*Picture credit 1902 painting of the entrance of a Beguinage by Ketty Hoppe.
Around 1200 AD in Europe, communities of women often called Beguines began to form. These women were not nuns, they were devout and devoted to the tenets of Christianity but did not belong to any church. They were independent communities of women who often created their own industry, trade or other means to produce income. They were self-sufficient and generally concerned with helping the poor, especially women. They lived in convents. This was the origin of that word. 1
“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” 2
But possibly the most important legacy of the Beguines is their bold vision for the possibilities of community: intentional communities committed to working for and with the marginalized and carried by a love for beauty and creation” 3
Marguerite Porete was a Beguine in the year 1310 led to stake in the heart of Paris, surrounded by a crowd of thousands. She had been condemned as a heretic – the first person the Paris Inquisition would burn for refusing to recant.
Her crime was writing a book.
The book was called The Mirror of Simple Souls, and its basic tenet was that: “Love is God,” she wrote, “and God is Love.”
A Radical Dangerous Idea.
Because it took the power away from the Church Clergy and gave people agency and sovereignty for themselves.
Nessi Gomes – All is Full Of Love
“Twist your head around. It’s all around you.”
And so the wisdom is passed from hand to hand This post has been written with the help of Hinneh BEHOLD! the divine feminine library which found FAR’s articles. FAR’s Moderator’s Note: This piece is in co-operation with The Nasty Women Writers Project, a site dedicated to highlighting and amplifying the voices and visions of powerful women. The site was founded by sisters Theresa and Maria Dintino. To quote Theresa, “by doing this work we are expanding our own writer’s web for nourishment and support.” This was originally posted on their site on July 5, 2022. You can see more of their posts here.
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- The Wisdom of the Beguines: The Forgotten Story of a Medieval Women’s Movement by Laura Swan, part 1 by Theresa C. Dintino
- The Wisdom of the Begines by Laura Swan, pg. 2
- Ibid, pg. 179
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