vows
Nuns enjoyed fewer freedoms than monks, particularly their ability to leave their cloisters. But beginning in 1190 CE, some women found a way to live communally with other women without taking vows. They became the first Beguines (sometimes referred to as Beguine nuns), a special lay order of women who lived together in urban areas in what is now modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and northern Germany. In contrast to cloistered nuns who took religious vows and lived apart from the world, lay nuns lived their faith within their communities.