Hadewijch of antwerp biography examples

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Main article: Beguines and Beghards.

Hadewijch of antwerp biography examples: She was the first female poet

Context [ edit ]. Works [ edit ]. Poems in Stanzas Strophische Gedichten [ edit ]. Poems in Couplets Mengeldichten or Berijmde brieven [ edit ]. Visions [ edit ]. Letters [ edit ].

Hadewijch of antwerp biography examples: Hadewijch was a beguine mystic who

List [ edit ]. Influence [ edit ]. Sexuality [ edit ]. Veneration [ edit ]. Notes [ edit ]. The "of Brabant" and "of Antwerp" identifications of the 13th century Hadewijch are apparently primarily intended to distinguish her from Hadewych of Meer. Similarly, no other accounts can confirm information about her life.

Hadewijch of antwerp biography examples: Hadewijch is an extraordinary, unique

We know that she was one of one-hundred pious women who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries because a "list of the perfect," a listing of eighty people known to her, can be found at the end of her visions. Among the perfect is the name of a woman condemned to death by Robert le Bougre who was in Flanders from to From this, we surmise that Hadewijch lived in the middle of the 13th century.

Therefore, information about her background and education is conjecture based on her writings. In her letters, Hadewijch quotes a wide range of sources. She is well versed in Scripture, quotes Christian writers such as Augustine, is familiar with Latin and French, and writes in Dutch. Her poems incorporate rules of writing and versification taught at the schools of her day and are filled with references to courtly life, suggesting that she belonged to the higher class and had access to schooling.

Likewise, the tone of her letters implies an air of self-confidence and authority that could be attributed to a noble upbringing. She writes to Gilbertus, the abbot of nearby St. James' Abbey, as if he were her equal, freely chastising him for his lack of support and citing a wide range of scholarly sources that would impress him to elicit his aid.

This emphasis on learning appears significant to Hadewijch, for she advocates the importance of intellectual progress. She writes of the "beautiful faculty of reason" given by God for enlightenment and instruction. She does not, however, see herself as a scholar, warning that scholastic theologians who put intellect before love will not reach the summit of spiritual life.

We know from her letters that she was mistress of a group of young beguines, women who lived a semi-religious life religious because they lived a life of devotion to God; semi because they took no permanent vows of chastity, poverty, or obedience. They did not live a cloistered life like nuns but lived in communal houses that were usually in urban areas.

There, they engaged in trades to support themselves and cared for the sick and orphaned. Because of their independence, they were often criticized by ecclesiastical authorities and were eventually outlawed. The history of the beguine movement receives much scholarly attention as an early example of a women's emancipation movement. Likewise, the writing of beguines is seen as a new type of literature: one of the first examples of writing by women, for women, in the language of the common people.

As all but one of Hadewijch's letters are written to young beguines for their care and instruction, they give us insight into their days. She charges them to a life of virtue and good works: "Be good," she writes, "toward those who have need of you, devoted toward the sick, generous with the poor, and recollected in spirit beyond the reach of all creatures.

I can will as highly as I wish, and seize and receive from God all that He is, without objection or anger on His part—what no saint can do. To be "recollected in spirit," Hadewijch advises a life of humble service and personal dignity. While she suggests being docile and prompt, she also warns that a person must only satisfy everyone "as far as you can manage it without debasing yourself.

She is, however, quick to chastise a beguine who is not living up to the ideal of service and love. To one such, she writes: "You not [loving God] hadewijch of antwerp biography examples hurtful to us both; it is hurtful to you and too difficult for me. The main point of all her instruction, as noted by Nicholas Watson, was "refusing anything less than everything for herself, [and] demanding the same of others.

In one letter, she laments: "our adversaries are many. In another letter, she writes to Gilbertus and accuses him of projecting the shortcomings of his group onto hers. We do not know if Gilbertus responded to Hadewijch's appeal, but her letters suggest that eventually her companions were either taken away from her or left her, and she was exiled.

In one letter, she writes of her exile from the beguines named Sara, Emma, and Margriet. The pain of this separation is particularly poignant in regards to Hadewijch's references to Sara who was the beguine closest to her and yet most critical of her leadership. Her final letters struggle with finding solace in the midst of this separation. She ponders why God allows her to serve him and yet holds her apart from those he loves.

Beguines did not take vows, but they gathered together to live in simplicity and service. Many Beguines were mystics and poets of the highest order. Hadewijch's poetry has a rich love mysticism. Like her contemporary, St. Francis of Assisi, Hadewijch was clearly inspired by the courtly love poetry of the Troubadours and Minnensingers. Hadewijch, Bl.

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