A
double monastery (also
double house) is a monastery combining a separate community of
monks and one of
nuns, joined in one institution. More common in the
monasticism of
Eastern Christianity, where they are found since the 4th century, in the West the establishment of double monasteries became popular after
Columbanus and were found in
Anglo-Saxon England and
Gaul. Double monasteries were forbidden by the
Second Council of Nicaea in 787, though it took many years for the decree to be enforced. In a significantly different way, double monasteries were revived again after the 12th century, when again a number of religious houses were established on this pattern, among
Benedictines and possibly the
Dominicans. The 14th-century
Bridgittines were consciously founded using this form of community.