The Balneary
The Balneary is the abbey's bathing facility, situated next to the infirmary and forming part of the complex of buildings that includes the vegetable garden and the herbalist's laboratory. It is a place of physical restoration, where monks can wash and where Severinus of Sankt Wendel, the herbalist, treats ailments through therapeutic baths. The room contains several tubs separated by thick curtains, a fireplace for heating water, and a font for drawing it. The balneary is a place of regulated, sanctioned bodily care within the monastic routine, a space where the Rule's allowance for cleanliness and medical treatment is enacted.
The Discovery of Berengar's Body
The balneary becomes the scene of a crucial discovery on the night of the third day. After Berengar of Arundel fails to appear at compline, William and Adso, prompted by Alinardo of Grottaferrata's apocalyptic ramblings about a third trumpet bringing death by water, search the balneary. They find the last tub, concealed by a drawn curtain, full of water. At the bottom lies Berengar's naked, lifeless body. The corpse is swollen, with the face of a drowned man, and the body is white and flabby. A garment lies in a heap beside the tub, and the fireplace contains fresh ashes with an overturned cauldron, indicating Berengar had heated the water himself. The discovery confirms a third death and deepens the mystery, as the circumstances suggest a voluntary, solitary act rather than a violent struggle.
The Poisoned Tongue and Blackened Fingers
During the examination of Berengar's corpse, Severinus and William uncover a critical clue linking this death to the previous one. Severinus notes that the tips of Berengar's fingers are blackened, a detail he had also observed on Venantius of Salvemec's hands. William further discovers that Berengar's tongue is black, indicating he ingested a poisonous substance. This finding eliminates the possibility of a simple drowning and suggests that Berengar, like Venantius, had handled and consumed a lethal substance, likely the same poison that killed the translator. The balneary, therefore, is not the primary scene of the murder but the place where Berengar, already poisoned, sought relief in a warm bath and subsequently drowned, either from the poison's effects or from a seizure induced by his agitation.
Narrative Role and Significance
The balneary functions as a site of revelation and misdirection. Its discovery provides the crucial evidence of the poison—the blackened fingers and tongue—that links the deaths of Venantius and Berengar, pointing toward a single, deliberate method of murder rather than a series of unrelated accidents. The location also underscores the murderer's cunning: the poison is administered not through violence but through the victim's own actions, turning a place of healing into a place of death. The balneary's role in the narrative is to transform the investigation from a search for a physical assailant into a hunt for a hidden, toxic agent, ultimately leading William to the forbidden book and the poison smeared on its pages.
