Editing Priory (section)

{{Short description|Religious houses that are presided over by a prior or prioress}}
{{Other uses}}
{{One source|date=June 2024}}
[[Image:Prieuré de graville1.jpg|right|300px|thumb|The Priory de Graville, France]]
A '''priory''' is a [[monastery]] of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|prior]] or prioress. They were created by the [[Catholic Church]]. Priories may be monastic houses of [[monks]] or [[nuns]] (such as the [[Benedictines]], the [[Cistercians]], or the [[Carthusians|Charterhouses]]). Houses of [[canon regular|canons & canonesses regular]] also use this term, the alternative being "canonry". [[mendicant order|Mendicant]] houses, of [[friar]]s, nuns, or tertiary sisters (such as the [[Dominican Order|Friars Preachers]], [[Augustinian Hermits]], and [[Carmelites]]) also exclusively use this term. 

In [[English Reformation|pre-Reformation England]], if an [[abbey]] church was raised to cathedral status, the abbey became a [[cathedral]] priory. The [[bishop]], in effect, took the place of the abbot, and the monastery itself was headed by a prior.