Westminster Hall when they had finished the choir, three years later. It is said that it was the apprentices who were allowed to carve the seats, while the masters did the more impressive works. Eastern Orthodox Use Misericords are found to this day on kathismata, the choir stalls used by Eastern Orthodox monastics. These tend to be much simpler than their Western counterparts, usually being a simple strip of rounded wood with little or no ornamentation. Their use is very common in the Greek Orthodox Church, though Russian Orthodox monasteries tend not to have individual choir stalls, but simple benches for the brethren to sit on. Orthodox Christians stand throughout the long divine services, rather than sit or kneel, though some seating is provided for the elderly and infirm. Whereas Greek monks will tend to lean in their stalls during the services, Russian monks usually stand upright. Misericord (room) A distinct (but related) use of the word is to denote a room in a medieval Benedictine monastery where some part of the community would eat on any given day. The Rule of Saint Benedict included strict rules on the food allowed for monks in the refectory: for example, it provided for a complete ban on the meat of four-legged animals except for the sick. In a late medieval monastery, a schedule would send half of all monks to dine in the refectory, and the other half to the misericord, where the Rule of Saint Benedict was not in effect and they could indulge in meat. At Westminster Abbey, the misericord was constructed sometime between 1230 and 1270. Cultural impact As the 'hidden' position and 'vernacular' iconography of misericords have prompted them to be seen as a subversive art-form, they have re-appeared as motifs in modern art and literature Gallery See also Mourner's bench Prie-dieu References Remnant, G. L. (1969). Misericords in Great Britain; with an essay on their iconography by Mary D. Anderson. (re-issue 1998). Oxford University Press. Further reading Elaine C. Block, Corpus of Medieval Misericords in France: XIII – XVI century. (2003) Elaine C. Block, Corpus of Medieval Misericords Iberia: Portugal – Spain XIII-XVI. (2004) Elaine C. Block, Corpus of Medieval Misericords: Belgium (B) – Netherlands (NL). (2010) Elaine C. Block, Misericords in the Rhineland. (1996) Michael Camille, Image on the Edge: The Margins of Medieval Art. (1992) Gordon Emery, Curious Chester (1999) Gordon Emery, Chester Inside Out