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[hrodberht]

Fun facts about nuns: in both the Reformation and the French Revolution, nuns were a lot more resistant to having their convents closed down than monks were about their monasteries.

In other news, I joined a gym today. It's extortionately expensive, but only five minutes' walk from work, and there's a sauna, so it's pretty exciting.

Comments

[littlered2]

Maybe something to do with the fact that life as an unmarried man in both of those cultures was rather better than life for an unmarried woman? I'd have wanted to stay in my convent too.

[hrodberht]

That's basically it - although, conversely, you do get nuns hiding inside carts to escape from the nunnery or saying "no" at the "do you vow yourself to God" bit, so it's not as though they all loved it. (Also, I'm not completely convinced that ex-monks would have done fantastically well for themselves in Revolutionary France either!)

[littlered2]

Yeah, neither seems like a great option - well, I suppose it depends on the type of convent you end up in. (Does your book mention what happens to the women who refused to vow themselves to God?)

[highfantastical]

Oh gosh, me too!

(Hi, Rob.)