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Bible Encyclopedias
Dormitory
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or It was the primitive custom for all the monks of a monastery to sleep in one large dormitory. Not until the 14th century was the custom introduced of using separate sleeping-cells. By the rule of Benedict all were to sleep in one room, if possible, with the abbot in their midst, or in larger monasteries ten or twenty, together with a dean. Only the aged, the infirm, and the excommunicated were excepted from this arrangement. Each monk was to have a separate bed. They were to sleep clothed and girded. The room was kept under lock and key until morning. In the first fervor of monastic zeal it was a common practice to sleep on the bare ground — afterwards on mats. A fire was kept burning in the room all night. The sleeping-room for stranger monks was usually close to the great dormitory and the chapel. See Smith, Vic. of Christ. Anti. s.v.
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Dormitory'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/d/dormitory.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
