So this question might be a little morbid, but it seems like nunneries would be easy /attractive targets for thieves, roaming hordes and rapists. A place filled with women, no men around, a lot of them old/frail. How were these places and the nuns themselves protected throughout more brutal time periods?
Was it simply isolation and dressing as nonsexual as possible? Seems like it had to be more.
EDIT: Thanks for all the comments. Convent was the word I was looking for, I just kept thinking of the “get thee to a nunnery” line in Hamlet. Everything I know about life in a convent is pretty much from Sound of Music and a handful of shows.
In: 413
Like everyone else has said; you have big walls, reverence for the church, easily pissed off wealthy relatives, and general respect for the local nuns. That will go a long way to protect the nuns.
However, convents were attacked because people suck. Also, it was their duty to help people so eventually they would let the attackers in themselves.
An excerpt from [The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer](https://www.amazon.com/Time-Travelers-Guide-Medieval-England/dp/1439112908):
Chapter 3: The Medieval Character
“In the autumn of 1379 Sir John Arundel—younger brother of the earl of Arundel—rides up to a convent with a detachment of soldiers, planning to sail to Brittany. He sends for the prioress and asks for accommodation for himself and his men while they wait for the wind to change. The prioress is reluctant, fearing the number of armed youths with Arundel, but, since it is her duty to offer hospitality to wayfarers, including soldiers, she eventually agrees.
Unfortunately, the wind does not change. To relieve the monotony the soldiers start drinking and flirting with some of the nuns. Unsurprisingly the nuns refuse their advances and lock themselves in their dormitory. Undeterred, the soldiers force their way in and rape them. This sets off a crime spree. They loot the nunnery. They enter a nearby church to steal the chalice and silverware, and they encounter a wedding party. They draw their swords; remove the newly married bride from her husband, family, and friends; and take it in turns to rape her too. Then, seeing that the wind is at last changing, they take this woman and as many of the nuns as they can out to their ship and set sail.
A day or so later, a storm blows up from the east. The ship is swept off course and begins to take on water. Arundel gives the order for all the women to be thrown overboard, to lighten the load. Sixty women are hurled mercilessly into the turbulent sea as the ship heads on towards the coast of Ireland.
This story is an extreme one, and it would be wrong to suggest it is a typical crime. Nevertheless it is believed in its entirety by the chronicler who writes it down, Thomas Walsingham, and that is the important point here. Medieval people believe that groups of young men do behave like this. Certainly young men can be extremely selfish and destructive, especially when armed, bored, drunk, and in a gang. As most of them travel with a sword, it is inevitable that there are undercurrents of fear and confrontation wherever they go.”
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