History Main / VowOfCelibacy

* The ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition'' supplement ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' has this as one of several "Vow of X" feats. It requires the user to abstain from both marriage and sex and grants the user a +4 bonus against charm and phantasm effects. As with its sister feats, breaking the vow intentionally costs you the benefits permanently; breaking it because of MindControl requires an Atonement spell to be cast to regain the benefits. Vow of Celibacy is a class required to take the Beloved of Valarian PrestigeClass, which lets female [=PCs=] get a unicorn as a mount that will similarly leave them if they ever willingly couple with a mortal.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Some orders of the Sisters of Battle don't actually require vows of celibacy or even chastity, but there are so many heretics to burn that the effect is much the same.

* The ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' series has the Cassiline Brotherhood, an order of elite {{Warrior Monk}}s whose vows include celibacy. This follows the example of the archangel Cassiel, who -- unlike the other angels that followed the d'Angelines' precursor Elua -- did not lie with mortals. In a society where EverybodyHasLotsOfSex and EveryoneIsBi, this is considered at best ''highly eccentric'', perhaps even on counter-cultural enough to be considered threatening. Phèdre's first bodyguard was in training for the order but was disqualified for sleeping with a farm girl, while her second bodyguard, Joscelin, eventually [[BodyguardCrush falls in love with her]] and is declared anathema by the head of the order after he's broken his vows with her. They spend the rest of their lives as a couple.
* In ''Literature/TheRedemptionOfAlthalus'', celibacy is either required or recommended for at least some religious organizations. One village priest deals very badly with it, deciding that the women to whom he is attracted must be using witchcraft on him (since a moral person like himself wouldn't struggle so, otherwise). This results in them getting [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake]].
* In ''Literature/TheRifter'', one of the priests at the monastery is secretly married. By the standards of the monastery, he's not too bad, and the implication seems to be that the rule of celibacy isn't something to defend.

* One character in Creator/DanBrown's ''Literature/AngelsAndDemons'' is the son of a monk and a nun who wanted to have a child but were not willing to do it by breaking their vows and having sex. They used artificial insemination. The mother was expelled anyway when she became obviously pregnant.
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', vows of celibacy are required by several religious and military orders, including the Night's Watch, the Kingsguard, the septons / septas of the Faith of the Seven, and the maesters of the Citadel. Some take their vows more seriously than others; in the Night's Watch, it's an open secret that more brothers than not make regular visits to a nearby brothel. Although the Night's Watch vow doesn't ''[[ExactWords technically]]'' forbid sex - just getting married and/or fathering children.
* In ''Literature/TheDemonata'' series by Darren Shan, priestesses were forbidden from romance in general since it led to a loss in magic. Over sixteen hundred years, this belief eventually turned out to be false, but the ancient priestesses still count.
* According to Amberley Vail in the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''Literature/CiaphasCain: Cain's Last Stand'', it's actually a myth that the Adeptas Sororitas (Sisters of Battle) are required to be celibate. It's more a question of lack of opportunity. [[FootnoteFever The footnote in question]] comments on Cain's discovery that Sister Julien, a senior Sister at the [[MilitaryAcademy schola progenium]], is involved with the academy's bursar.
* In ''Literature/SpeakerForTheDead'' and later works in the ''Literature/EndersGame'' series, there is a Catholic religious order, the Order of the Children of the Mind of Christ, which requires members to [[ChastityCouple marry but remain chaste]] as a SelfImposedChallenge. The Order was founded over 3,000 years before the events of ''Speaker for the Dead'' by one Saint Angelo of the Mexican-descended colony world of Moctezuma, who was a personal friend of Ender's and who (controversially for a Catholic) had Ender speak his death. By the time of ''Speaker for the Dead'', the Order is deeply involved in both scientific research and Catholic education, and so the colony world of Lusitania (settled by Catholic colonists of Brazilian ancestry) naturally have an Order monastery. Ender interviews two of the members in ''Speaker'', and in ''Literature/{{Xenocide}}'' he and his wife Novinha join it.
* In Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'' series wizards are required to be celibate. However, one entry in the novella collection ''Tales from Earthsea'' shows the origins of the WizardingSchool on the isle of Roke. The order didn't originally require celibacy and admitted female members, but early in the order's history an extremist faction took it over and added those rules.
* In ''Literature/TheDiamondThrone'' it notes that the Pandion Knights had originally taken an oath to never marry (and by implication never have sex). However, due to a shortage of Pandions and applicants for knighthood, they were allowed by the church to take back their vows so they could marry and have children. That it was originally enforced probably has to do with that Elene priests take an oath of celibacy, and Church Knights (including the Pandions) are ''technically'' part of the priesthood.

** Even among Roman (Latin rite) Catholics, married priests are actually more common than people think. As celibacy is merely a rule rather than dogma, exceptions are granted on case by case basis where married men wish to become priests. These are generally granted when married clergymen convert to Catholicism (usually from Anglican or Lutheran churches) and want to remain as clergy in Catholic Church.

** Even among Roman (Latin rite) Catholics, married priests are actually more common than people think. As celibacy is merely a rule rather than dogma, exceptions are granted on case by case where married men wish to become priests. These are generally granted when married clergymen convert to Catholicism (usually from Anglican or Lutheran churches) and want to continue as clergy.

* In ''Film/SisterAct'', when Dolores/Mary Clarence comes to live at the abbey, the Rev. Mother tells her that she is to abide by the rules the nuns live by, including the Vow of Chastity. Dolores/Mary Clarence is not happy about that.

* In german speaking countries from the 1880s up to the 1950s, female teachers (and in some regions all female state officials) were forbidden to marry or become pregnant, as they were regarded to be "married" to their profession and the children they were responsible for. How hard or lax this was enforced depended on the surplus or shortage on professional teachers.

* In ''Literature/SpeakerForTheDead'' and later works in the ''Literature/EndersGame'' series, there is a Catholic religious order, the Order of the Children of the Mind of Christ, which requires members to [[ChastityCouple marry but remain chaste]] as a SelfImposedChallenge. The Order appears to have been founded at least a few centuries before the events of ''Speaker for the Dead'' by one Saint Angelo of the Mexican-descended colony world of Moctezuma, who was a personal friend of Ender's and who (controversially for a Catholic) had Ender speak his death. By the time of ''Speaker for the Dead'', the Order is deeply involved in both scientific research and Catholic education, and so the colony world of Lusitania (settled by Catholic colonists of Brazilian ancestry) naturally have an Order monastery. Ender interviews two of the members in ''Speaker'', and in ''Literature/{{Xenocide}}'' he and his wife Novinha join it.

* In ''Literature/SpeakerForTheDead'' and later works in the ''Literature/EndersGame'' series, the colony of Lusitania has a Catholic sect that requires members to [[ChastityCouple marry but remain chaste]] as a SelfImposedChallenge. Ender interviews two of the members in ''Speaker'', and in ''Literature/{{Xenocide}}'' he and his wife Novinha join it.