Medieval Nuns

Medieval nuns played very important roles in the development of civilization during the middle ages. During this time nuns followed three main vows in life. The three main vows were the vow of chasity, the vow of poverty, and the vow of being obedient. Nuns gave up living a normal civilian life to spend their lives to work under the strict routine of working, worshiping, and reading in a nunnery.

             Nuns during this time were responsible for many jobs around the civilization. These jobs included work like, “washing and cooking for the monastery, producing wine, ale and honey,  raising the necessary supplies of vegetables and grain, providing medical care for the community, providing education for children, spinning, and weaving and embroidery, and illuminating manuscripts,”(www.lordsandladies.org). On top of getting these jobs done many nuns had important occupations. Some occupations nuns had during this time period were abesses, almoners, cellarers, infirmarians, sacrists, and prioresses. Being an abbess was to be the main abbey, who also was elected by the nuns for life. An almoner's job was to give alms to the poor and the sick. A cellarer supervised the supplying of food and drink in the monastery. The infirmarian is in charge of the infirmary. The duty of a sacrist is the safekeeping of books and vessels, and for the maintenance of the convent's buildings, and the prioress is head of a house of certain orders of nuns. Nuns also had one other special job during the middle ages. Nuns were some of the only woman that had any sort of literacy, therefore nuns provided the only source of education to young women. This was an important job because many women in the middle ages were not usually educated. 

             In addition to working, reading, church, and worshiping nuns spent many hours a day meditating and praying. The daily life of nuns was centered around "The Book of Hours." "The Book of Hours" was the main prayer book nuns used. The book is broken up into eight sections. The names of the sections include , “Lauds (the early morning service of divine office, approximately 5am),Matins (the night office; the service recited at 2 am in the divine office), Prime (The 6am service), Sext (the third of the Little Hours of divine office, recited at the sixth hour (noon)),Nones (the fourth of the Little Hours of the divine office, recited at the ninth hour (3 pm)),Terce (the second of the Little Hours of divine office, recited at the third hour (9 am)),Vespers (the evening service of divine office, recited before dark (4 - 5pm)), and finally Compline (the last of the day services of divine office, recited before retiring (6pm)),”(www.lordsandladies.org).  Each section contains prayers, hymns, psalms, and other readings that helped the nuns make their way to salvation. As each one of these sections came throughout the day, the nuns were to stop whatever they were doing and do the days reading out of the "The Book of Hours". All in all, this is what the day of a nun living in the middle ages looked like. There is no doubt nuns played an important role in the development of civilization during the middle ages. 

Work Cited

Cartwright, Mark. "The Daily Life of Medieval Nuns." Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient
             History Encyclopedia, 26 Oct. 2019,
             https://www.ancient.eu/article/1298/the-daily-life-of-medieval-nuns/.
Daily Life of a Nun in the Middle Ages,

http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-nun-middle-ages.htm.