§ 48. In the ordinary Benedictine plan, which, although subject to some variation, was the model, founded on convenience, for the other monastic orders, the eastern range of buildings had a ground-floor and upper story, and projected some distance to the south or north, as the case might be, beyond the cloister. The upper story was the dorter (_dormitorium_) of the convent, which normally was carried through the whole range as far as the transept of the church. On the ground-floor, the chapter-house, entered by a doorway near the middle of the east walk, was a long building which projected eastwards at right angles to the range. It was very frequently separated from the church, as at Durham and Worcester, by a vaulted passage which gave access to the graveyard at the east end of the church. This was the parlour (_locutorium_), where the rule of silence was relaxed and necessary conversation could be held. At Durham, merchants were allowed to bring their wares here for sale, but for this purpose an outer parlour was often provided, as at Gloucester, in the western range, and the eastern parlour was reserved for the convent. Occasionally, as at Rochester and Wenlock, the chapter-house joined the church without the intervening parlour; and at Westminster the place of the parlour was taken by the chapel of St Faith, the only entrance to which was from the south transept. § 49. The chapter-house (_domus capitularis_) was the place where, every day after prime, the convent met together for the confession and correction of faults and for the discussion of business concerning the house as a whole. At these meetings a chapter (_capitulum_) of the rule was read daily, and from this circumstance the name of chapter was transferred both to the meeting and the building. Here too the visitor of the monastery held his periodical inquiries, prefaced by a sermon from one of his clerks or of the senior members of the house. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, as at Durham and Fountains, the chapter-house was the customary burial-place for abbots and other heads of houses. The dead bodies of monks rested in the chapter-house at Durham, and matins of the dead were sung for them here before they took their last journey through the parlour to the graveyard. The building was normally oblong in shape, undivided by columns into aisles, and was usually vaulted. At Durham, Gloucester and Reading it ended in an apse. The abbot or prior occupied a raised seat at the east end, with the principal officers on his right and left. The rest of the convent sat on stone benches round the walls; while near the centre of the floor was the desk or lectern (_analogium_) from which the daily lection from the martyrology and the chapter for the day were read. The breadth of the chapter-house generally corresponded to three bays of the cloister, with a doorway in the middle of the west wall and a window on either side. [Illustration: Fig. 7. Bristol: chapter-house, looking W.]