Canon XLVII.
No
woman may sleep in a
monastery of men, nor any man in a monastery of women. For it
behoves the faithful to be without offence and to give no scandal, and
to order their lives decorously and honestly and acceptably to
God. But if any one shall have done this, whether he be cleric or
layman, let him be cut off.
Notes.
Ancient Epitome of Canon
XLVII.
It is not allowed that a woman should sleep in a convent
of men, nor a man in a monastery of women.
The ground covered by this canon is also found in
Justinian’s Code, Book xliv.,
Of Bishops and Clergy
.
Vide
also
Novella
cxxxiii., chap. v.
Van Espen.
From the whole context of Justinian’s law it is
manifest that Justinian here is condemning “double
monasteries,” in which both men and women dwelt. And he
wishes such to be separated, the men from the women, and
e
contra
the women from the men, and that each should dwell in
separate monasteries.
The reader may be reminded of some curious double
religious houses in England for men and women, of which sometimes a
woman was the superior of both.