Mechtilde of Hackeborn, born in 1240, entered the cloistered world when she was only seven.
When she grew older, she taught children at the convent school, chanted the liturgy with the other nuns, helped with daily household tasks, which included spinning and embroidering. She also took care of the sick and helped the doctors with bloodletting.
I read about Mechtilde in the book The Social Sex—A History of Female Friendship by Marilyn Yalom with Theresa Donovan Brown.
–Joy
