They could also accuse each other of bad behavior if they had a good cause. It is called the chapter house because a chapter from the rule that the monastery follows is read before they began. .
The abbot or abbess had a separate house for themselves. An abbot or abbess was the head of the monasteries or convents. Monasteries also included farms, a school, a mill, a bakery, a blacksmith's forge, and other workshops. Some monasteries included whole villages. Monasteries were always built next to a dependable stream for drinking and washing water. The stream was also used to power the mill and other industries in the monastery.
In the Roman Catholic church the purpose of monastic life was to develop personal holiness and to serve the world through prayer, so monks and nuns spent most of their time in prayer, meditation, worship, and reading and memorizing the Bible. Monks dressed in long, plain colored robes made of coarse material which was tied at the waist by cord made of rope. The monks had to give everything but a begging bowl away. A usual day for a monk or nun was regulated by regular prayer services in the abbey church. When the services were over, monks would be occupied with all the tasks associated with maintaining a self-sustaining community. The monasteries had lay brothers and servants do the physical work for them because they spent most of the time in prayer.
Women took part in monastic life by living in a convent under the direction of an abbess. These women were known as nuns. They wore simple clothes and wrapped a white cloth called a wimple around their face and neck. Nuns alternated prayer with spinning, weaving, and embroidering items such as tapestries and banners. They also taught needlework and the medicinal use of herbs to the daughters of nobles. .
An abbey grew its own food, built all their own buildings, tended their own sheep or cattle, and in some cases, grew quite prosperous while doing so.