A sizable section of the society were churchmen—presbyters, deacons, clergymen, "lectors", "confessos", monks, and nuns—who frequently lived in religious communities, some of which were composed of both men and women living under vows of chastity and poverty. Most of these monasteries were directed by an abbot or abbess, ruled under a pactual tradition heavily influenced by Germanic legal traditions, with a bishop "sub regula" as the highest authority of the community. Other monasteries used different, sometimes antagonistic rules. The Benedictine and Augustine rules were uncommon until the 11th century. As in most of Europe, the chartulary and chronicle proceedings of monasteries and bishoprics are the most important sources for the study of local history.