40 – Guests Chamber…

level two…

Exiting the refectory via the spiral stairs in Corbins Tower I descended to the thirteenth century hall known as the Salle des Hôtes or Guests Chamber. It was here that Abbot Raoul des Isles would entertain his rich and famous visitors with banquets and feasts. Tables were set out along two aisles and meals would be cooked over fires at the end of the hall – separated from guests by tapestry screens as were the ablution facilities – the mod-cons of the day! As mentioned previously the upper level of the abbey church and cloisters was the preserve of the clergy, and the middle level was for nobility and royalty. It is therefore not surprising to note the opulence of the Gothic architecture which would have been used to display many decorative artefacts no longer present in the room. Although the flooring seen in this the eastern end of the hall is of limestone, there remain some beautiful mosaic patterned floors elsewhere in the room. This chamber was considered at the time one of the foremost examples of its kind, and was the inspiration for a number of others of the same period. A private chapel (St Mary Magdalen), set to the side of the hall was used for pre and post prandial prayers and thanksgiving, for above all the Mont was a place of worship and the guests in the Middle Ages were mainly pilgrims.

I particularly remember the amazing acoustic qualities of the vaulted space and thinking how those Abbot’s dinners must have been quite a contrast to the comparative silence of the monastic level.