Beguines in Venice

Maria Benedetta di CARIGNANO et Maria Angela CANAL (XV° secolo)
In the 15th cebtury, these two noblewomen of Venice  founded in 1495 the beguinage of Saint Elizabeth, affiliated with the minor friars of the Observance with the Supra montem (Sensi, p.795).

In the 16th century, other Venetian beguines, Antonia NEGRI, then forced into claustration, Adriana CONTARINI and Elena PRIULI,  worked against slavery and in help for orphans and repentant prostitutes