Browse by Subject
Abbreviations
Actors
Aircraft
Architecture
Computer Viruses
Costume
Dictionary
Food & Drink
Gazetteer
General Information
Heraldry
Language
Latin
Medicine
Money
Movies
Music
Mythology
Nature
People
Recreation
Rocks & Minerals
SciTech
Shakespeare
Ships
Slang
Warfare

Downloads
e-Books

The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

ABBESS

An Abbess is the female superior of a community of nuns in certain religious orders. An abbess has administrative jurisdiction equivalent to that of the abbot of a monastery but does not exercise the rights and duties of the priesthood. The title dates from the 6th century. Most of the original secular privileges of the position, such as membership in the king's council and rank of nobility equivalent to that of temporal peers, were abolished in the 16th century, at the time of the Reformation.
Research Abbess

 
 
Home  Publishers  Quiz  Products  FAQ  Privacy Policy  Add URL Contact  Site Map