26. D. Williams, The Cistercians in the
Early Middle Ages (Leominster, 1998), p. 101 refers to a monk of Fountains
who
did so.
27. G. Coppack, ‘Description of Rievaulx Abbey in 1538-9’, Journal
of
the British Archaeological Association 139 (1986), pp. 101-133, at p. 122.
28. The monks assembled in the north cloister walk for the daily Collation reading.
The reader waited at the lectern with his book open in preparation until the
abbot arrived, and when he did so each monk bowed as he passed. The abbot sat
opposite the reader, the monks occupied stone benches. At the end of the reading
the monks faced eastwards to bow and salute, as it was believed that this was
the direction from which Christ would return.
29. Coppack, Fountains Abbey, p. 65.
30. Chapter 35 of the Rule of St Benedict states that the two cooks starting
their duties in the kitchen for the week should wash the feet of those seated
to the
abbot’s left (the seniormost of the two should wash while the junior monk
dries), whereas the two cooks who have just completed their work in the kitchen
for the week should wash and dry the feet of those seated to the right of the
abbot.
31. Ecclesiastica Officia, 21: 33-40 (p. 104).
