(c.614-680). Sometimes Hilda. AbbessAbbess Head of a community of nuns of the double monasteryDouble Monastery A monastic centre inhabited by both men and women who lived separately from each other but worshipped together (though separated by barriers). In Anglo-Saxon England double monasteries were ruled over by an abbess, but in the later medieval period leadership was increasingly assumed by men. In the later Middle Ages, religious orders were founded specifically as double orders. The Gilbertine religious order was an order of double houses, founded in England in the twelfth century to support the female contemplative life, but male canons soon came to dominate. Other orders with double monasteries were the Fontevraudines and (briefly) the Premonstratensians. at WhitbyWhitby 1. A monastery was founded in Northumbria in 656 by Oswry, Christian king of Northumbria. The first abbess was Hild or Hilda. 2. Also see Synod of Whitby..