that idea held. 150 In terms of the Gilbertine order, it could be argued that their
double house status made them problematic within the monastic community,
placing them under suspicion in an age where enclosure was becoming more favoured. 151 Furthermore, the nun’s violent punishment of both their pregnant sister and her lover can be argued to be rooted in their passionate desire to defend not only their collective virginity and honour but their way of life. 152 The
incident reflected on them as a whole and they may have been aware of how it
would alter the way their community was to be run, since the organisation of the order became stricter in the following years . 153
One argument is that double houses of the twelfth century were in a more
precarious position than their predecessors, due to the growing sense of orthodoxy. 154 The changes in attitude religious reform brought and the growth of written works to spread customs from house to house aided the production of this new environment. 155 The Gilbertine incident could reflect the tensions of
this new atmosphere upon women in particular. Papal reform right at the
beginning of the period focused on eradicating clerical marriage and henceforth
the interaction between men and women in religious spaces was a prominent area of discussion. 156 The new monastic communities were not without issues as
Gilbertine double houses have shown. Celibacy features in many stories of the
period, in which for example an abbess becomes pregnant by the will of the devil. 157 Whilst devotional ideals expanded in the twelfth century, it is clear from
the Watton affair or the determined exclusion of nuns by the Cistercians and
150 Herlihy, p. 163. 151 Leyser, p. 201. 152 Constable, p. 217. 153 Constable, p. 219-20. 154 Constable, p. 222. See also Ward, p. 143. 155 Marjorie Chibnall, The World of Orderic Vitalis : Norman Monks and Norman Knights (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1996), p. 65. 156 A Companion to the Anglo-Norman World , p. 165. 157 Constable, p. 213.
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