Below these sat the high cellarer of Emmet, and others chief among the brethren.
Then up spake the high cellarer, "Methinks it is a shame to so drive a misfortunate knight to the ditch.
``My gold collar,'' answered the Prior, ``against ten buts of Chian wine; they are mine as securely as if they were already in the convent vaults, under the key of old Dennis the
cellarer.''
Just as nuns were kitcheners,
cellarers, bursars, and so on, they were also accounting obedientiaries.
(2) They also include lists of igumens (abbots), managers (stroiteli), cellarers, treasurers, grangers (zhitniki), and librarians (2: chap.
Half who joined for the long haul served as officials in some capacity, and half of those who so served attained council elder status, if not one of the top three posts (igumen, cellarer, and treasurer).
Finally, debts incurred by the cellarers are listed by cellarer and year from 1307 to 1329, and a grand total of 1,277.4s.
At Durham, accounting material survives from the offices of the bursar, terrar, cellarer, almoner, chamberlain, communar, feretrar, hostillar, infirmarer, and sacrist, as well as accounts from the manors owned by the priory; accounts for livestock and mines; accounts from proctors responsible for the administration of the priory's possessions lying further away in Scotland, Northumberland, and Yorkshire; and, finally, accounts from the cells or dependencies of Durham Cathedral Priory, such as the priories of Coldingham and Finchale.
Tallies typically comprised payments to the cellarer for the purchase of provisions for the sustenance of the brethren, and to the servientes (officers who supervised the manors on behalf of the priory) for the payments necessary in the day to day administration of the manors.
The
Cellarers sometimes just record a purchase of 'zucer', as in 1390 (p.
Ross (eds.), Accounts of the
Cellarers of Battle Abbey, Sussex Record Society, vol.
(1967), Accounts of the
Cellarers of Battle Abbey 1275-1513 (Sydney: Sydney University Press).