History Main / LockedAwayInAMonastery

* In ''Brightly Burning'', when Lavan Chitward's Gift of Firestarting first manifests, it results in the (unintended) deaths of several of the bullies who had been tormenting him including the leader, a boy named Tyron Jelnack. Tyron's mother Jisette Jelnack goes insane with rage and grief; after she tries twice to get revenge against Lavan (who is now a Herald-Trainee and therefore sacrosanct), she is sentenced to life in a cloistered monastery, where she will live out her days in a cell with a sealed door and one small window.

* Happens to one of the corrupt Arendish somethings in one of the Literature/{{Belgariad}}/Malloreon/whatever prequel novels.

* In the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series, Asari with the Ardat-Yakshi genetic defect are given a choice between isolation in a monastery or execution. The Ardat-Yakshi are effectively [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubi]] and their condition causes them to [[OutWithABang kill people by mating with them]]; the rationale is that because the effects are addictive, they cannot be trusted to naturally abstain from sex/murder if allowed amongst the general populace. We meet three full-fledged Ardat-Yakshi during the course of the games (codex entries suggest that there is actually a "spectrum"). The first one fled when presented with the option of going to the monastery and has become an opportunistic, sociopathic SerialKiller and a walking argument for their seclusion. The other two agreed to the monastic seclusion and are perfectly normal, moral people. There are references to some of the Ardat-Yakshi imprisoned alongside them being allowed supervised reintegration into asari society because they proved during their isolation that they have both the desire and the willpower to do so.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'': Princess Ovelia spent her childhood being brought up in a monastery before the [[SuccessionCrisis plot]] started. [[spoiler:Or at least, that's the "official" story. The truth is, the real princess died at a very young age, so the royal family picked an orphan around the same age to pass off as the princess.]]

* In the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series, Asari with the Ardat-Yakshi genetic defect are given a choice between isolation in a monastery or execution. The Ardat-Yakshi are effectively [[HornyDevils succubi]] and their condition causes them to [[OutWithABang kill people by mating with them]]; the rationale is that because the effects are addictive, they cannot be trusted to naturally abstain from sex/murder if allowed amongst the general populace. We meet three full-fledged Ardat-Yakshi during the course of the games (codex entries suggest that there is actually a "spectrum"). The first one fled when presented with the option of going to the monastery and has become an opportunistic, sociopathic SerialKiller and a walking argument for their seclusion. The other two agreed to the monastic seclusion and are perfectly normal, moral people. There are references to some of the Ardat-Yakshi imprisoned alongside them being allowed supervised reintegration into asari society because they proved during their isolation that they have both the desire and the willpower to do so.

* The Jedi Sentinels from ''Franchise/StarWars'' originally served as the Jedi Orders' dedicated black ops specialists that were tasked with tracking down hidden Sith and elements of Dark Side corruption within the Galaxy and neutralizing them by any means necessary, oftentimes spending years if not decades away from the Jedi Temple on missions deep undercover on various worlds posing as regular Muggles within security and local law enforcement branches [[MugglesDoItBetter and picking up various skills that many Jedi often overlooked or frowned upon.]] After the Ruusan Reformation with the collapse of the Sith Order and the beginning of Darth Bane's RuleOfTwo, many Jedi had thought that the Sith were gone for good, and resolved to cut back on the Sentinels' practices; turning them into glorified HonorGuard tasked with protecting the Jedi Temple. This decision ultimately served to bite the Jedi Order in the ass millennia later with the outbreak of The Clone Wars, where the Orders' other two [[ThePaladin Jedi Guardian]] and [[TheArchmage Jedi Consular]] branches were called into fighting while the only group of Jedi specially-designed to hunt down Sith that were orchestrating the Clone Wars from the shadows; were left to protect the Temple grounds on Coruscant no matter what.

* The [[RegentForLife corrupt regents]] in the ''[[Literature/{{Deryni}} Heirs of Saint Camber]]'' trilogy do their best to push Javan into taking vows so they can name the younger and more malleable Rhys Michael as Alroy's heir. It doesn't work, [[spoiler:so they murder him a year into his reign so that Rhys Michael ends up on the throne anyway]].

* At the start of ''Film/LadyNinjaKaede'', the Emperor has banished Madam Yumeama to a covent to prevent her from employing her ninja sex techniques.

* An intentional case: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor abdicated and retired to a monastery, leaving half of his empire to his son Philip and the other half to his brother Ferdinand, since he had found ruling it simply exhausting (due to both its size and being constantly at war, mostly with France). Note that he did not become a monk, though he did participate in some devotions.

* A now-debunked UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheory claimed that Russian President UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin did this to his former wife Lyudmila while they were estranged, used to explain the lack of attention directed at her by the Russian media (seeing as it's rare for ''any'' Russian First Ladies to appear in public, this was likely just a fallacy started by one of his detractors).

* Emperor Lý Huệ Tông was forced out of power by his Commander of the Royal Guard Trần Thủ Độ and moved to two Buddhist monasteries in quick succession (due to fears of Lý loyalists, as the now-monk was still allowed to roam the capital freely). Two years after the coup, the former Emperor was DrivenToSuicide at a BetterToDieThanBeKilled suggestion from Trần Thủ Độ, now Grand Chancellor of the Trần dynasty.

* An intentional case: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor abdicated and retired to a monastery, leaving half of his empire to his son Philip and the other half to his brother Ferdinand, since he had found ruling it simply exhausting (due to both its size and being constantly at war, mostly with France).

* In a slight variation, Richard I of England forced his illegitimate half-brother Geoffrey[[note]] Not to be confused with his other, legitimate, and, by this stage
, dead brother also called Geoffrey.[[/note]] to become Archbishop of York in order to remove him as a potential rival. He then appointed a number of Geoffrey's personal enemies to important posts in the Diocese of York, thus making it impossible for the Archbishop to get anything done without having a major fight on his hands. Chroniclers at the time were divided as to whether this was a calculated political move or just Richard being a spiteful jerk (although a bastard, Geoffrey was the only one of Henry II's sons to be present at his death bed, and remained loyal to him while Richard sided with Philip II of France).

* The [[UsefulNotes/LEtatCestMoi Carolingian Pepin the Short]], upon seizing the throne of the Frankish Empire, promptly sent his Merovingian predecessor Childeric III and his son Theuderic to a monastery, to get rid of any potential rival claimants. The fact that the supposedly less-civilized Franks used this expedient--rather than the aforementioned Byzantine (and supposedly more Christian) eye-removal--to get rid of rivals to the throne has not been lost on historians, although exile to monasteries was a common treatment for political enemies under the Byzantines as well — said enemies tended to die of undisclosed causes a short while later.
* Henry Benedict Stuart, the younger brother of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" (who would have been the heir to the Jacobite claim on the throne of Britain and Ireland, as Charlie had no legitimate children) monasticised himself as an official declaration that he [[KnowWhenToFoldEm knew when to fold em]]. Henry went on to become an extremely high-ranking and influential Vatican official, and to this day remains one of - if not the - longest-serving Cardinal in the history of the Catholic Church.
* In a slight variation, Richard I of England forced his illegitimate half-brother Geoffrey[[note]] Not to be confused with his other, legitimate, and by this stage dead brother also called Geoffrey.[[/note]] to become Archbishop of York in order to remove him as a potential rival. He then appointed a number of Geoffrey's personal enemies to important posts in the Diocese of York, thus making it impossible for the Archbishop to get anything done without having a major fight on his hands. Chroniclers at the time were divided as to whether this was a calculated political move or just Richard being a spiteful jerk (although a bastard, Geoffrey was the only one of Henry II's sons to be present at his death bed, and remained loyal to him while Richard sided with Philip II of France).
* There are multiple subversions from Japanese history (most notably in the years 1086 to 1185) where emperors abdicated to join a (Buddhist) monastery. This was a political machination generally intended to keep power for ''themselves'', acting behind the scenes. At the time, the emperor was required to participate in so many rituals of state and religion that he literally has no time to do anything else except eat and sleep--abdication was the option if the emperor actually wants to get some concrete political work done.

* A now-debunked UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheory claimed that Russian President UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin did this to his former wife Lyudmila while they were estranged, used to explain the lack of attention to her by the Russian media (seeing as it's rare for ''any'' Russian First Ladies to appear in public, this was likely just a fallacy started by one of his detractors).

* UsefulNotes/JulieDAubigny had an affair with a young woman whose parents responded to the scandal by sending their daughter to a convent. Julie, in one of her most famous stunts, responded to this by sneaking in to see the girl, and then [[FakingTheDead putting the body of a dead nun in the girl's bed]], sneaking out, and ''[[RefugeInAudacity burning the place down]]'' [[FieryCoverup to cover their tracks]].

* A common way for a Byzantine emperor who could see the end coming to depart [[EyeScream with his eyes intact]] [[note]]All Byzantine emperors must be "physically unblemished", so a common way to take a throne claimant permanently out of the running was to mutilate his face. Nose-slitting was the preferred method until Justinian II (nickname: Rhinotmetos, "the slit-nosed") managed to reclaim the throne ''sans nez''. To get around the technical requirements, he wore a prosthetic nose made of solid gold. At which point, a more ''debilitating'' method, eye-gouging, was employed.[[/note]] was to abdicate and join a monastery, knowing that the monastery is where he would end up anyway.

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In a less permanent variation, convents of nuns are also a popular choice for wealthy families to place their daughters in until they marry: they'll have a strict upbringing, education, and more or less guaranteed virginity. Bonus points for not needing to provide the kid with class-relevant and expensive dresses while she is kept there.[[note]]An example of a guest resident of a convent is Ximena in ''Film/ElCid''.[[/note]] Such women might be forced to [[TakingTheVeil Take The Veil]], usually if they had a substantial inheritance coming and the family wanted to keep control of it.

* A common way for a Byzantine emperor who could see the end coming to depart [[EyeScream with his eyes intact]] [[note]]All Byzantine emperors must be "physically unblemished", so a common way to take a throne claimant permanently out of the running is to mutilate his face. Nose-slitting was the preferred method until Justinian II (nickname: Rhinotmetos, "the slit-nosed") managed to reclaim the throne ''sans nez''. To get around the technical requirements, he wore a prosthetic nose made of solid gold. At which point, a more ''debilitating'' method, eye-gouging, was employed.[[/note]] was to abdicate and join a monastery, knowing that the monastery is where he would end up anyway.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongkut#Monastic_Life_and_Thammayut_sect King Mongkut of Thailand.]] This is an unusual example in two ways. First, he was a monk ''before'' being king, not after. Second, he'd actually joined the monastery of his own free will - it was, and is, a tradition in Thailand that young men should spend a few months living as monks before taking up their careers. However, while he was in his "temporary" stay at the monastery, his father died and, though he was rightful heir, the nobility put a puppet king on the throne instead. Mongkut spent the next three decades living as a monk before the other king died and he finally ascended to the throne.