[214] According to the severe Cistercian Rule richly illuminated manuscripts were not allowed to be written or even used in Houses of that Order, which in England from the end of the twelfth century came next in size and importance to the monasteries of the parent Benedictine Order. [215] See the plan of the Abbey of St Gallen, published by Prof. Willis, _Arch. Jour._, Vol. v. page 85 seq. [216] The Abbey of Westminster is a well preserved example of the typical Benedictine plan. [217] One walk of the Benedictine cloister, usually that on the west, was used as the school-room where the novices repeated their "Donats" and other lessons. Hence in many cloisters one sees the stone benches cut with marks for numerous "go-bang" boards--a favourite monastic game. [218] No monk could borrow a book to read without the express permission of his superiors given in the Chapter House. [219] The word _carrel_ is probably a corruption of the French _carré_, from the _square_ form of these little rooms. [220] When the great Benedictine Abbey of Gloucester was suppressed, Henry VIII. made the Church into a Cathedral by creating a new See; and so, happily, the very beautiful cloister was saved from destruction. [221] Gloucester is exceptional in having the cloister on the north side of the Church; and also in having these stone recesses in the _scriptorium_ alley. [222] The Gloucester cloister and the carrel recesses shown in this woodcut date from the latter part of the fourteenth century. [223] Published by the Surtees Society, London, 1842; see p. 70. [224] Frequently in the Linen-armourers' Guild, that of makers of defensive armour of linen padded and quilted, a very important protection against assassination, which was used till the seventeenth century. [225] Dante selected the Apothecaries' and Physicians' Guild. [226] This phrase was used in the twelfth century by Ordericus Vitalis, _Hist. Eccles._ Lib. III. p. 77, Ed. Le Prevost. [227] Mediaeval saddlery, with its cut, gilt and stamped leather (_cuir bouillé_), rich and elaborate in design, was a decorative art of no mean character; and in technique was akin to that of the bookbinder, which in most places was included in the same Guild. [228] See _Le Beffroi_, Bruges, Vol. IV. 1873. [229] In poetic beauty, however, they cannot be compared to the glory of the French _Apocalypses_ such as that in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge. [230] Gérard David is mentioned above as one of the illuminators of the famous Grimani _Breviary_; see page 165. [231] See pages 117 and 122 for examples of this. [232] That is, for noting or writing the plain song of certain parts of the service which were sung at Christmas and during Holy Week. This explanation I owe to my friend Mr J. T. Micklethwaite.