| Around 815 A.D. Abbot Haito of the Monastery
of St. Gall received a drawing on vellum from Abbot Bernard of Reichenau.
On the vellum, Bernard had provided Haito with the plan of an ideal monastery
laid out in accordance with St. Benedict's Rule and the latest
interpretations of that rule as sponsored by Charlemagne.
The plan, which is the earliest known plan drawing in European architectural history, reveals a functional layout which preserves the Rule's requirement that monks carry out their lives in seclusion from society in their daily rounds of cloister, church, refectory, and dormitory. At the same time, it provides for the Rule's admonition that the monastery provide hospitality by locating a pilgrims' hospice and an almshouse within the monastery precinct and it accommodates contemporary demands for services from the monastery such as schooling for young nobles and lodging for the king's knights. The result places the large church and its associated cloister at the center of the plan while locating ancillary functions, including the workshops for craftsmen, on the periphery. |
ST. GALL RESOURCES
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