What do we call a female monastery?

The story behind the answer

This is the standard English term for a community of women religious (nuns). In the Middle Ages, women’s houses could hold the rank of abbey or priory and be led by an abbess or prioress, while “monastery” more often referred to male communities.

These institutions followed rules like the Benedictine Rule, took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and were often cloistered. Far from idle, they ran girls’ schools, copied manuscripts, managed estates, produced medicines, and cared for the sick—work that became crucial during plague years. For many medieval women, especially nobles, entry offered education, relative autonomy, and avenues to authority; prominent abbesses such as Hildegard of Bingen influenced theology, music, and natural science.