The Wisdom of the Beguines: The Forgotten Story of a Medieval Women's Movement - Softcover

Swan, Laura

Softcover

ISBN 10: 162919008X ISBN 13: 9781629190082

Publisher: BlueBridge, 2016

Synopsis

The beguines began to form in various parts of Europe over eight hundred years ago. Beguines were laywomen, not nuns, and they did not live in monasteries. They practiced a remarkable way of living independently, and they were never a religious order or a formalized movement. But there were common elements that these medieval women shared across Europe, including their visionary spirituality, their unusual business acumen, and their courageous commitment to the poor and sick. Beguines were essentially self-defined, in opposition to the many attempts to control and define them. They lived by themselves or in communities called beguinages, which could be single homes for just a few women or, as in Brugge, Brussels, and Amsterdam, walled-in rows of houses where hundreds of beguines lived together—a village of women within a medieval town or city.

Among the beguines were celebrated spiritual writers and mystics, including Mechthild of Magdeburg, Beatrijs of Nazareth, Hadewijch, and Marguerite Porete—who was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake in Paris in 1310. She was not the only beguine suspected of heresy, and often politics were the driving force behind such charges.

The beguines, across the centuries, have left us a great legacy. They invite us to listen to their voices, to seek out their wisdom, to discover them anew.

About this title

About the Author

I am a voracious reader of diverse material and do not apologize for the stacks of books in my bedroom and office. I am passionate about recovering the stories of women long ignored, women who made significant contributions to culture and spirituality, and making their contributions known to a broader reading audience. I am trying to restore women to the stories being told, through both my nonfiction and fiction. Besides my public speaking, I also have a YouTube station where I tell stories of rarely women. And yes, I am a Benedictine Sister in the Pacific Northwest

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

EXCERPT from the INTRODUCTION:

The beguines began to form in various parts of Europe over eight hundred years ago—around the year 1200. Beguines were laywomen, not nuns, and thus did not take solemn vows and did not live in monasteries. The beguines were a phenomenal way of life that swept across Europe, yet they were never a religious order or a formalized movement. And they did not have one specific founder or rule to live by. But there were common elements that rendered these women distinctive and familiar, including their common way of life, chastity and simplicity, their unusual business acumen, and their commitment to God and to the poor and marginalized. These women were essentially self-defined, in opposition to the many attempts to control and define them. They lived by themselves or together in so-called beguinages, which could be single houses for as few as a handful of beguines or, as in Brugge, walled-in rows of houses enclosing a central court with a chapel where over a thousand beguines might live—a village of women within a medieval town or city. And each region of Europe has its own beguine stories to tell.

Some beguines were suspected of heresy, and often politics
were the driving force behind such charges. Certain clerics
defended beguines against charges of heresy, while other women
had to go undercover by joining a Benedictine or Cistercian
monastery.
[...]
Beguines existed all the way into the twenty-first century—
news agencies reported the death of the “last beguine,” Marcella
Pattyn, in 2013. She was in her early nineties and had lived in
Belgium. However, there are reports of young women making
spiritual promises and seeking a beguine lifestyle, both in Europe
and North America. Some of these new beguines live with their
parents, or by themselves, and others have created informal communities.
[...]
Scholars have identified 111 medieval beguinages
in Belgium alone, and thirteen of them are UNESCO World
Heritage sites: Ghent, Leuven, Diest, and Brugge; Hoogstraten,
Lier (Lierre), Mechelen (Malines), and Turnhout; Sint-Truiden
(Saint-Trond), Tongeren (Tongres), Dendermonde (Termonde),
Sint-Amandsberg (Mont-Saint-Amand-lez-Gand), and Kortrijk
(Courtrai). Today most homes within the surviving beguinages
in the Low Countries are affordable housing for the elderly, writers,
or artists. The exteriors and gardens are kept as they might
have been when beguines—the original builders—lived there.
Most of these beguinages will have one home, furnished appropriately
for the medieval period, open for visitors to explore and
learn about the beguines and their way of life.

Edition details

• Publisher: BlueBridge
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 162919008X
• ISBN 13: 9781629190082
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208