Douceline de DIGNE(+/-1214/15 – 1274)
Native of Digne (South of France), she was born in a pious bourgeois family, then grew up in Barjois. She makes the decision to become a beguine by returning from a stay at the convent of thr Poor Clares of Digne. (Source: Wikipedia).
In the 1240s, Douceline de Digne, sister of the Franciscan Hugues de Digne, founded two beguinages in Provence that espoused charitable works, collectively known as the House of Roubaud. Douceline believed that the role of founder and spiritual mother of lay religious women included a commitment to the ideals of active charity and absolute poverty. The thesis of Kelly Lynn Morris addresses two inter-related issues. Firstly, from Douceline’s vita, we can argue that her expressions of evangelical charity and absolute poverty were an orthodox reflection of a composite of Franciscan, beguinal, and mystic spiritual ideals. The second issue challenges Aviad Kleinberg’s evaluation of Douceline as a conscious agent in the creation and manipulation of her own sanctity by demonstrating that the development of Douceline’s orthodox sanctity was based upon a co-operative commitment by the community to create a lifestyle that embodied active charity.
Sources:
www.medievalist.net , www.wikipedia.com
The vita of Douceline de Digne (1214-1274): Beguine spirituality and orthodoxy in thirteenth century Marseilles by Kelly Lynn Morris
Philippine of PORCELET (13th)
Originally from Arles, she is a disciple of Douceline de Digne and takes part of the community that settled around her, outside the city of Hyères, where ladies of Provence, eager to devote themselves to God, live without imposing a common rule. They are dedicated to the poor and the sick. In 1297, Philippine writes in Occitan La Vida Beneaurada Sancta Douceline. Source: Wikipedia.
RIXENDA (13th)
This beguine of Narbonne in southern France testified that around 1280 she has carried off to heaven and saw Jesus standing and his mother Mary rigth next to him and nearby Saint Francis…she saw her father and mother in Purgatory…and they say that tank to her prayers many souls are taken from Purgatory…she saw her father and mother at the Gate of Heaven, and shortly thereafter they were received into their mansion” (Laura Swam, The winsdom of beguines, p.114)
SPARRONE (13th)
Beguine of Aix-en-Provence, she is mentioned in the list of “Beghine, Begardi, Beghinaggi”, edited by A. Mens in the Italian Dictionnary of Institutes of Perfection, pp. 1166-1180. Also Sparrone was part of the community of the Dames of Roubaud grown around Douceline de Digne.