Religion Heretical Sects Essay

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The Beguines: The Intersection of Gender and Heresy in the Church

The Beguines may not be a household term, but this all-female religious movement of the thirteenth century left an indelible stamp on European and Church history. Beguine philosophy, theology, and religious practice are all quintessentially mystical, with an emphasis on personal encounters with God and overt displays of religious experience taking place outside of the dominant Church monastic order. The writings of key figures in the movement like Hadewijch and Marguerite Porète reveal the independent spirit that epitomizes the Beguine way of life. Arguably, the Beguine’s greatest contributions may be towards the illumination of gender roles and norms in European society. Because the Beguines eschewed neither asceticism nor family life entirely, their liminal status presented a threat to the rigid dogma that dominated Church discourse throughout the Middle Ages. The Beguines were primarily active in the Low Countries: mainly in what is now Belgium and the Netherlands, but also in parts of Germany and France.

Although they self-referred initially simply as holy, pious, or religious women, the term Beguine was applied in a derogatory manner to refer to the group of “mainly well-to-do women,” who sought alternatives to marriage or cloistered life.[footnoteRef:1] The women drawn to the Beguine movement were wealthy and privileged, but they were not of the nobility; who were favored for official Church cloisters in the Twelfth and Thirteenth centuries. Given their systematic exclusion from official Church nunneries and their inability to participate in public life due to their gender, Beguines carved out their own niche by forming communal cloisters with no hierarchical leadership or organizational structure other than a commitment to God. Because of a series of wars and religious crusades, there was actually a dearth of eligible men in the Low Countries. With women outnumbering men, and no meaningful role for women to play in the society other than to support men and raise their children, women of privilege gravitated towards Beguine life because of the independence and relative power it afforded them. Also because the supply of women outweighed the demand for wives and mothers, the Church and other prevailing social institutions did not initially take note of the Beguines or view them as a threat to the social order.[footnoteRef:2] [1: John A. Coleman, “When They Began the Beguines.” America: The Jesuit Review. 8 Nov, 2011. https://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/when-they-began-beguines, p. 1] [2: Elizabeth T. Knuth, “The Beguines.” Dec, 1992, http://www.users.csbsju.edu/~eknuth/xpxx/beguines.html]

What garnered attention for the Beguines was their mysticism and divergence from Church doctrine. As the Beguines made a mark through charitable and even for-profit work in sectors like textiles and agriculture, they earned the respect of their communities.

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[footnoteRef:3] Beguine orders were established on the peripheries of major towns and cities, where the women could participate in economic life in a way they may not have been able to do if they had married and had children.[footnoteRef:4] Moreover, the Beguines engaged in lay preaching to a degree that inevitably raised eyebrows in the Church. While some early reactions to Beguine lay preaching were supportive, Church opinion darkened over the years.[footnoteRef:5] Perhaps ironically, the Church criticized the Beguines less for their breach of gender roles and norms than for their theology and spiritual practice. Eventually, Beguines were burned at the stake, executed or imprisoned, their communities banned officially in 1311 by Pope Clement V who permanently branded them as heretics. Primary sources indicate that there may have also been some male Beguines, or at least male adherents to Beguine spirituality. For example, in the Inquisitor’s Manual, Bernard Gui refers to the Beguines as heretical: “their errors having been detected, many of both sexes were judged heretical and burned.”[footnoteRef:6] Male Beguines became known as Beghards[footnoteRef:7]. Both Beguines and Beghards were considered heretical groups, showing how gender was actually less important to definitions of heresy than theology, dogma, and ritual. [3: “Who Were the Beguines?” The Economist. 13 May, 2013, https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/05/12/who-were-the-beguines] [4: “Who Were the Beguines?” 1] [5: Coleman 1] [6: Bernard Gui, Inquisitor’s Manual. Burr, David (Trans.). https://www2.kenyon.edu/projects/margin/inquisit.htm, Section 1] [7: “Who Were the Beguines?” 1]

One of the reasons Beguine doctrines and practices differed from Church orthodoxy was that this group of educated women started to translate Biblical passages into the common languages of their people.[footnoteRef:8] Usurping Church authority over accessing scripture, the Beguines also wrote their mystical poetry and prose in the common vernacular. Marguerite Porète even addresses her text to her fellow “Ladies,” and uses the feminine form for the term “Wisdom” in her Mirror of Simple Souls. Porète stresses that her audience is female also when she writes in the voice of the Holy Spirit who speaks to “dear daughter.”[footnoteRef:9] The writings of Porète also demonstrate one of the core Beguine principles: the almost erotic relationship between a devout woman and Christ, who is depicted as a divine Lover. For example, Porète writes about “divine pleasure,” “Fine Love,” and even states, “Lover, you have grasped me….....

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