The calefactory (also pisalis or warming house) was an important room or building in a mediaeval monastery in Western Europe. It was here that a communal fire was kept so that the monks could warm themselves after long hours of study in the (unheated) cloister or other work. In the early Middle Ages this was one of the few heated rooms in the mona... Found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calefactory
• (n.) An apartment in a monastery, warmed and used as a sitting room. • (a.) Making hot; producing or communicating heat. • (n.) A hollow sphere of metal, filled with hot water, or a chafing dish, placed on the altar in cold weather for the priest to warm his hands with. Found on http://thinkexist.com/dictionary/meaning/calefactory/