Jo Ann,
has anyone studied the appearance of the "nonne" and related
terms in the various european languages? I'm trying to figure out
how it gets to iceland, where an interesting variant turns up:
meynunna, literally "virgin nun." presumably this is to distinguish
young women who joined from older women who became nuns in later life.
Meg
> 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
Margaret Cormack [log in to unmask]
Dept. of Philosophy and Religion fax: 843-953-6388
College of Charleston tel: 843-953-8033
Charleston, SC 29424-0001
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