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    Published: 2026-10-31
    Vol. 46 No. 1 (2026)

    An Outline of the History of Women’s Monasteries in Hungary from the 10th Century to the Present (1)

    Piotr Marian Stefaniak
    Studia Teologiczno-Historyczne Śląska Opolskiego
    Section: Articles
    DOI https://doi.org/10.25167/sth.6086

    Abstract

    From the 10th century to the present day, Hungary has been home to a number of convents belonging, since the Middle Ages, to the Cistercians, Benedictines, Dominicans, Poor Clares and Norbertines, and in modern times to the Ursulines, the Canons Regular of St Augustine and the Elizabethan Sisters. In more recent times, these communities have been joined by convents of the Visitation Sisters and Discalced Carmelites. The greatest period of development for these convents was during the Middle Ages. The Turkish invasion of Hungary decimated the monasteries and their communities. Protestantism in Transylvania also led to the closure of further establishments. During the Baroque period, monasteries were revived in the Hungarian territories under Habsburg rule. In 1874, houses owned by contemplative orders were dissolved. A revival took place in the 19th century and lasted until 1950, when the communists abolished almost all religious life in Hungary. After 1989, it was revived, though contemporary contemplative religious life in Hungary is limited to five monasteries of nuns and one community of Ursuline sisters.

    Keywords:

    convents in Hungary, women’s religious communities, the Middle Ages, the modern era

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    Stefaniak, P. M. (2026). An Outline of the History of Women’s Monasteries in Hungary from the 10th Century to the Present (1). Studia Teologiczno-Historyczne Śląska Opolskiego, 46(1), 207–235. https://doi.org/10.25167/sth.6086

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