A question about Pre-Reformation nuns

[Wibs]

Before the Reformation, when England was Catholic, could a nun (Benedictine) who had made her vows, later change her mind and decide to leave the order and return to a secular life, or was this not permitted? If it was permitted to leave the order, could she then marry, or would she be considered married to Christ, forever, and no secular ‘remarriage’ would be allowed?

 

[Mintaka]

If you got permission from a superior or a bishop of the pope, one could usually be freed of vows. But one might be assigned various conditions.

And basically you would have to do a lot of research into canon law in a particular time and place, to find out if it were plausible. Also a lot would depend on the wishes of the nun, her family connections, etc.

In Carolingian times, families would frequently pull women out of convents who wanted to be nuns, whether they were virgins or widows, and marry them off. There were a lot of Carolingian laws instituted to try to weaken the power of the woman’s clan over a nun and to prevent kidnapping.

OTOH, sometimes a royal woman would be permitted to leave the convent and marry in order to prevent succession crises. This happened a lot, and sometimes the woman even maintained vows while married (with her husband’s permission) while they just ran out the clock so the cousins could grow up and become heirs. Pretty common in the Holy Roman Empire and Eastern Europe.

And of course a lot of men also got pulled out of monasteries, or left voluntarily, because of succession crises.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

In pre-Reformation England, it would depend on the type of vows the nun had made. If the vows were simple vows, they could be dispensed and she could return to secular life, marry, etc.

But if the vows were solemn vows (which Benedictine nuns would usually make at some point, though it might be after they had been in the convent for some time), they were generally not considered dispensable. Therefore, even if she had not left of her own accord but instead been kicked out of the convent for misconduct, she still could not marry.

I don’t know if there would have been some other canon law loophole to allow someone who made solemn vows to get out of them later, such as claiming the vows were made under duress or the person wasn’t in their right mind etc when they were making them. You’d probably have to talk to a canon law historian.

 

[TomH1]

I do not know how back the rules I am citing go. They may not cover the time period to which you refer.

Dispensation from solemn vows, the vows a Benedictine nun would take, could only be dispensed by the Holy See. Such dispensations were rare. It was more common for a religious in solemn vows to be granted an indult of secularisation. This allowed her to live in the ‘world’ outside her order either for a fixed term or permanently. She would remain bound by her vows, which would not leave her free to marry.

Society at the time was rigidly controlled by men. A woman who may have been useful by being married off to seal some deal or pact would not have been allowed by her family to enter in a convent. Indeed, this may not have been possible as she could have been betrothed while still a child.

 

[Wibs]

The reason I am asking, is because I am writing a history of Thicket Priory in the East Riding of Yorkshire. When the Priory was finally suppressed in 1539 the nuns were dispersed, with pensions, and returned to secular life. One is known to have married, the prioress, Agnes Beckwick, who married a Gilbert Parr of York.

However, when Catholicism was restored under Queen Mary, the marriage came before the ecclesiastical court in York in 1555. Dr. Dakyn, the Official of the Court of Audience in York heard their confession, and imposed a relatively mild penance of fasting and prayer, but also divorced them and commanded them to abstain from cohabiting at once.

Other married nuns came before this court, some of whom had borne children, and all were divorced by Dr. Dakyn and ordered to separate.

This made me wonder what the situation was prior to the Dissolution, and if any nun could break free of her vows and marry.

 

[TomH1]

I believe this information would have been helpful in the original post. What was normal Church procedure prior to the dissolution of the monasteries when the Church in England submitted due canonical obedience to Rome and what happened during Henry VIII’s suppression of the monasteries are different things.

If you are writing a history one would assume you have a degree of familiarity with historical research methods. That would place you in a better position to learn what happened before the monasteries were forcefully closed than those of us who are not historians.