And so it happened, in 812, that Charlemagne’s son, Louis had an affair and birthed a baby boy. Surely this would have been acceptable if Louis had offered to marry the poor girl; but no. Louis was a stubborn, impulsive man, and as soon as he heard word, he threatened to kill the gal. However, Charlemagne, already a great leader and father of Louis, would not hear of such a thing. Instead, he had the child hidden in the castle while he appointed someone to build a monastery.
The building of this particular item would have been less conspicuous and easier to explain then perhaps a random house. He would have been able to use excuses such as a means of marking his boundary or flattering the God, considering the construction of monasteries had become a trend. Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on which side of the situation you had been) Louis’s heir was thought to have died in the making of the monastery. So as it goes, the story remains a tale and for those who can’t locate it, so does the monastery. Some say the child never existed, and some say he escaped when he was old enough, and there are even those who say Louis got to him first. But in the mountains of Jausiers, France, if one listens closely it is possible to hear an abbot giving out orders and praising the loveliest of Gods.
Now it must be assumed that Charlemagne was not a man to hold back with architecture and its riches. Take for example, Palatine Chapel and its polychrome, polished marble columns, and height of 101.5 ft. However, monasteries were meant to be simple and plain, without distractions. Besides, he wouldn’t want to have drawn anymore attention to it than necessary. That is not to say that the monastery wasn’t self sustaining or didn’t have any good architecture to look at.
In fact, the church, the most prominent feature of the buildings, was quite well done. The plan consisted of a basilica with two hemi circles at the north and south ends. Both ends contained clerestory windows; the south was turned into the main alter, and the north resumed as a thinking ground for the monks. The nave was lined with the relics of many saints and individual areas of pray, and was complemented by an aisle on either side. Barrel vaulting covered the roof as well. The colonnade on each side was of fifteen marble columns, while the construction was mostly of masonry.
Also made up of masonry, was the dormitory. The dormitory, located west of the north end of the church, was the building where all the monks slept. It was able to fit about twelve monks on the north and south sides, each with their own private space. This space, reached to through an arch, presented a bed and an alter. On the east end of the building were a fireplace and another little alter.
Connecting the dormitory to the church and abbot’s house, was the cloister. This was a covered arched walkway with brick floors, allowing easier access to the buildings. In the court, the center of the cloister, is a marble fountain. The fountain depicts the image of an angel. Connecting the south end of the cloister is the abbot’s house. The abbot is the headmaster of the monastery and therefore gets his own place. The building allowed for a kitchen and bath, and fireplace and bed as well. It is also connected to the church with a covered walk way.
On the east side of the church, from south to north, were the novice house, external school, and guest house. The novice house contained the school and resting place for about six more monks. Unlike the dormitory, however, the novice school did not contain individual sleeping areas, but did have a fireplace. Above the novice house was the external school. This was for the people not practicing the St. Benedictine belief. The guest house was located north of the external school. This guest house only housed richer, higher class people, considering it also had a kitchen, bake/brew, and bath.