Chapter 11 MONASTIC REFORM PREVIOUS TO THE REFORMATION.

'For sum (nunnes) bene devowte, holy, and towarde,

And holden the ryght way to blysse;

And sum bene feble, lewde, and frowarde,

Now god amend that ys amys!'

(From 'Why I cannot be a nun,' l. 311.)

§ 1. Visitations of Nunneries in England.

The changes which came over convent life towards the close of the Middle Ages and modified it