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> 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. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%