Convent. A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests.
   Alternatively, convent means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Communion.
   The term convent derives via Old French from Latin conventus, perfect participle of the verb convenio, meaning to convene, to come together. It was first used in this sense when the eremitical life began to be combined with the cenobitical.
   The original reference was to the gathering of mendicants who spent much of their time travelling. Technically, a monastery is a secluded community of monastics, whereas a friary or convent is a community of mendicants, and a canonry is a community of canons regular.
   The terms abbey and priory can be applied to both monasteries and canonries; an abbey is headed by an abbot, and a priory is a lesser dependent house headed by a prior. In the Middle Ages, convents often provided to women a way to excel, as they were considered inferior to men. In convents, women were educated and were able to write books and publish works on gardening or musicology. or on religion and philosophy. The Abbess of a convent was often also involved in decisions of secular life and interacted with politicians and businessmen. Unlike an abbey, a convent is not placed under the responsibility of an abbot or an abbess, but o
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