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Cities of Ladies: Beguine Communities in the Medieval Low Countries, 1200-1565 by Walter Simons
siria's review against another edition
4.0
This is a really excellent work which pulls together the most recent scholarship on the beguines and dispels several long held historiographical myths about them. The beguines were members of lay religious communities which emerged in what is now Belgium in the early 13th century and flourished through the fourteenth century, characterised by their semi-monasticism, lack of formal vows, and desire to support themselves by their labours. Simons doesn't focus on the writings of the mystics which the movement produced, but rather looks at the beguines as a lay, female, urban movement. Readable and well-organised, Cities of Ladies manages to be both an introduction to the topic and a scholarly reference work (no easy feat to manage). Really, really interesting if you want to learn more about the only medieval religious movement created by and for women.
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