For the original question, I'd say it isn't so much "how common it was historically for sapphic women to become nuns?" but more a case of "how common was it historically for nuns to engage in sapphic relationships?" Earlier ages didn't have the same concept of a fixed sexual orientation that we have today, and one of the things that meant was that there wasn't a sense that you had to "be a lesbian" to enjoy romantic and/or sexual relations with another woman. It was a thing that some women did, and something that pretty much all women had the potential for. (Though, of course, there were also reasons people might resist the impulse.)
It's difficult to track what the rate of same-sex activity in convents was because the sources aren't exactly neutral on the topic. (Either they want to downplay the possibility or they want to frame convents as hotbeds of vice and sin, depending on one's religious prejudices.) But what we do have solid evidence for is that convent administrators were aware of the possibility of nuns developing close emotional and erotic bonds, and that they took a variety of measures to try to control or prevent them. The concern wasn't always specifically sexual -- bonds of personal affection were felt to be disruptive to the sense of community in the convent even when they had no hint of eroticism.
I've been following this community since it was set up but haven't gotten around to doing an introduction post yet. I really should do that.
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For the original question, I'd say it isn't so much "how common it was historically for sapphic women to become nuns?" but more a case of "how common was it historically for nuns to engage in sapphic relationships?" Earlier ages didn't have the same concept of a fixed sexual orientation that we have today, and one of the things that meant was that there wasn't a sense that you had to "be a lesbian" to enjoy romantic and/or sexual relations with another woman. It was a thing that some women did, and something that pretty much all women had the potential for. (Though, of course, there were also reasons people might resist the impulse.)
It's difficult to track what the rate of same-sex activity in convents was because the sources aren't exactly neutral on the topic. (Either they want to downplay the possibility or they want to frame convents as hotbeds of vice and sin, depending on one's religious prejudices.) But what we do have solid evidence for is that convent administrators were aware of the possibility of nuns developing close emotional and erotic bonds, and that they took a variety of measures to try to control or prevent them. The concern wasn't always specifically sexual -- bonds of personal affection were felt to be disruptive to the sense of community in the convent even when they had no hint of eroticism.
I've been following this community since it was set up but haven't gotten around to doing an introduction post yet. I really should do that.