Who stayed here?

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Urinal (c.1400)
© Cistercians in Yorkshire Project
<click to enlarge>

The infirmary was potentially a fairly busy spot, for it was home to elderly and sick monks, and, from at least the early thirteenth century, a temporary resting place for the bloodlet. Contemporary anecdotes and satirical verse suggest that in the twelfth / early thirteenth centuries distinguished visitors may have been refreshed in the infirmary, presumably as meat was cooked and served here, along with other delicacies.(12) It is important to note that sick monks did not necessarily go to the infirmary. In the first instance the monk notified the chapter of his condition, and, unless he was gravely ill, he remained in the cloister but outside the choir. This meant that he followed the daily round of services, like the other monks, but was granted concessions, depending on the severity of his ailment, and celebrated in the retrochoir of the church, situated directly behind the monks’ choir. If after several days his condition had not improved and the abbot deemed it necessary, the monk was sent to the infirmary.(13)
[Read more about bloodletting]

Preferential treatment
Gerald of Wales’ tells of a diocesan clerk who visited a Cistercian house near the Welsh border and was initially received in the common hall. When it was realised that the clerk was the bishop’s representative and thus the chief official of the diocese he was soon diverted to the inner houses and infirmary, and served an abundance of sumptuous and well-crafted foods, including meat.
[Giraldi Cambrensis Opera: Speculum Ecclesiae IV, pp. 211-212.]

For those who stayed in the infirmary life was relatively comfortable. It was tranquil, airy and warm. The inmates ate a more relaxed diet, including meat, which was otherwise forbidden until the fourteenth century. They were also served a light breakfast, the mixt. The inmates of the infirmary were not expected to follow the full rigours of monastic life and concessions were made regarding reading, working and spiritual observances. It was, however, important that each monk did as much as he was able. The sick and infirm celebrated the night office of Vigils in the infirmary chapel, which was easier to access in the early hours of the morning. Moreover, Vigils here was shorter than in the church. Only the critically ill were exempted from attending Mass and the Canonical Hours. Everyone else was expected to participate in these services in the church and would have taken his place in the retrochoir, the area directly behind the monks’ choir. Whenever the inmates of the infirmary went to the abbey church they were not to loiter in the cloister or attempt to communicate with the other monks; they were officially ‘outside the cloister’ and had to observe this separation.

The infirmary complex essentially functioned as a monastery in miniature, but whilst separate, it was connected to and dependent on the abbey. It was reliant on the abbey for provisions, for service books and even for bedding, but once these had been received the infirmary could operate independently. Similarly, the inmates here were first and foremost monks and as such expected to follow the daily routine of conventual life as much as they were able. While concessions were made to those staying in the infirmary, ultimately they were to observe the rules of the Order and were subject to correction.