failings. She liked making other people miserable. No one was safe while she wandered about the place.

Katerine wasn’t much better, of course. She liked uncovering other people’s secrets too, but at least she strayed from the straight and narrow often enough herself. Agnes knew Kate was capable of blackmailing for her own benefit, but while Agnes knew so much about her, Agnes felt safe enough.