ABSTRACT
Nunnery Rules: Enclosure Nunneries, although spaces which were female by association and by the intentions of the occupants, were constructed or defined, by monastic rules which were created and imposed by males. However, as Shirley Ardener comments, ‘space reflects social organisation, but of course, once space has been bounded and shaped it is no longer merely a neutral background; it exerts its own influence’.1 Once nunnery space had been constructed (both textually and physically) it in turn defined and constrained the individuals it encompassed: that is, the space defined the people. The previous chapter on the history of the nunnery rules has highlighted that enclosure was a key element in defining women’s monastic life throughout the period. The expectation of a spatially limited monastic experience for women was almost universal though in some cases this restriction might be mitigated by other social and political expectations. Most rules aimed to define nuns by their physical separation from secular interests and experience and, to varying degrees, from contact with male monastics and clergy. These spatial restrictions and expectations were deemed appropriate for a variety of reasons and were designed to meet a number of objectives. The present chapter examines the ways in which the nunnery rules imposed enclosure and the purposes for the spatial definition of religious women.
