Beguine:
The Beguines (/beɪˈɡiːnz,ˈbɛɡiːnz/) and the Beghards (/ˈbɛɡərdz,bəˈɡɑːrdz/) were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take formal religious vows; although they promised not to marry “as long as they lived as Beguines,” to quote one of the early Rules, they were free to leave at any time. Beguines were part of a larger spiritual revival movement of the 13th century that stressed imitation of Jesus‘ life through voluntary poverty, care of the poor and sick, and religious devotion. [Wikipedia]
Noted in “Fans waited 31 years for his next novel. It’s finally here.,” John Williams, WaPo:
[Author David James ]Duncan was hesitant to discuss the beguines, an order of feminist, non-cloistered mystics who lived in self-sufficient communities in the 13th and 14th centuries, who serve as an inspiration to the characters in “Sun House.” (“You’ve landed right on a real minefield of spiritual secrecy.”) But from the little he said — and more, from what’s in the book — it’s clear that he thinks they offer a model for how some of our long recovery might occur. “Because they were forbidden to study theology or assume priestly powers,” he writes, “they had nothing to say about the God of threats and punishments and didn’t ‘police’ those they served. They just counseled, regaled, educated, fed, healed and offered safe haven to them, and as a result were loved by the masses almost everywhere beguinages sprang up.”
Sounds like an interesting group.
