A convent is a complex of buildings designed for a religious assembly of men or women living by strict rules; dedicating their lives to serving God in seclusion.
 
The idea of convents originated in Egypt in the 4^th century and gradually spread to Europe. By the 12^th century the concept was so strong that one may speak of a people’s movement. In the early 1500’s approximately 700 monasteries and 900 nunneries existed in Europe; in Sweden the corresponding number was about twenty.

Delar av grunden i södra längan kom
att bevaras eftersom den också kom
att bli fundament för klockboden.

Andreas Lindblom var drivande kraft vid kyrkans restaurering på 1950-talet. Han sökte också markera klostret del med en minnessten men också med en markering av den östra muren i västra klosterlängan.

Most of them belonged to the Cistercian order, one of the first religious orders. Each convent in the provinces was in many ways independent, although it was subject to the general chapter of the Cistercian order in Clairvaux, France, whenever more important matters had to be addressed. 1098 is considered the founding year of the Cistercian order; the Swedish monasteries of  Alvastra and Nydala were established as early as 1143. A few decades later nunneries were founded as well and after some time they were accepted by the pope. In 1247 the papal legate William of Sabina was sent to the diocese of Linköping to bring order to the Swedish church as a whole. One of the things decided during his stay was to allow the nunneries of Vreta and Askeby to exist as Cistercian nunneries within the Roman – Catholic Church.

The nunnery of Askeby was active for about 350 years. At the riksdag (originally, for example in this context, referring to a meeting of representatives from the four Swedish Estates: the nobility, the clergy, the burghers and the peasants; today the term denotes the Swedish parliament) of Västerås in 1527 the convents were prohibited. Their assets were taken by the crown and Askeby was closed down two years later. The remaining nuns moved to the nunnery of Vreta that leased the land of Askeby for a short period of time. After this the land was bought by noblemen who were obliged to participate in military operations using the income emanating from it.

In timeline presents basic facts about Askeby nunnery.