The duchy of Normandy experienced great variety in the forms of the religious life. Although our story begins with the re-establishment of Benedictine monasticism in the tenth and eleventh centuries, this renewal of spiritual life gave the impetus for further developments and the foundation of new orders. By the mid-twelfth century several Savignac and Cistercian houses were in existence, founded in response to the more ascetic ideals of figures like Robert of Molesme, founder of the Cistercian order, and Vitalis of Savigny. As the century progressed, the number of hospitals and leper houses increased, founded in a spirit of charity and, perhaps, as an alternative outlet for those people for whom a contemplative vocation was not attractive. For the laity, whose main point of contact with organised religion in many respects was their parish priest, there were also several ways of expressing religious devotion, most notably through pilgrimage to shrines housed in monasteries, parish churches and cathedrals. However, all forms of religious life and devotion depended on the active cooperation between the clergy, professed religious and the laity. The relationship was one of mutual support. Clergy, monks and nuns provided services and prayers; the laity provided material support through the foundation and ongoing benefaction of religious houses and the payment of tithes.

In this book, we are concerned with how this relationship was made manifest through the use of space.