A cloister is the inner area of a monastery where outsiders are either
excluded altogether or have only the most restricted access.
Nunnery is a relatively modern designation, in English only, for women's
monasteries. Whenever I use it, I pair it with monkery (a must rarer but
nevertheless licit usage.) The distinction between nun and sister is also a
modern legalism. In medieval texts the most common use is sanctimonial for
female religious though you will also find monacham and --very
rarely--nonne. Sister is what they call each other. Orders develop slowly
as conglomerates of monasteries from the late twelfth century and again,
congegations
(as descriptive of a group of religious communities ) is generally a modern
designation for groups under episcopal supervision as compared to
independent orders.
Jo Ann
-----Original Message-----
From: Francine Nicholson <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, September 16, 1999 2:39 PM
Subject: RE: monastic query
>> From: Rev. David G. Peters [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>>
>> Perhaps you could add "cloister" and "nunnery" to your list.
>> It is my understanding that Martin Luther was technically not a monk,
>> but a friar. I would also be interested in whether this information is
>> correct and, if so, what distinguishes monks from friars?
>> Thanks for entertaining such pedantic questions, my friends!
>>
>>
> If you're going to add nunnery, then you should probably also ask
>for the distinction between a nun and a sister, and an order and a
>congregation.
>
> BTW, some monasteries are nunneries, but not all nunneries are
>monasteries.
>
> Francine Nicholson
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