the tonsure under the abbess Aelfthryth. Her rule was
apparently very strict, for we find Guthlac getting into trouble for
breaking a rule by _not_ drinking wine.

Several chapters in Bede's Ecclesiastical History are devoted to stories
of the double monastery at Barking, which was one of the most famous. It
was founded by Erconwald, who afterwards became bishop of London. He
built one for himself at Chertsey, and one for his sister Aethelburg at
Barking, and, as Bede says, "established them both in regular discipline
of the best kind." This monastery included both a hospital and a school,
under the energetic rule of its first abbess.

Hildelith succeeded Aethelburg, and it was for her and her companions
that the scholar Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne, wrote his work, "De
Laudibus Virginitatis."[29] He speaks of the nunnery as a hive where the
nuns work like little bees, for they collect everywhere material for
study. Their industry is not confined to the study of Holy Scripture. He
speaks of them as searching carefully into the writers of history, as
having a knowledge of ancient law and chronography, and in writing, of
the rules of grammar and orthography, punctuation, metre, together with
the use of allegory and tropology; all of which goes to prove that the
field of secular knowledge was not particularly limited for nuns in
those days. Aldhelm enlarges on the charms of their peaceful life in the
nunnery, and the opportunities for thought and study it affords them. He
recommends the works of Cassian and Gregory for their reading, and warns
them against pride, a special temptation to those who have adopted the
religious life.

Again there comes the warning against worldliness in both monk and nun.
Some of the men, he says, contrary to the rule of the regular life,
wear gay clothing. "The appearance of the other sex, too, corresponds:
a vest of fine linen of hyacinth blue is worn, and above it a scarlet
tunic with hood and sleeves of striped silk; on the feet are little
shoes of red leather; the locks on the forehead and temples are waved
with a curling-iron; the dark grey head-veil has given place to white
and coloured head-dresses, the folds of which are kept in place by
fillets and reach right down to the feet; the nails are pared to
resemble the talons of a falcon." Aldhelm condemns all this, but hastens
to add that of course he is addressing no one in particular. The work
closes with an affectionate greeting to th