Beguines are widows or never-married women who, because of their lifestyle, resemble monastics but have never taken a monastic vow. They did take a vow of chastity. The large number of Beguines in certain periods could be related to a shortage of marriageable men due to the many wars. Beguines lived in groups for centuries in special housing, the so-called beguinages, which usually consisted of small terraced houses. A number of these courtyards still exist and the houses have been given a different residential purpose.
Saint Begga as patron saint
The patron saint of the Beguines is Saint Begga, from which the name Beguine could be derived. Begga is a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church and was born in 620 as the daughter of Pepijn van Landen and Ida van Nijvel. Begga had several children, including Pepijn van Herstal. After the death of her husband, Saint Begga made a pilgrimage to Rome and promised to found a monastery and church there. Upon her return, she indeed founded a church in honor of the Virgin Mary and a women’s monastery in Andenne sur Meuse that was intended for the nuns from Nivelles. Begga became the first abbess of that monastery and most likely died there on December 17, 693.
Muttering prayers
Although Begga is considered the patroness of the Beguines, she cannot have had direct dealings with the Beguines because they only emerged centuries after her death. Perhaps partly for this reason, other sources maintain that the name Beguine does not come from the Holy Begga, but is derived from the color of the clothing of the Beguines, which was often beige. Yet another view is that the name Beguine has a certain connection with the French word bègue, which means to stammer and which would indicate the constant mumbling of prayers by the Beguines.
Recluses as predecessors
The recluses can be regarded as a kind of predecessors of the Beguines. Recluses allowed themselves to be locked up in a cell for life for the sole purpose of penance and prayer. The phenomenon of recluses has occurred since the sixth century, but from the tenth century it was mainly women. The cells or vaults in which the recluses were locked up were usually built against a church, but also against city walls. The door of such a cell was bricked up or sealed and only a small hatch was provided through which food could be handed out. Sometimes that part also provided the opportunity to follow church services.
Attendance and housing of pious and chaste living Beguines
In the twelfth century, the experience of penance and poverty was preached by, among others, Saint Norbert and later Saint Francis of Assisi. As a result, more and more women withdrew from the world in small groups and began to live a pious and chaste life in poverty. These groups emerged throughout Western Europe from Scandinavia to Spain. These pious women were given the name of beguines. In the thirteenth century, more and more of these groups arrived and living quarters were founded by prominent women. For example, the countesses Johanna and Margaretha of Flanders founded beguinages in Ghent (1234), Valenciennes (1239), Kortrijk (1242), Lille (1244-45) and Douai (1245).
Shortage of men
According to the historian Henri Pirenne (1862-1935), the success of the Beguine movement was said to have had to do with the surplus of women that arose due to wars in which many men died. Women were forced to band together and ask for help from wealthy benefactors. The alternative for those women was to enter a monastery, but due to the large supply, many applications for entry were refused or the monasteries set such high requirements that the women were not eligible.
Still existing beguinages
Of the many beguinages that were once founded, a number still remain, the best known being the beguinages in Amsterdam, Breda, Bruges, Delft, Ghent, Haarlem, Hasselt, Leuven, Lier, and Tongeren.