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Although early medieval nunneries might be thought of as places of strict enclosure, Merovingian aristocratic nunneries and 'double houses' were characterized by a more permeable interface with the external world. As external boundaries became less rigid, the regulation of internal spaces and behaviours within them assumed more importance. Examination of two Merovingian rules for women, the Regula cuiusdam ad virgines and the Regula Donati in relation to two key monastic spaces, refectory and dormitory, reveals the ways in which the nuns' behaviours and bodies were controlled. It also highlights the concentration of control in the hands of the abbess through the institution of confession, enabling her to maintain communal cohesion.
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