ABSTRACT
The twelfth and thirteenth centuries saw a substantial increase in the opportunities for women to live a religious life. The life of the nun had long been the main option for unmarried girls and women as well as for widows, but women of the later Middle Ages could also join communities of beguines. Women joined the Franciscan and Dominican friars early on. Dominics original foundation for women at Prouille in 1206 constituted part of his campaign against the Cathar heresy. The nunneries dependence on men for spiritual and temporal services posed major problems. Women were not admitted into the orders of the Church and always needed men as chaplains, confessors and priests to celebrate Mass. The lives of nuns across Christendom displayed both uniformity and variety. Most people knew nunneries and their officials as landowners, farmers, rent collectors and holders of courts.
