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Bible Dictionaries
Double Monasteries
1910 New Catholic Dictionary
or
Communities of both men and women dwelling in contiguous establishments, united under one superior, in order that the spiritual needs of the nuns might be attended to by the priests. The system, of eastern origin, sprang up with monasticism and came into the West, to Gaul, probably through the influence of Cassian. The idea spread to Belgium, Germany, and Spain, and came into favor in England with the monastery of Saint Hilda at Whitby in the 7th century. Other prominent examples are Saint Etheldreda's, Ely; Sheppey, Barking, and Kildare. The dual community, subject to abuses and in scant favor with the Church, gradually declined about the 10th century, but revived with the reform of Fontevrault, 1099, and flourished with the Gilbertines, 1146, and the Bridgettines, 1346. The supreme rule was generally in the hands of an abbess, though a prior was superior of the Gilbertines, and one church was used in common for liturgical offices. For rule see Fontevrault, Bridgettines, and Gilbertines. Such communities have long ceased to exist in the Western Church.
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Entry for 'Double Monasteries'. 1910 New Catholic Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ncd/d/double-monasteries.html. 1910.
