Good morning. My name is Silvana Panciera and with the help of my friend Philippe Hensmans I decided in 2016 to create this site to share the fruits of numerous years of research on the Beguinal movement. Since a few years, a second friend, Antonio Regazzoni, has also been helping me in my informatic troubles. My service operator is Register.it a serious and accessible company that I am able to contact also by phone and whose I am really satisfied with.
The information you find on this site is “open free”, but thank you to quote the source.
My interest in the Beguines began in the exhibition The Closed Garden of the Soul (Brussels, 1994), which dealt with various forms of female spirituality. On a panel of the exhibition I read: “Would the beguinal movement perhaps be the first feminist movement? “. This question was the starting point of a research that has continued since then, which for two years has led me to visit what remains today of all the Belgian beguinages and which has pushed me more and more to want to make known and rehabilitate this feminine history. A form of posthumous justice towards the great protagonists, women fought, repressed, ignored, ignored and sometimes even derided.
Here are the steps.
In 2009, Fidélité Editions published the book Les béguines, which was very successful and was printed again in 2012.
In 2010, the four languages DVD (EN-FR-IT-NL), All om all. Discovering the Beguinal Movement in Europe, which is also found on Youtube.
In 2011 Gabrielli published the Italian version of the book, Le Beghine. Una storia di donne per la libertà, with the preface by Marco Vannini.
Since 2013, two other translations appeared in English and German. The first The Beguines was available as an ebook. The German edition Die beginen (Ed.Octopus) was released in paper version (now out of print).
In 2015, in collaboration with the iconographer Martina Bugada, I published Tre Voci per l’amore (Three Voices for Love), where the icons and an anthology of texts were found of three famous Beguines: Mechthild di Magdeburg, Hadewijch and Marguerite Porete.
2021 marks an important step in the dissemination of my research. After years of new discoveries and important insights collected from uninterrupted studies, I was able to rework the entire text of my book and offer a new edition, this time also in Spanish. This was made thanks to the collaboration of Sandra Almeyda. The Spanish edition “Las beguinas. Mujeres por la libertad ”, available in ebook format, will be the first of the four new editions. It has honored with the preface by the Professor Manuel Castells.
The English version follows, thanks to the admirable voluntary contribution of Graham Keen who translated the text into his mother language. The new English edition is also available in ebook format with the preface of the prestigious Professor Manuel Castells.
Revised by Monique Van Lancker, the text will then be published by ALMORA in the new French edition with the title “Les beguine. Une communauté de femmes libres “, which can be purchased as an ebook or printed on the publisher’s website.
Finally, in June 2022 the new edition in Italian is released at Gabrielli Editore, with a preface by Marco Vannini. The book Le beghine.Una storia di donne per la libertà can also be purchased (paper and ebook) on the publisher’s website by clicking on the title.
Since 2014, I have circulated the BeguinesNewsletter , a monthly information about the beguinal movement of yesterday and today.
Antwerpen Beguinage Statue of Beguine
Since 2016, I have prepared and constantly updated this website. It is an homage to the thousands of women who, from the end of the twelfth century to the end of the twentieth century, have lived an existential adventure that was opposed by many, ignored by too many, and even derided by some. The Beguines would instead have much to teach to us men and women of the twenty first century about deep love and sainthood in freedom.
The Beguines Newsletter informs you about beguinages and beguines, both traditional and modern. It is written by Silvana Panciera and revised by Bernard Van Meenen (French language) and Graham Keen (English language). It lives thanks to the news you send us. Please collaborate by sending your information toinfo@beguines.info
To subscribe is also the best way to stay in touch.
For that, please subscribe yourself by inserting your email on the right of the screen.
Please, read below the recent Newsletters with, between brackets, the date of their sending :
Marguerite Porete again (March 2026)
On Monday, 12th January at 1:00 AM (yes, you read that right, 1:00 AM), I participated in a Zoom webinar held in Quebec, which had been recommended to me by friends scattered around the world. Thank you Bernard (USA), and thank you Thérèse (France). How lucky I am to have such good friends!
The online meeting was organized by Fabrice Blée, professor of theology and founder of Solars (https://www.solarscentre.com), an initiative that presents itself with the label “doing theology differently,” aiming to reconcile us with the great mystical tradition, even beyond the Christian tradition.
Jean Bédart is also the testimony of a deep sense of daily life and concern for the future of the world. He was the founder of a community inspired by rural life (Sageterre), being the only alternative for the future and which, according to him, has points in common with the life in beguinages.
Jean Bédart presented his historical novel Marguerite Porete. L’inspiration de Maître Eckhart (Marguerite Porete. The Inspiration of Master Eckhart). Since I haven’t read it, I’ll share the description from the Solars website: “His meticulously researched biographical novel, “Marguerite Porète, l’inspiration de Maître Eckhart” (winner of the Prix de l’Académie des lettres du Québec), recounts the life and work of Marguerite Porète. This mystical philosopher reveals a life-affirming feminism, an organized and militant feminism that shook both the Church and the State. She was the direct inspiration for Maître Eckhart. While she remains relatively unknown (Christian Bobin praises her in “Le Très-Bas”), she cannot fail to make an impression: her thought and especially her actions compel us to fundamental changes that could well contribute to making our world viable, sustainable, and above all, happy.” By clicking this link you can listen to the replay of the lecture: https://vimeo.com/1153796370/4c58af5d71?fl=ip&fe=ec
Since the book is a novel, I probably won’t read it, because my thirst for knowledge demands the historically documented rigor of the events recounted, something a novelist can easily do without, at the risk of providing information that sometimes didn’t actually happen. I recently came across a very beautiful video in Italian (again, about Marguerite) which recounted, among other things, a visit that Master Eckhart supposedly paid her while she was imprisoned in Paris. This is a historical inaccuracy. Nevertheless, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=464yUgm0urY
A crucial issue for the future will be the reliability of the knowledge disseminated, as anyone can express and write their opinions and present them as proven facts. AI will then simply amplify them everywhere.
The Beguines community will bear the brunt of this, and it is already doing so.
Please note that Milena Garavaglia will present Beghine. La forza delle donne tra passato e presente(Beguines. The Strength of Women between Past and Present) on March 8, 2026, at 4:30 PM in the “Mario Costa” Council Chamber in Sedriano (MI), organized by the Councilor for Culture and the Friends of Culture Association of Sedriano. For information: Milena Garavaglia <cart55924@gmail.com>
On March 23, from 2 to 4 pm, the conference Les béguinages, des pierres nées sans texte? (Beguinages: Stones Born Without Text?) will be held in Brussels, organized by https://agesettransmissions.be at Rue Belliard, 20 – 1040 Brussels. The speaker is the eminent specialist Pascal Majérus, author of Ces femmes qu’on dit béguines : guide des béguinages de Belgique : bibliographie et sources d’archives. (These Women Called Beguines: A Guide to the Beguinages of Belgium: Bibliography and Archival Sources). If you attend, please give him my warm regards.
For information and reservations (admission €12): +32 476 40 98 30.
Brigitte Meister, a member of the Board of Directors of the Dachverband-der-Beginen (Beginen Association), informs us that the annual Beginen Reise (Beginen Reunion) will take place from April 29th to May 2nd, 2026. Here is the program and information on how to participate: https://beguines.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Beginenreise-2026.pdf
Among the specific features of the Beguine world, that emerged towards the end of the 12th century,there was the possibility of choosing one’s own spiritual director. Unfortunately, cases of a woman being chosen for this role were extremely rare, I imagine because of the sacrament of confession, with its remission of sins, which was the prerogative of men.
Beguines in Europe primarily turned to the mendicant orders, which, like them, arose from the religious fervor of those centuries. However, the Beguines of the North mainly opted for the Friars Preachers (later called Dominicans), while those of the South chose the Franciscans.
Such was the choice of Angela of Foligno, a member of the Franciscan family, whose memory was brought to my attention by the Poor Clare Christine Daine, to whom I owe my first encounters with the Beguine world.
Christine (christineclarissedaine@gmail.com) practices and leads simple presence meditation groups in Brussels and sends out “Le Fil Bleu (The Blue Thread)” every week, featuring beautiful texts. In one of these, she shares “an amazing text by Angela that delighted me. Like many Beguines, Angela uses oxymorons to speak of God, saying something and its opposite, like ‘Far-Near’ or ‘Darkness-Light’. No word can express God, not even love… perhaps especially love. And yet, something must be said about Him… Then, she shares her experience. »
Here is the text taken from the Book, and quoted by Christine, in which Angela da Foligno (click on her name to know something about her) shares her experience:
“Now, I place my hope in no good that can be spoken of outwardly, or even conceived, but my hope lies in a secret good, very sure and hidden, which I understand with such darkness.”
“The soul sees absolutely nothing that the mouth or even the heart can later recount; it sees nothing and it sees absolutely everything.”
“Once my soul was lifted up, and I saw God in such clarity, such beauty, and such fullness, as I had never seen Him before, nor in such a complete way. I saw no love there; I then lost the love I had and became non-love.”
“In this Goodness seen in darkness I collected myself entirely.”
“If I say that it is all good, I destroy it.”
Important message received from beguine Brita Lieb
On Christmas day, December 25, 2025, Gertrud M. Hofmann-Startz, the founder of the Beguines in Germany, died peacefully. On December 3, 1925, she had celebrated her 100th birthday with her family! We are happy that she died peacefully to God; as a Beguine, she did so much good for so many people, and He will surely welcome her with open arms. Her Requiem Mass will be held on Thursday, January 8, 1926, at 11:00 a.m. in the chapel of her home in Essen-Steele. I wish you a happy and healthy 2026, and all my love.
Sister Brita, Beguine
Activity
On March 8, 2026, Milena Garavaglia will present the Beguinal movement on behalf of the cultural group and the municipal administration of Sedriano (MI). Through her various presentations, Milena, author of the book “Cohousing al Femminile: Abitare nei beguinaggi moderni,” is spreading awareness and respect for these Beguinal friends of ours. For information: Milena Garavaglia <cart55924@gmail.com>
DEUTSCH
Zu den Besonderheiten der Beginenwelt, die gegen Ende des 12. Jahrhunderts entstand, gehörte die Möglichkeit, den eigenen geistlichen Begleiter zu wählen. Leider war es äußerst selten, dass eine Frau diese Rolle übernahm, vermutlich aufgrund des Sakraments der Beichte mit ihrem Sündenvergebungsrecht, das den Männern vorbehalten war.
Die Beginen in Europa wandten sich vorwiegend den Bettelorden zu, die wie sie selbst aus der religiösen Inbrunst jener Jahrhunderte hervorgegangen waren. Die Beginen im Norden wählten jedoch hauptsächlich die Predigerbrüder (später Dominikaner), während jene im Süden die Franziskaner bevorzugten.
So wählte auch Angela von Foligno, eine Franziskanerin, deren Andenken mir die Klarissen Christine Daine in Erinnerung rief, der ich meine ersten Begegnungen mit der Beginenwelt verdanke.
Christine (christineclarissedaine@gmail.com) praktiziert und leitet Meditationsgruppen zur einfachen Achtsamkeit in Brüssel und versendet wöchentlich den Newsletter „Le Fil Bleu (Der Blaue Faden)“ mit inspirierenden Texten. In einem dieser Texte teilt sie einen erstaunlichen Text von Angela, der sie sehr berührt hat. Wie viele Beginen verwendet Angela Oxymora, um über Gott zu sprechen, indem sie etwas sagt und gleichzeitig sein Gegenteil. Zum Beispiel „fern-nah“ oder „Dunkelheit-Licht“. Kein Wort kann Gott ausdrücken, nicht einmal die Liebe … vielleicht gerade die Liebe. Und doch muss etwas über ihn gesagt werden … Hier teilt sie ihre Erfahrung.
Hier folgt der Text aus dem Buch, zitiert von Christine, in dem Angela von Foligno (klicken Sie auf ihren Namen, um mehr über sie zu erfahren) ihre Erfahrungen schildert:
„Nun setze ich meine Hoffnung auf kein Gut, das man äußerlich aussprechen oder gar begreifen kann, sondern meine Hoffnung ruht auf einem geheimen Gut, ganz sicher und verborgen, das ich in solcher Dunkelheit verstehe.“
„Die Seele sieht absolut nichts, was der Mund oder gar das Herz später erzählen könnte; sie sieht nichts und sie sieht absolut alles.“
„Einst wurde meine Seele emporgehoben, und ich sah Gott in solcher Klarheit, solcher Schönheit und solcher Fülle, wie ich ihn nie zuvor gesehen hatte, noch in solch einer vollkommenen Weise. Ich sah dort keine Liebe; Da verlor ich die Liebe, die ich einst besessen hatte, und wurde zur Nicht-Liebe.
In dieser Güte, die sich in der Dunkelheit offenbarte, fand ich zu mir selbst zurück.
Wenn ich sage, dass alles gut ist, zerstöre ich es.
Wichtige Nachricht von Schwester Brita Lieb, Begine
Am Weihnachtstag, dem 25. Dezember 2025, verstarb Gertrud M. Hofmann-Startz, die Gründerin der Beginen in Deutschland, friedlich. Am 3. Dezember 2025 hatte sie noch ihren 100. Geburtstag im Kreise ihrer Familie gefeiert! Wir sind froh, dass sie friedlich zu Gott gestorben ist; als Begine hat sie so viel Gutes für so viele Menschen getan, und Gott wird sie gewiss mit offenen Armen empfangen. Ihr Requiem findet am Donnerstag, dem 8. Januar 2026, um 11:00 Uhr in der Kapelle ihres Hauses in Essen-Steele statt.
Ich wünsche Ihnen ein frohes und gesundes Jahr 2026 und alles Liebe
Schwester Brita Begine
Aktivitäten
Am 8. März 2026 präsentiert Milena Garavaglia im Namen der Kulturgruppe und der Stadtverwaltung von Sedriano (MI) die Beguinalbewegung. Mit ihren verschiedenen Vorträgen sensibilisiert Milena, Autorin des Buches „Cohousing al Femminile: Abitare nei beguinaggi moderni“, für die Beguinalbewegung und fördert deren Wertschätzung. Weitere Informationen erhalten Sie bei: Milena Garavaglia <cart55924@gmail.com>
Good news from German and Italy (January 2026)
It’s auspicious to begin the new year with good news, as well as with the best wishes of us who collaborate at the Beguines Newsletter. We are Antonio (informatics support), Bernard (French revision), Graham (English and Deutsch revision), and Silvana (writer and sender). Please extend our wishes to your beloved ones but also to all living being around you.
A recent contact with Uta-Maria Freckmann has introduced me to two significant items in the world of German beguines. What you read here can be found more widely developed on the website https://Beginenhof-Nordhastedt.blogspot.com; the quotes from the website are in italics. This text has been proofread and approved by Uta-Maria, who is responsible for the network of contacts.
So here is the good news: two from Germany and one from Italy
The firstis the existence of the Nordhastedt beguinage (6 km from Heide), founded in 2019, following the previous one that existed from 2013 to 2019 in Wedel (near Hamburg). This Beguinal community is currently composed by three residents and two others online. Her main characteristic is the steadily established spirituality and the centrality of Christ in their quest, unconnected to any religious institution. “Life in the Beguinage is very similar to that in religious monasteries, but with the freedom to express one’s own spirituality.”
Strong involvement and fierce independence are well expressed by Manuela Schindler, Martina Sruckhoff, and Maria-Uta Freckmann. Each of them presented the reasons for their Beguinal choice, and they are all firmly convinced to have made the right choice and are very happy about it.
From the website, we also learn that they work as therapists, alternative practitioners specializing in podiatry, psychotherapy, fibromyalgia, and spiritual counselors. Their voluntary commitments include caring for the elderly, peace movement, and supporting women. They also organize events open to the public at the Beguinage.
The aim of this German-language magazine is “to revitalize and support the Beguine movement, to strengthen the cohesion of all Beguines, and to raise public awareness of their activities.”
We hope that Beginen Heute will contribute to connecting a friendly network among German-speaking women and others who, albeit with different sensibilities and methods, draw inspiration from the historical Beguines.
And finally, the thirdpiece of good news: Hadewijch’s work, Canti, was recently published in the Lettere series, edited by Marco Vannini. It is a complete edition, with original Dutch text on the opposite page and extensive commentary by Dutch specialists. The Italian translation is by Franco Paris, professor of the subject in Naples.
Hadewijch CANTI. Testo nederlandese medio a fronte. A cura di Veerle Fraeters e Frank Willaert, Le Lettere, Firenze 2025, pp. 458, € 25,00 – ISBN 9788893665445
On Christmas way (December 2025)
I have always believed that the Advent season is essential for preparing for Christmas, protecting it from the consumerist excesses to which, it too, is unfortunately subjected. Even if, we are told, this seems to be the price to pay for its global reach. So, at the beginning of this Advent season, which started on Sunday, November 30th, please find in this message our wishes for a Christmas filled with inspiration and gratitude.
To accompany us on our journey towards Christmas, I was inspired by what the Beguinage of Saint-Martin du Lac offered us with a video and a text.
The touching video here at the Chapel of the Beguinage of St Martin prepared for the 2024 Festival:https://youtu.be/8Cec6QGtpGk?si=ZSc1BR5dgYl4BmHK where Mary and Joseph are patiently waiting. The text, written by Thérèse, introduces us to the meaning of Christmas, which invites us to break down our barriers. She writes: “The words of a Leonard Cohen song come to mind: Must we resign ourselves? Must we despair when everything is shattered, life itself shattered? Yet through these wounds, these cracks, all these interstices that unhappiness blocks, shines the light that reminds us of hope. The broken heart follows it like a star to seek refuge in love. And Thérèse continues, recalling that in French, hope has two different words: “espoir” is the act of waiting and wishing for something better for oneself and for others, while “espérance” is a pure and selfless trust in the future.
This text comes to us from the Lettre des quatre saisons (Letter of the Four Seasons, winter 2024), which each quarter is a small masterpiece of poetry and spirituality. Reading it, the heart expands and faith is purified.
I invite you to subscribe by writing to <beguinage.71110@gmail.com>
To support the Béguinage we are requested, by suscribing to the Lettre des quatre saisons, to pay the sum of 35 euros to the Béguinage de Saint-Martin du Lac. located at Saint-Martin du Lac, IBAN : FR76 1009 6182 4400 0615 6740 197 ((BIC=CMCIFRPP)
To know more about this beguinage, also known as the Béguinage de la Croix aux Bœufs, click on https://beguines.info/?page_id=371&lang=en You will also find there the article that Le Monde dedicated to her on the 31st of July 2022.
Since then things have changed, as you will read on the site. Anyway, Marie Emmanuel and Thérèse as far as they are concerned, they are not giving up and affirm that: “We remain beguines and above all we desire to remain ‘free women and fools of love’ ”.
Beguinages: oases of peace.
This is the title of the video featuring the magnificent photos of our Beghard and excellent guide to the Beguinages, Graham Keen. Maurice Gauchet prepared the MP4 file, and I enthusiastically welcomed it to my YouTube channel. Here’s the link to watch it, and don’t forget to give it a “like” because it’s truly worth it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXODpicjGL8
If you have made MP4 videos about the world of beguines and beguinages and they are not yet on the internet, I could broadcast them via my youtube channel. For that, please write to <info@beguines.info>
Douceline de Digne (November 2025)
Icone Douceline by Elisabeth Lamour
In January 2025, I took the time to voluntarliy translate from French into Italian the book by Philippine de Porcellet Vie de Sainte Douceline, initially translated from Provençal into French by Abbé Albanès in 1879 and then published in 2020 by Jérôme Millon (Grénoble) with a preface by Claude-Louis Combet.
I became passionately involved in this publishing project, which was initiated during a summer meeting in Provence with the association Mémoires d’Elles (Viviane-Marie and Muriel Raphaëlle) and Nel giardino delle beghine (Martina, Nella e Raffaella), in order to make the work available in languages other than French and to restore the little-known history of the beguines to prominence.
The Vie de Sainte Douceline was unearthed by Claude Louis-Combet for the Atopia collection. Since this text was published in 1879, it is now in the public domain. “Ms. Silvana Panciera can therefore translate the text without permission,” replied Ms. Carrara of the publishers Jérôme Millon.
Don’t you also think it would be wonderful if it could also be translated into German, English, or Spanish, thanks to volunteers from the readers of Beguines Newsletter? In that case, please contact directly Viviane-Marie Vieux of Mémoires d’Elles <vivianemvie@gmail.com> to get the French text. After that Viviane-Marie and Muriel Raphaëlle will be more than available to assist the translator, as they admirably did with me.
My translation is now in the hands of Martina, Nella, and Raffaella, who, like me, are members of Nel giardino delle beghine. With their multiple skills, they have proofread and formatted it and are currently seeking the best editorial option. I hope to be able to announce you its publication soon.
Until January 2025, Douceline (c.1214–1274) and her disciple Philippine were, to me, simply beguines of Provence, also known as the Dames de Roubaud. A biographical sheet already existed on the website, https://beguines.info/?page_id=2220&lang=en, but since reading and translating the Vita, I have updated the presentation sheet with other important information.
Fortunately, Philippine wrote the Vita of their founder, and the scholarly research of Abbot Albanès has authenticated her writing. I savoured this text in a state of, let’s say, « spiritual levitation », aphysical trait of the Saint who used to rise from the ground a few centimeters. As well as Viviane-Marie and Muriel Raphaëlle, I too fell under the spell of Douceline.
The hidden mirror of La Porete (October 2025)
Thank you very much to Debby Van Linden, who sent me the following communication to share with you all.
Debby writes: “I recently read a very good novel about the beguines of Valenciennes and Marguerite Porète: The hidden mirror of La Porète. British author Susan Shooter shows that profound research, artistic freedom, and heartfelt integrity can melt together; this is a rarely found combination. Her novel is basedon writer and mystic Marguerite Porète and the beguines at Valenciennes. Ror all information about her research, her travelogue, the book ordering, and much more, please visit www.shooterspen.com. In gratitude to Rev. Dr. Susan Shooter (Cornwall, UK) for her magnificent work. Also thank you to Rev. Dr. Catherine Lambert (Australia) for mentioning the book during our meeting on Antwerpen.”(in June 2025).
Despite her long studies for a doctorate and then her ordination, Rev. Susan Shooter says: “Yet I’d never heard of Maguerite (or Hadewijch or Mechthild) until a lecturer mentioned the “beguine” mystic in passing”.
What stacked her so much? ”I was reading a description of the souls’s journey through the blind alley I’d once been it”…”I’d finally found a voice that connected with the deep, almost tangible pain of seeking God in dark circumstances”
And more: “The story of a woman (Marguerite) who understood spiritual despair and who knew the fullness of God’s Presence cries out to be heard. I felt passionately that Porète needed rescuing from academic libraries and footnotes. Or perhaps that was just me. Anyway, I changed tack. I started writing a novel about Marguerite who hasbecome my mentor in seeking the faith which is nothing other than a surrender to Love. »
A final information about the author : “Susan Shooter is a writer, priest and allotment keeper. She lives in Cornwall with her husband and during school holidays has a house full of children and grandchildren.”
We are grateful to Susan Shooter for her sparking encounter with Marguerite and for diving with her in such an abysmal experience of Love.
“Love is God, and God is Love”
(Marguerite Porete, The mirror of simple souls, ch 21, 44-45)
Celebrating 30 years of An Croi Wisdom Institute (September 2025)
An Croi Wisdom Institute (An Croi means the heart in Celtic) have been founded in Ireland in 1995 by Dr. Geraldine Holton, educator and trainer, and the musician Carmel Boyle. The An Croi Wisdom Institute uses to lunch and lead innovative psycho-spiritual programs helping in their professional and personal journey through life. See: https://ancroi.ie/programmes/ They also do retreats, workshops, conferences, and concerts.
Out of the An Croi Institute was born the An Croi Beguines, a contemporary re-visioning of the medieval beguine movement. The inspiration for the revitalization of the An Croi Beguines grew out of Geraldine and Carmel’s lifelong commitment to a God-centred spiritual life. They are also connected by a set of tenets inspired by themes from Franciscan Incarnation Spirituality and Celtic Christian Spirituality. This same fidelity is reflected in their ministry currently located in Monasterboice, Drogheda, at the heart of the sacred sites in the Boyne Valley which is steeped in the ancient spiritual heritage of Ireland.
The An Croi beguines seek to reconnect with this faith-filled tradition and have revised it for the twenty-first century. Geraldine and Carmel were initially described by others as being ‘like the beguines’; then in 2017, they took the decision to identify themselves as Beguines and they settled on the title An Croí Beguines.
The An Croi Beguines, like the original beguines, do not take vows but are invited to live by suggested guidelines for a common way of life. They are also be offered resources for spiritual practices. In addition, they are provided with opportunities for An Croi Beguines to gather together in an intentional community for the purpose of prayer, spiritual guidance, study, learning and sharing of spiritual experience. This is made possible either virtually through the internet or in person.
While the original beguine movement was for single women, the An Croí Beguines welcome single and partnered women who are supportive of the vision and charism and who seek a commitment to God within an intentional community that they live out in their daily lives.
An Croi Beguines is currently an international community of around twenty-five members, mostly made up of trained graduates in spiritual guidance. They gather for quiet prayer every Tuesday evening, they meet on the third Sunday of every month, and have regular study, retreat opportunities and they seek to support and encourage one another.
An Croí Beguines is a light that shines in the corner of the world where the first Pascal candle was lit by St. Patrick.
The An Croí Beguines «could be a small glimmer of light among other lights in our world today» (www.ancroi.ie).
Congratulations to An Croí Wisdom Institute on its 30th Anniversary and to An Croí Beguines as they approach their tenth anniversary.For more information about this amazing community, read the text wrote by Kathleen Keaney on May 2025:https://beguines.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/An-Croi-Beg...
For contact: Kathleen, Carmel or Geraldine at ancroiwisdominstitute@gmail.com or checkout the websites www.ancroi.ie or www.ancroibeguines.com
Don’t close this Newsletter before have lessening at least one of the enchanting Carmel Boyle’s songas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H53NBGL_x0&pp=ygUfbG9va...
A reminder
Our faithful Beguinage guide, Graham Keen, is offering a second visit to Bruges on September 26th as part of the celebrations for the 800th anniversary of the Beguinage. For information and registration: +32 487 104 341 or <grahamfranciskeen@gmail.comNew events
I received news from our two Beguine sisters (Mrs. Emmanuel and Thérèse) of the Beguinage of St. Martin du Lac about the seminar “From Fear to the Fear of God,” which will take place on October 11th and 12th and will be led by Sister Barbara Verhelst, an Orthodox nun. All the information is gathered in the folder: Séminaire 11-12 octobre
Rita Fenendael informs us of her numerous presentations in September as part of Bruges 800. Here is the list: Rita Fenendael Brugge 800
Beguines in Northfolk (August 2025)
Britons Arms, today known as Elm Hill Norwich
I asked Marco Bosio, translator of the book of Revelations* by Juliana of Norwich (see Beguines Newsletter of December 2024) if he could investigate the presence of beguines in Norwich.
I received his reply which I am communicating to you in full in italics preceded by M.B., while in standard font you will find some further insertions of mine indicated by S.P.
I hope the commitment of Marco Bosio, whom I thank very much, will also encourage other people to send me information and contributions on the realities of the beguinal world of yesterday and today.
M.B. I have not forgotten the help you asked me to investigate the possible presence of beguines in Norwich. I have done some research, but there are no elements online enabling me to write a serious article, other than the repeating the 2-3 news items that everyone has written and rewritten. Let’s start with this beautiful article about an ancestor of Anne Boleyn, Cecily Boleyn https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/the-forgotten-boleyn/ Cecily Boleyn was probably not a Beguine, but the article explains how there are a few documents that testify to some Beguinal presence in the county of Norfolk. This makes sense because the county of Norhfolk, where Norwich is also located, is the county that historically was most in contact with Flanders in terms of trade.
S.P. It should be noted that in the article cited above Cecily Boleyn is described as having a life of informal piety and chastity outside of male supervision, and not living in a convent. Cecily did not seek worldly success or a husband chosen to satisfy family ambition. If she was not a formally recognized Beguine, she had the existential characteristics of one.
M.B. Apart from the references in this article, which are correct and valid, it is all over the internet that there is still a pub in Norwich today, the Britons Arms, see photo above and more athttps://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6357332, which by its structure would seem to have originated as a Beguinage. But that remains a guess.
S.P. We know that John Asger, a Norwich merchant and former Bruges resident, left money to three women in a bequest for the establishment of a Beguinal community and that this particular community existed in the current premises of the Britons Arms between 1442 and 1472. Following the example of the Beguines of Bruges, it seems that small Beguinal communities began to be established in Norfolk.
M.B. So, in conclusion of my study of these and many other texts, including an AI search, I can tell you that the possibility that there were Beguines in the county of Norhfolk is very likely and there are some interesting traces. However, the only way to prove it is to have someone on site who has the time to go and study the archives of towns and parishes, not only in Norwich, to understand if the rumours are supported by real documents. This is obviously out of my reach. Anyway, thanks, it was a good exercise.
Open invitation to anyone who feels like investigating further the historical Beguinal world in England.
*Juliana di Norwich, Rivelazioni dell’amore, (Revelations of love), introduzione e traduzione diMarco Bosio, Edizione Appunti di viaggio, Roma 2024.
Pro memoria
Our faithful beguinage guide, Graham Keen, is organising a second visit in Bruges : onFridaySeptember 26th. For information and registration: +32 487 104 341 or <grahamfranciskeen@gmail.com>
This book is the souvenir of a personal journey described by Melissa with radical sincerity and self-analysis without complacency. The major themes are seduction, the need to please oneself and others, sex in the search for happiness and the truths about unsatisfied love. So after a life that was nothing short of adventurous, Melissa has been teaching creative writing at the University of Iowa for several years. After the end of a painful relationship, she decided to live a year of chastity and tried to get to know better the women who in history have made this commitment a lasting promise. Thus she arrived at the Beguinal world. With the zoom of August 2022 (Celibacy and chastity in the Beguines’ style of life) our acquaintance began what I would like to describe (I hope Melissa confirms it) as animated by a shared affinity. Although we are at opposite ends of our experiences, we are both moved by the same deep desire for Love with a capital L, the same that the Beguines also sought.
I am deeply grateful to Millennial (generation born between 1980-1996) Melissa Febos for having expressed through renewed cultural categories the investigation on love and its paradoxes incomprehensible to those who have not experienced them, as Dante Alighieri (1256-1321) and Hadewijch before him (+ 1250) said:
If anyone wishes to content Love,
I counsel him to spare himself in nothing.
He shall give himself totally,
So as to live in the performance of the noblest deeds,
For lovers, secret:
To aliens, unknown,
For they do not understand the essence of Love.
That sweet attendance
In the school of Love
Is unknown to him who never enters there.
(excerpt from Poem 16 fromHadewijch : The Complete Works, translation by Mother Columba Hart OSB, preface by Paul Mommaers, S.J, 1980 Many thanks to Alessia Vallarsa for providing it for us )
Our faithful beguinage guide, Graham Keen, is organising two visits in Bruges : on June 8th and September 26th. For information and registration: +32 487 104 341 or <grahamfranciskeen@gmail.com>. For a guided tour on another date, here is the contact person: david.serlet@gmail.com
Graham has also prepared a French-English summary of activities that may interest visitors. Here it is : https://beguines.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Brugge-800-events.pdf
We would like to highlight the Corpus Christi procession on June 21st by the sisters who currently live in the beguinage.
He also informs us that “The city of Bruges is currently facing a major restoration campaign and is working on a master plan to ensure the future of the Beguinage. The objective is to preserve the authentic character of the Beguinage while simultaneously working on sustainable renovations and accessibility. During the 800th anniversary celebration, these plans will be explained, with particular attention to the role of the Bruges’ residents in this shared heritage.”
A huge thank to you Graham for your dedication to the Beguines, from which we greatly benefit.
The Saint Martin du Lac Beguinage invite us to a REFRESHING STOPfrom June 26th to 28th. The residential course is led by Marie Barguil , following Danis Bois’s mindfulness teaching method. To contact her, call +33 6 70 71 82 02 – mbarguil001@gmail.com
For information and registration: Beguinage: +33 6 66 73 08 96 beguinage.71110@gmail.com
Debby Van Linden informs us about the symposium Zoals de begijnen zongen (How the Beguines Sang) that will take place on June 8 and 9 at the Groot Begijnhof Leuven, Sint-Jan-de-Doperkerk. For registration and information: https://www.kuleuven.be/up/activiteiten/zoals-de-begijnen-zongen
Women of God (May 2025)
17 profiles of religiosae mulieres (nuns, recluses and beguines), who lived between the 12th and 15th centuries, are described by Alessandra Bartolomei Romagnoli in her recent book, Donne di Dio (Women of God). 7 out 17 are beguines or have experiences that can be traced back to that spirituality. They are Marguerite d’Ypres, Agnes Blannbekin, Christina the Admirable of Saint-Trond, Mary of Oignies, Angela of Foligno, Christina of Stommeln, Francesca Romana. “Nuns, recluses, beguines, their different paths explain the complexity and richness of female religious experiences inthelast medieval centuries, which have sometimes been referred to as an age of the Mothers.”
The experiences of these women of great sanctity come to us in a fascinating context of daily normality as if they were biographies even though their sources are the hagiographies of the time. It is also a merit of our scholar, Alessandra Bartolomei Romagnoli to bring their extraordinary daily life within the canons of sanctity of the various historical moments.
Another considerable value of this book is that it addressed crucial issues of collective importance, such as for example the relations of the new mendicant orders with the new emerging lay women’s movements or the meaning of mystical testimony for the life of society and the Church.
Finally, another valuable initiative was to accompany the chapter on the life of Christina the Admirable with the hagiography written by Thomas of Cantimpré, which constitutes the main source of information on the Blessed. As he wrote it only a few years after Christina’s death, the Dominican Thomas, whose education was scholastic and scientific, relied only on sources that could provide a true testimony of the extraordinary and incredible events that occurred.
Congratulations and thanks to Alessandra Bartolomei Romagnoli, with the hope that her work could quickly find translations that make it available in other languages.
For those who cannot get this book, we remind you that in Beguines Galleryhttps://beguines.info/?p=620&lang=en you can find biographical notes of 89 beguines, among which obviously are the 7 admirably described by Alessandra Bartolomei Romagnoli in her book, Donne di Dio, CISAM, Todi, 2023
Modern beguinages in France (April 2025)
Pierre and Suzette Huvelle, promoters of the Petit Béguinage de Lauzelle (see the Beguines newsletter of February 2025), were not wrong when they thought that the beguinage would make an impact among seniors citizens.
This is what is happening in France where several dozen new beguinal complexes, composed of a maximum of 26 housing units, have sprung up in the last 15 years. They have benefited from the support of public policies for which the « beguinage » model has become a quality label.
Two non-profit associations are behind this considerable development: ,Vivre en Béguinage active since 2014 with 24 beguinages to date, and Béguinage-solidaire, active since 2017 with 12 institutions. Both have several other projects underway. Both have incorporated a land management agency, an environmental management body, a department for communal activities and several other functions ranging from security to paramedics. They also try to develop various partnerships with local institutions and associations.
These beguinages do not have any particular spiritual connotation, but offer the residents the possibility of living in a good neighborly environment, perhaps even a community environment, engaging in mutual care, provoding accommodation at a moderate rent, being able to enjoy their autonomy and finally escaping the dramatic threat of loneliness.
They are certainly not traditional beguinages, but probably the historical beguines would have been happy to offer their name to these humanistic enterprises.
The Bielefeld Beguinage in Germany is celebrating its 15th anniversary with an event that will take place on May 24. To participate, you must register by April 30. Information and the program can be found in this document: https://beguines.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Bielefeld-evento.pdf
ALL OM ALL (March 2025)
I recently received a request from the Beguinage Museum in Tongeren (Tongeren) to allow the screening of the DVD All om all. Discovering the Beguine Movement in Europein their museum. Of course I accepted and I consider myself very honoured by this request.
The DVD All om all is a valuable tool in four languages that offers, in about 30 minutes, an overview of the Beguine movement in Europe. I made it in 2010 with the help of many friends and professionals of sound and voice. Indeed, a contribution from the National Lottery of Belgium and the French Community made it possible to realise this information tool in a more professional way.
The title All om all means All for all. This is a statement that we owe to Hadewijch; it is taken from her poem no. 8. as translated by Fr.Jean-Baptiste Porion in Écrits mystiques des Béguines (Seuil, 1954)
The DVD was quickly integrated into the multimedia space of the Petit Béguinage d’Anderlecht, which had placed it as an introduction to the visit. I hope it will still be there after the current renovation.
This DVD is available on YouTube in all four languages, and if you don’t know it yet, I recommend watching it. Produced in 2010, it is still as valid, except for the extent of the movement, which was underestimated at the time. Thanks to new research, the Beguinalmovement continues to make its scope more visible across the European continent from year to year. Nevertheless, all updated data can be found on the trilingual site https://beguines.info
Here are the links to watch the DVD in the language of your choice:
To date, 33,800 people have watched it and the comments left are all positive. A showpiece for me. Above all, an encouragement to continue.
Milena Garavaglia will present on March 14 at 9pm LE BEGHINE TRA PASSATO E PRESENTE (The beguines between past and present) as part of the cultural evenings offered by the Municipality of Arluno (MI)
For information : cart55924@gmail.com
Spotlight on Le petit béguinage de Lauzelle (February 2025)
In 1995, the Petit Béguinage de Lauzelle, named after the district where it is located, was built ex-novo on the site of the new university of Louvain-la-Neuve. Promoted by a fantastic and very committed couple, Pierre and Suzette Huvelle, whom I had the good fortune of knowing, this beguinage consists of 7 habitable units, built around a small square. As per the wishes of its founders, it was planned to inaugurate a formula intended for seniors (over 65 years old) who wanted to rebuild a community of friends but also of Christian spiritual life. The project was inspired by the béguinal movement and hoped “spread” among seniors who were still able-bodied and motivated.
Where are we 30 years later? Thanks to a friend who was looking to rent accommodation, I found myself immersed in the news of this magnificent prototype. So I will refer to it.
This experience exists today not as a beguinage, but as group of houses (co-housing). “In the 2 years, 2021-2023, 5 of the founding owners died. Another one has left. Only one founder still lives there,” so Chantal, a former university friend, who became the new owner of one of these units, tells me. In the transition that took place after that voluntary departure and 5 deaths, the heirs have broadened the access criteria. The new entity has kept its initial name and aims to maintain a dimension of conviviality and spirituality among the residents, but the criteria for the latter are a subject of reflection among the current inhabitants.
Rita Fenendael, who identifies herself as a beguine and is a specialist in the beguinal world, lived in this small beguinage for 10 years.
Thank you so much to Beguine Brita Lieb who informed us about the next Beginenreise 2025 which will take place from 27th to 30th April 2025 and will have as destinations Breda and 3 important beguinages in Flanders (Bruges, Leuven, Tourhout). We invite you to discover more about the Flandernreise 2025 on the website https://www.dachverband-der-beginen.de/startseite
The international symposium organized in 2017 for the 750th anniversary of the Breda beguinage – https://begijnhofbreda.nl – has allowed me to stay in touch with this magnificent historical beguinal experience since then. In Breda, as in Amsterdam, the only two remaining beguinages in the Netherlands, only women live there. In the beguinage of Breda there are 29 modest dwellings, a house of the head mistress, a meadow today used for the cultivation of medicinal plants, two churches and a museum.
For some years, a major renovation of the museum complex dedicated to the heritage and culture of the beguines and their world, both in the Netherlands and elsewhere, has been underway. On the first floor of the new museum, an exhibition will describe the special bond between the beguinage of Breda and the Orange-Nassau family. On the ground floor a series of religious objects will be exhibited in the prototype of a “beguine house”. As the completion of the work is scheduled for 2025, the new premises should be inaugurated soon.All these and many other impeccable initiatives carried out in the beguinage (concerts, exhibitions, liturgical celebrations, participation in the Monument Open Day) have proven Ed.C.M. Wagemakers to be the ideal leader who with passion and dedication has carefully promoted and guided them together with the manager of the beguinage, Martin Rasenberg, and the collaboration of the residents.
With great pleasure we learn that on 26th September 2024 E.C.M. Wagemakers was awarded the high papal distinction of Knight of the Order of the Holy Pope Sylvester by the Bishop of Breda, Mgr. J.W.M. Liesen.“Mr Wagemakers received this award primarily because of his great involvement in the beguinage of Breda, one of the oldest legal entities in the Netherlands of which he was a board member between 1997 and 2024 and chairman in the period 2003-2024 and, among other things, led the creation of a series of books on the begijnhof (beguinage), the digitization of archives, the grand celebration of the 750th anniversary in 2017 and the realisation of the new beguinage museum”
Heartfelt congratulations to the charming President and “always moving forward”.
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In 2009, Fidélité Editions published the book Les béguines, which was very successful and was printed again in 2012.
In 2011 Gabrielli published the Italian version of the book, Le Beghine. Una storia di donne per la libertà, with the preface by Marco Vannini.
In 2015, in collaboration with the iconographer Martina Bugada, I published Tre Voci per l’amore (Three Voices for Love), where the icons and an anthology of texts were found of three famous Beguines: Mechthild di Magdeburg, Hadewijch and Marguerite Porete.
This was made thanks to the collaboration of Sandra Almeyda. The Spanish edition “Las beguinas. Mujeres por la libertad ”, available in ebook format, will be the first of the four new editions. It has honored with the preface by the Professor Manuel Castells.
Revised by Monique Van Lancker, the text will then be published by ALMORA in the new French edition with the title “Les beguine. Une communauté de femmes libres “, which can be purchased as an ebook or printed on the publisher’s website.
On Monday, 12th January at 1:00 AM (yes, you read that right, 1:00 AM), I participated in a Zoom webinar held in Quebec, which had been recommended to me by friends scattered around the world. Thank you Bernard (USA), and thank you Thérèse (France). How lucky I am to have such good friends!
It’s auspicious to begin the new year with good news, as well as with the best wishes of us who collaborate at the Beguines Newsletter. We are Antonio (informatics support), Bernard (French revision), Graham (English and Deutsch revision), and Silvana (writer and sender). Please extend our wishes to your beloved ones but also to all living being around you.
I have always believed that the Advent season is essential for preparing for Christmas, protecting it from the consumerist excesses to which, it too, is unfortunately subjected. Even if, we are told, this seems to be the price to pay for its global reach. So, at the beginning of this Advent season, which started on Sunday, November 30th, please find in this message our wishes for a Christmas filled with inspiration and gratitude.
Thank you very much to 
An Croi Wisdom Institute (An Croi means the heart in Celtic) have been founded in Ireland in 1995 by Dr. Geraldine Holton, educator and trainer, and the musician Carmel Boyle. The An Croi Wisdom Institute uses to lunch and lead innovative psycho-spiritual programs helping in their professional and personal journey through life. See: 
A vast cultural programme celebrating the 800th anniversary of the most famous beguinage in Belgium, Brugge beguinage, Bruges in French. These events are organized by the 
17 profiles of religiosae mulieres (nuns, recluses and beguines), who lived between the 12th and 15th centuries, are described by Alessandra Bartolomei Romagnoli in her recent book, Donne di Dio (Women of God). 7 out 17 are beguines or have experiences that can be traced back to that spirituality. They are Marguerite d’Ypres, Agnes Blannbekin, Christina the Admirable of Saint-Trond, Mary of Oignies, Angela of Foligno, Christina of Stommeln, Francesca Romana.
Pierre and Suzette Huvelle, promoters of the Petit Béguinage de Lauzelle (see the Beguines newsletter of February 2025), were not wrong when they thought that the beguinage would make an impact among seniors citizens.
I recently received a request from the Beguinage Museum in Tongeren (Tongeren) to allow the screening of the DVD All om all. Discovering the Beguine Movement in Europein their museum. Of course I accepted and I consider myself very honoured by this request.
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