There were anchorites who were women - that’s how nuns started basically.
And they would have been separate from the male monks
Yes.Read that in the article, didn’t think of that in connection to the beginning of nuns. Interesting.
But she was in chains. Seemed a punishment.
Rethinking this, “However, no material evidence had been found confirming that some women also adopted the most extreme forms of penance”.
Some in the past have practiced self flagellation, Thomas More wore a hair shirt, but this act is so extreme.