A medieval nunnery was very similar to a monastery, which was a place where people would gather to worship God. People would also use this time to get away from their life's and just relax for awhile. The Nunnery was also used by the nuns. The nuns usually lived in a religious house called a abbey or they were also known as a priory. The nun that was in charge of the priory was called the prioress. Each nunnery was a self-supporting whose nuns had no need of going beyond its limits for anything. The nunnery also allowed the nuns to vote who they wanted the prioress to be. A nunnery was also known for one of the few places where women held positions or authorities. Nunneries were often places where women who didn’t fit into society, were sent, or chose to live there. For example, an illegitimate female child could be brought up in a monastery, rather than with her mother. A young woman who didn’t wish to marry, or a widow might also choose a nunnery as an alternative to life alone. And of course, the community provided protection from the attentions of would-be suitors, particularly for wealthy widows, who were particularly welcome in a nunnery, as they usually had some form of wealth or property from their marriage.
A woman could spend most of her life in a nunnery. Many Houses took young girls, whom they educated. Some of these girls went back into everyday life once they grew up, others took their vows and entered religious life. Life in a medieval nunnery offered for many, a sense of community and purpose, and the chances to experience responsibility, which were not offered to women elsewhere in medieval society.
The principal buildings of a large nunnery were grouped around an inner court, called a cloister. These included a church, a refectory, or dining room, with the kitchen and buttery near it, a dormitory, where the nuns slept. There was also a library, a school, a hospital, and a guest house for the reception of strangers, besides barns, bakeries, laundries, workshops, and storerooms for provisions. Beyond these buildings lay vegetable gardens, orchards, grain fields, and often a mill, if the monastery was built on a stream. The high wall and ditch, usually surrounding a nunnery, shut it off from outsiders and in time of danger protected it against attack.
Citations
Info
http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/medieval-convent-nunnery.htm
A woman could spend most of her life in a nunnery. Many Houses took young girls, whom they educated. Some of these girls went back into everyday life once they grew up, others took their vows and entered religious life. Life in a medieval nunnery offered for many, a sense of community and purpose, and the chances to experience responsibility, which were not offered to women elsewhere in medieval society.
The principal buildings of a large nunnery were grouped around an inner court, called a cloister. These included a church, a refectory, or dining room, with the kitchen and buttery near it, a dormitory, where the nuns slept. There was also a library, a school, a hospital, and a guest house for the reception of strangers, besides barns, bakeries, laundries, workshops, and storerooms for provisions. Beyond these buildings lay vegetable gardens, orchards, grain fields, and often a mill, if the monastery was built on a stream. The high wall and ditch, usually surrounding a nunnery, shut it off from outsiders and in time of danger protected it against attack.
Citations
Info
http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/medieval-convent-nunnery.htm
Pic
http://www.explore-isle-of-iona.co.uk/images/iona-attractions/nunnery-2.jpgKelby Bryant
David Wyers
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