SISTERHOODS, societies or communi ties of women living together under a re ligious rule, binding upon all, and with a common object for their united life. But in common use the word denotes those communities which are not enclosed, and whose life is one of active labor. An account of the great religious communi ties of women in the early and Middle Ages of Christianity falls under the head of Monachism. Indeed the state of Chris tendom for many centuries prevented the possibility of life and work for women such as that of Sisters of Charity. Wo men were affiliated to the great monastic orders, the Benedictine, Augustine, Car melite, etc., but, with one partial excep tion, that of the Hospitalers, "Religieuse Hospitalieres," were invariably cloistered. There were several communities of hos pital nuns, the great hospitals of the Ho tel Dieu at Paris, San Spirito at Rome, Dijon Hospital, and several others in France being served by them. But they lived in convents adjoining the hospitals, and only left their cloisters to nurse the sick. Even when the Franciscan and Do minivan orders of preaching friars arose, the nuns belonging to them, the Poor Clares and Dominican nuns, were strictly enclosed.
The first sisterhood in England, that founded by Dr. Pusey, was broken up in 1855, after the war in the Crimea, where some of the sisters had worked under Florence Nightingale. A few of the orig inal members of this first English sister hood joined a small community which had been founded by Miss Lydia Sellon in 1846, called the Society of the Holy Trin ity. One of the largest and most impor tant sisterhoods in England was founded in 1851 under the title of "Sisters of the Poor," by Miss Harriet Byron. St. Mar garet's Sisterhood was founded at East Grinstead in 1854 by the Rev. Dr. J. M. Neale for the purpose of nursing the sick poor or rich in their homes. The Holy
Cross Sisterhood, whose headquarters are at Holy Cross Home, Hayward's Heath, was formed in 1857. One of the most flourishing sisterhoods in England—that of St. Mary's, Wantage—was founded by the Rev. Dr. Butler, afterward Dean of Lincoln, primarily for penitentiary work.
The "Sisters of Bethany," founded in 1866, have their headquarters in Clerk enwell, and are chiefly devoted to educa tion and to mission work in poor par ishes. St. Raphael's Sisterhood, Bristol, founded in 1867, follows, as far as pos sible, the rule of St. Vincent de Paul, and is devoted entirely to the service of the poor; middle-class education and peniten tiary work being excluded.
The "Sisters of the Church," Randolph Gardens, Kilburn, founded in 1870 by Miss Emily Ayckbowm, developed with extraordinary rapidity. They have im mense schools, teaching many thousands of children, and training homes for teach ers.
Besides these large communities there are many smaller sisterhoods in England.
The first Protestant sisterhood in the United States was organized in 1852 by the Rev. W. A. Muhlenberg. The sisters took charge of St. Luke's Hospital, which he founded in 1859. Since then a number of sisterhoods have sprung up all over the country, notable among them being: The Sisterhood of St. Mary, New York City, founded in 1865; the Sisterhood of St. John Baptist, New York City, affil iated in 1881; the All Saints Sisters of the Poor, Baltimore, Md., affiliated in 1890; and the Sisterhood of St. Marga ret, Boston, Mass., established in 1873. In 1919 there were 113 Catholic and Prot estant sisterhoods at work in the United States, exclusive of deaconesses, whose first home was established in Chicago in 1887.