ner was in
charge. He was to be prudent and discreet in the distribution of his
doles (_portiones_) and to relieve travellers, palmers, chaplains and
mendicants (_mendicantes_, apparently the beggars recognized as living
by begging, such as we have noted under other social conditions), and
the leprous more liberally than others. The old and infirm, lame and
blind who were confined to their beds he was to visit and relieve
suitably (_in competenti annona_). The importunity of the poor he was
to put up with, and to meet their need as far as he could. In the
almonry there were usually rooms for the sick. The sick outside the
precincts were relieved at the almoner's discretion. Continuous relief
might be given after consultation with the superior. All the remnants
of meals and the old clothes of the monks were given to the almoner
for distribution, and at Christmas he had a store of stockings and
other articles to give away as presents to widows, orphans and poor
clerks. He also provided the Maundy gifts and selected the poor for
the washing of feet. He was thus a local visitor and alms distributor,
not merely at the gate of the monastery but in the neighbourhood, and
had also at his disposal "indoor" relief for the sick. Separate from
the rest the house there was also a dormitory and rooms and the
kitchen for strangers. A _hospitularius_ attended to their needs and
novices waited on them. Guests who were laymen might stay on, working
in return for board and lodging (Smith's _Dict. Christian Antiq._,
"Benedictine").

The monasteries often established hospitals; they served also as
schools for the gentry and for the poor; and they were pioneers of
agriculture. In the 12th century, in which many monastic orders were
constituted, there were many lavish endowments. In the 14th century
their usefulness had begun to wane. At the end of that century the
larger estates were generally held in entail, with the result that
younger sons were put into religious houses. This worldliness had its
natural consequences. In the 15th century, owing to mismanagement,
waste, and subsequently to the decline of rural prosperity, their
resources were greatly crippled. In their relation to charity one or
two points may be noted: (1) Of the small population of England the
professed monks and nuns with the parish priests (Rogers, _Hist.
Agric. and Prices_, i. 58) numbered at least