> Do any of you know of any men who, following their own conversion, made
> arrangements for their wives, and sometimes children, to also take holy
> orders.
1. Wives and children cannot take holy orders; the Church does not ordain women at all, and
the ordination of children has always been considered an abuse. I think you mean, "enter
religious orders".
2. When Abelard entered a monastery he "arranged" for Heloise to enter a convent. His own
father, Berengar, had entered the religious life, but had neglected to make the arrangements for
his wife, Lucy. Abelard himself helped her move into a convent - which may have given him the
idea of what to do with Heloise. I suspect that for many people a monastery or convent was the
equivalent of a modern nursing home.
3. As you are expert in Old French - I taught you! - you will know the Lai of Marie de France -
Eliduc, I think, but you can check - where Eliduc's wife enters a convent in order to make way for
his mistress. Subsequently Eliduc and his new wife also get religion; he enters a monastery,
and wife 2 enters the same convent as wife 1 - all very amicably. But then, it is a fairy tale.
The supple doctor.
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