Giornale delle entrate e delle uscite del Convento di San Domenico in Bologna
been given to them by the queen of Hungary13. On 25th January 1356, the friars recovered some manuscripts that had been given as security for a loan14. Income and expenses Income The income of the monastery was unpredictable; still in the 14th century, as on the Order’s foundation, the friars had no regular income, apart from the landed income. Some of the most significant income derived from the large number of bequests that the community received, and the donations for masses for special intentions. Occasionally, the friars received land or houses but the costs involved in maintaining these often eroded a considerable part of the income15. Expenses The food needed to feed a community of more than a hundred individuals would have constituted a considerable expenditure. The friars ate mainly eggs, fish, cheese and pulses. We have already mentioned the many days of abstinence prescribed by the Order’s Constitutions; the use of meat was an exception reserved for guests and the sick. Wheat came from the land to which the friars had the right of use (the usufruct); vegetables were grown in the monastery garden; bread was made in the monastery; often wine too was made in the monastery . The food was more substantial when there was the “pictancia”. As we have already said, this was a special dish which appeared on the friars’ table on special occasions, especially when there were guests; one of these was the celebration of a General Chapter and on that day the friars would invite the authorities of the city, bishops and prelates. On these occasions, the costs would be covered by the well-off families of the city or by the city authorities themselves, because of the prestige for the city deriving from the presence of the General Master and of the Capitular Fathers from all parts of Europe16. Another frequent expense was the purchase of books for the library. Among the entries, we frequently find expenses to purchase papyrus paper, ink, paint and other writing materials17. Another constant and considerable outlay was that for the maintenance of the monastery buildings. There was also a notable expense in the pay of the lay staff who worked in the monastery: the infirmarian’s assistant, the cook, the store-keeper, the laundryman, the baker, the worker in the firewood-store, and the worker who drew water from the wells. All of these received a wage and a contribution toward their workclothes, shoes, etc. Some services were carried out by lay brothers; these were religious figures who were not priests and usually they were responsible for the sacristy, for the custody of the Ark of St. Dominic, for the infirmary, the tailor’s workshop, the shoe shop, the larder and the garden.
13 ASBo, Corporazioni religiose soppresse, Dem239/7573, c. 95 14 Ibidem, c. 108 15 Ibidem, c. 265 16 A. D’Amato, I Domenicani a Bologna, Vol. I, Edizioni Studio Domenicano, Bologna 1988, pp. 267-270 17 ASBo Dem238/7572, c. 137, c. 175; ASBo Dem239/7373, c. 83 8