ABSTRACT

The religious vocation, poverty or freedom offered by religious life was some of the reasons why the woman of this historical period decided to enter the conventual life. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, the monasteries could become centers of economic, political and legal power and in them an active social life was carried out. Many of them were founded by members of the nobility and royalty and some, such as Las Huelgas de Burgos, became independent entities that governed and administered themselves, while they had jurisdiction over the towns and villages. Ronald E. Surtz reminds us that the level of literacy of women depended on several factors: the historical period, the social status, the family, the religious order. As he continues to explain, the fact that women and, in particular, nuns could not read and write did not mean that they could not produce a written work.