So well stated, 'foreshorten3'
Around the 11th century, this was about the time that the diaconate for men, also, ceased to exist.  Because the deaconate was a part of Holy Orders, a temporary 'deaconate' began for men preparing to be ordained as priests.  Today, ordination to the temporary deaconate is a part of the process leading to the ordination of men as priests.

In the Western church, Benedictine abbesses stepped into the role of deacons around the 10th-11th centuries.  In a number of Benedictine monasteries, abbesses held this position [and higher, matching the equivalent of bishop] well into the 19th Century---especially in the Diocese of Toledo, Spain.  
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Citations
Elizabeth Connor, "The Royal Abbey of Las Huelgas and the jurisdiction of its Abbesses," Cistercian Studies, 23 [1988].

Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, doctoral dissertation--"La Abadesa de Las Huelgas: Estudio teologico juridico", 3rd ed. [Madrid: Ediciones Rialp, 1988]