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Byland Abbey: History
Byland Abbey: Buildings
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A warning against gossip The German Cistercian, Idungus of Prufung, criticised
Cluniac monks for chatting and complained that they eagerly gossiped after
the daily chapter meeting ‘by permission of the order’. He compared
the noise they made to the din in a tavern full of sots where the men talked ‘with
their fellow spouses’ and the women drinkers chatted with their companions.
Idungus warned of the perils of such behaviour: ‘From the permission
to chatter arises the wherewithal for brawling. From the brawl come threats
and acrimony, so much so that at times it is necessary to recall the chapter
by striking the wooden tabula’. |