{"id":9975,"date":"2015-08-29T11:20:35","date_gmt":"2015-08-29T15:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?p=9975"},"modified":"2015-08-29T11:20:35","modified_gmt":"2015-08-29T15:20:35","slug":"the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html","title":{"rendered":"“The Wisdom of the Beguines”: Commonweal Book Review on Medieval Laywomen Mystics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

with tons of fascinating stuff:<\/p>\n

In the twelfth century, single women began moving in large numbers from farms to cities of the Low Countries to work in the textile industry. Many of these women formed communal living arrangements that offered safe, affordable accommodation, and a life of service to their neighbors. According to Laura Swan\u2019s recent book, The Wisdom of the Beguines: The Forgotten Story of a Medieval Women\u2019s Movement<\/a>,<\/em> the beguines, who flourished for several hundred years, were one of many lay groups seeking the vita apostolica<\/em> as a faithful response to spiritual renewal. The beguines are hardly forgotten\u2014they have received a good deal of scholarly attention recently, and a modern ecumenical beguine movement has arisen in Europe\u2014but Swan\u2019s book provides an accessible overview of beguine spirituality in the context of their own times.<\/p>\n

The availability of textile work and the establishment of schools by the countesses Joan and Margaret of Flanders helped beguine communities to coalesce, writes Swan. However, it was the beguines\u2019 skill in caring for the poor, the sick, and the dying that earned these women the respect of townspeople, local authorities, and, at first, church leaders. Swan sees the beguines primarily as religious communities with self-governing rules (though not a<\/em> rule) and a magistra (rather than an abbess or prioress) who served as a leader and spiritual guide. Beguines did not take vows, though many stayed in the beguinage their whole lives; they were free to leave their communities to marry and raise families. As their learning increased, beguines took a lively interest in theology, wrote their own meditations, and even translated Bible stories into the vernacular. They embraced a lively form of worship that involved singing and spontaneous dancing. \u2026<\/p>\n

Most scholars place the best-known beguine writers\u2014Hadewijch, Mechtilde of Magdeburg, and Marguerite Porete\u2014in the tradition of women medieval mystics. Swan introduces readers to many more beguine mystics and their stories. Beguine mystics reportedly experienced trances, ecstasies, visions, and the stigmata. The twelfth-century beguine Christina the Astonishing was said to have levitated at her own funeral. At the heart of beguine mysticism, says Swan, was a special devotion to Christ as lover and sufferer. The triune God, wrote one beguine, was Lover, Beloved, and Love itself. Some beguines re-enacted Christ\u2019s passion for audiences, realistically recalling his suffering.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

with tons of fascinating stuff: In the twelfth century, single women began moving in large numbers from farms to cities of the Low Countries to work in the textile industry. Many of these women formed communal living arrangements that offered safe, affordable accommodation, and a life of service to their neighbors. According to Laura Swan\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1071,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[140,142,174,11,26,122,22,27,69,113],"class_list":["post-9975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mackerel-snapping","tag-christina-the-astonishing","tag-corporal-works-of-mercy","tag-disco-purgatorio","tag-his-banner-over-me-was-love","tag-suffering","tag-totentanz","tag-turn-your-watch-back-about-a-hundred-thousand-years","tag-vocation","tag-weird-saints","tag-woman-is-the-irony-of-the-community"],"yoast_head":"\n"The Wisdom of the Beguines": Commonweal Book Review on Medieval Laywomen Mystics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"with tons of fascinating stuff: In the twelfth century, single women began moving in large numbers from farms to cities of the Low Countries to work in\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""The Wisdom of the Beguines": Commonweal Book Review on Medieval Laywomen Mystics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"with tons of fascinating stuff: In the twelfth century, single women began moving in large numbers from farms to cities of the Low Countries to work in\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eve Tushnet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-08-29T15:20:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eve Tushnet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eve Tushnet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html\",\"name\":\"\\\"The Wisdom of the Beguines\\\": Commonweal Book Review on Medieval Laywomen Mystics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-29T15:20:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-29T15:20:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/ca04686b93c92257f019070302a23415\"},\"description\":\"with tons of fascinating stuff: In the twelfth century, single women began moving in large numbers from farms to cities of the Low Countries to work in\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“The Wisdom of the Beguines”: Commonweal Book Review on Medieval Laywomen Mystics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/\",\"name\":\"Eve Tushnet\",\"description\":\"Conservatism reborn in twisted sisterhood\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/ca04686b93c92257f019070302a23415\",\"name\":\"Eve Tushnet\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be87ff28da150cb07788911c22e42ae2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be87ff28da150cb07788911c22e42ae2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Eve Tushnet\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/author\/evetushnet\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"The Wisdom of the Beguines\": Commonweal Book Review on Medieval Laywomen Mystics","description":"with tons of fascinating stuff: In the twelfth century, single women began moving in large numbers from farms to cities of the Low Countries to work in","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"The Wisdom of the Beguines\": Commonweal Book Review on Medieval Laywomen Mystics","og_description":"with tons of fascinating stuff: In the twelfth century, single women began moving in large numbers from farms to cities of the Low Countries to work in","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html","og_site_name":"Eve Tushnet","article_published_time":"2015-08-29T15:20:35+00:00","author":"Eve Tushnet","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eve Tushnet","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html","name":"\"The Wisdom of the Beguines\": Commonweal Book Review on Medieval Laywomen Mystics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-08-29T15:20:35+00:00","dateModified":"2015-08-29T15:20:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/ca04686b93c92257f019070302a23415"},"description":"with tons of fascinating stuff: In the twelfth century, single women began moving in large numbers from farms to cities of the Low Countries to work in","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2015\/08\/the-wisdom-of-the-beguines-commonweal-book-review-on-medieval-laywomen-mystics.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“The Wisdom of the Beguines”: Commonweal Book Review on Medieval Laywomen Mystics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/","name":"Eve Tushnet","description":"Conservatism reborn in twisted sisterhood","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/ca04686b93c92257f019070302a23415","name":"Eve Tushnet","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be87ff28da150cb07788911c22e42ae2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be87ff28da150cb07788911c22e42ae2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Eve Tushnet"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/author\/evetushnet"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1071"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}