Why did Francophone women choose religious life in the 19th century?
“Given the lack of higher education, religious life in the nineteenth century was probably the only way for Francophone women to avoid becoming a mother of a large family or a spinster who had to board with relatives. In the short term, the religious life was an effective strategy for women to remove themselves from the direct control of men. It was also a means of formally maintaining their legal status, as nuns were, in effect, unmarried, and unmarried women enjoyed full legal rights. The religious life was, for most, insurance against misery and poverty; for some, it offered a means of refusing inevitable childbearing. For others, it was a means of making a career.” Clio Collective. Quebec Women: a History, Toronto, Women’s Press, 1987, p. 149.
