CHAPTER XI. THE OLDE DAUNCE

Nuns and the celibate ideal 436

Sources of evidence for the moral state of the English nunneries 439

Apostate nuns 440

Nuns' lovers 446

Nuns' children 450

Disorder in two small houses, Cannington (1351) and Easebourne (1478) 452

Disorder in the great abbeys of Amesbury and Godstow 454

Moral state of the nunneries in the diocese of Lincoln at two periods 456

Attempted statistical estimate of cases of immorality in Lincoln (1430-50), Norwich (1514) and Chichester (1478, 1524) dioceses 460

Punishment of offenders 462

General conclusions 471