A priory's a house of men or women under religious vows headed by a prior or prioress. Priories are Catholic institutions. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters (as the Dominicans, Augustinians and Carmelites, for instance), or monasteries of monks or nuns (as the Carthusians). The Benedictines and their offshoots (Cistercians and Trappists among them), the Premonstratensians, and the military orders distinguish between conventual and simple or obedientiary priories. C… (More on Priory)