Ab'bey, a monastery or religious community governed by an abbot; or in the case of a female community, by an abbess. The difference between a priory and an abbey is that the former is a less extensive establishment and is governed by a prior. Among the most famous abbeys in Europe are those of Cluny and Clairvaux in France, the Abbey of Saint Galle in Switzerland, and Fulda in Germany. Among the famous English abbeys are those of Westminster, Tintern, Paisley and Saint Mary's of York. At the time of the Reformation the abbeys in England were destroyed by Henry VIII.