ABSTRACT
Until the twelfth century, women who wished to follow the religious life had to become nuns, an option which only a minority could take up. The popular preachers of the twelfth century, such as Norbert of Xanten and Robert of Arbrissel, gathered followings of women from a wide range of backgrounds and established them in monastic foundations. By the later twelfth century, other forms of religious life were emerging, with growing numbers of lay-women becoming beguines and penitents and living their lives in a noninstitutional setting. Recluses, however, were recognised by the Church, which regarded their solitary life as valid and covered by ecclesiastical rituals and customs. Although rural groups of women are recorded, the majority of beguines and penitents are associated with the towns, and it is likely that social and economic as well as religious factors influenced the growth of the movements.
