BEGUINES

A LAY MOVEMENT OF FEMALE CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY IN THE LATE MIDDLE AGES

Abstract

The policies of concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few (nobility and clergy) reached frightening levels in Europe at the beginning of the Late Middle Ages (XI century) generating major economic, political and religious problems, among which, social inequalities, that would make poverty one of the hallmarks of the turn of the millennium, which led to the emergence of many movements of Christian spirituality in defense of the poorest, the so-called “pauperistic spirituality”. Among these movements, one deserves to be highlighted: the Beguines or beguinal movement. First, because it was a markedly feminine spiritual movement, at least in its origins, it embraced women from various social classes. Second, because it is a secular movement, created outside the Catholic Church, which has never been submitted to the tutelage of any religious institution, nor has it ever been institutionalized, being therefore condemned and persecuted by the ecclesiastical authorities, but which attracted large numbers of women and endured for centuries. Here is what we will present in this article.

Keywords: Beguines; Pauperistic Spirituality; Secular Women's Movement.