What is the age to become a nun in the medievil times?

Answer 1

Women and girls became nuns in different ways and for many different reasons.

Some young girls were given to convents by their parents, simply because they already had too many children and could not afford to feed any more; others were given to ensure they had an education, or because the parents believed that this would ensure a place in Heaven for themselves and their family. Such girls were called oblates and the parents were usually expected to make a small cash donation at the time the girl was given to the convent. The practice of giving oblates in this way was gradually phased out during the late 12th century and was ended by about 1215. Many such girls chose to leave the convent as soon as they became adults at around 12 or 14 years of age.

Older women whose husbands died and who had no sons willing to support them might join a convent to provide themselves with security and care in their old age, as well as for various religious reasons.

Some teenage and middle-aged women were simply filled with religious conviction and resolved that they would not marry a man, but marry Christ as a nun, living their entire lives as virgins.

Each nunnery had its own rules for accepting new novices, who had to serve a probationary period before being permitted to take the final vows. The novitiate period was often 12 months, but sometimes shorter or longer. During this time the novice attended all the church services and learned the daily routine alongside the other nuns; she was carefully monitored and if found unsuitable she could be asked to leave - or she might decide herself that the religious life was too demanding and decide to leave of her own accord.

If she were suitable and admitted into the convent as a professed nun, she took her final vows in front of a bishop and received a ring (symbolic of her marriage to Christ). The white veil of a novice was then replaced with a black veil.

The vows she took promised poverty, chastity and obedience - that is, obedience to the Mother abbess or prioress in charge and obedience to the Rule of St Benedict.