only order which
actually had birth in England. It was, however, entirely lacking in that
intellectual activity which was a special feature of the earlier double
monasteries, among both men and women, and which, from the secular point
of view, gave to the Anglo-Saxon nunneries a place not incomparable with
the women's colleges of the present day. The latest double monastery in
England was that of S. Bridget of Sion, near Isleworth, on the Thames.

Reference has been made only to the more important early double
monasteries in England; but there are others which may or may not come
under this category. Of these some are Whitern in Galloway, Carlisle,
Caistor in Northamptonshire, Gloucester, Strenshall in Staffordshire,
and Lyminge in Kent.

It is uncertain whether Bischofsheim, in Germany, under the abbess
Lioba, was a double monastery, but the arrangement is known to have
existed in Germany in the C8 and later. There are also traces of them in
Italy, and considerable evidence for the same sort of system in Spain,
but time does not allow of dealing with them here.

Finally, the double monastery did not flourish or find much favour in
the more sophisticated ages of Christianity, but generally followed an
outburst of religious enthusiasm in the earlier centuries of the Faith.
"It was," says Montalembert, "a peculiarity belonging to the youth of
the church, which, like youth in all circumstances, went through all the
difficulties, dangers, and storms of that age, and which in maturer
times gave way before a more practical, if less ideal, outlook on
life."[32]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "Monasteria duplicia ut appellantur." Corp. Jur. Civ. (Krueger)
Codex I. iii., 43.

[2] Vita Pachom. Migne, Pat. Lat., tom. 73, cap. 28, col. 248. Paris,
1849.

[3] Regula S. Pachomii. Gallandius Bib. Vet. Pat., tom. 4, p. 718.
Venice, 1765.

[4] Vita Pachom. Migne, Pat. Lat., tom. 73, cap. 28, col. 248. Paris,
1849.

[5] Lives of Women Saints. Translated by an early author (unknown)
probably 1610-1615. Edited by C. Horstmann (E.E.T.S.), 1886.

[6] Migne, Pat. Lat., tom. 67, col. 1001.

[7] Bateson, Mary, "Origin and Early History of Double Monasteries."
Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Vol. XIII., p. 141.

[8] Bateson, Mary, op. cit., p. 143.

[9] Gregorius Turon, Hist. Franc., Lib. 3, cap. 7.

[10] Nisard, Vie de Fortunat, chap. 52. Paris, 1887.

[11] Eckenstein, Lina, Woman under Monasticism. Page 54. Cambridge,
1