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There were many aspects to life in a medieval women’s convent – and some of them may appear surprising from a modern perspective. Convents were not only places of prayer, but also of study and teaching. Throughout the entire Middle Ages, convents were places of knowledge and education. There, nuns copied books and compiled their own, and provided girls with a comprehensive education at the convent school. 

Moreover, convents were influential economic units. They owned animals, fields, and mills. The fruits of those and other possessions fed the community, and they needed good and far-sighted management. It was therefore crucial for nuns to be well trained and able economists. 

At the head of most communities stood an abbess who not only governed her community, but also ruled over lay people. She dispensed justice, collected taxes, and even appointed priests. Some abbesses were powerful politicians – such as the abbesses of Fraumünster of Zurich who not only governed their abbey, but the entire city.

This website will allow you to discover the many facets of medieval female monasticism. 

Come – take a look and welcome to the medieval cloister!