A beguinage, from the French term béguinage, is an architectural complex which was created to house beguines: lay religious women who lived in community without taking vows or retiring from the world.
Originally the beguine institution was the convent, an association of beguines living together or in close proximity of each other under the guidance of a single superior, called a mistress or prioress. Although they were not usually referred to as "convents", in these houses dwelt a small number of women together: the houses small, informal, and often poor communities that emerged across Europe after the twelfth century. In most cases, beguines who lived in a convent agreed to obey certain regulations during their stay and contributed to a collective fund.[2]
In the first decades of the thirteenth century much larger and more stable types of community emerged in the region of the Low Countries: large court beguinages were formed which consisted of several houses for beguines built around a central chapel or church where their religious activities took place; these often included functional buildings such as a brewery, a bakery, a hospital, and some farm buildings. Several of these beguinages are now listed by UNESCO as World Heritage sites. Around the mid-thirteenth century, the French king Louis IX founded a beguinage in Paris, which was modeled on the court beguinages of the Low Countries.[3]
^"Het begijnhof Sint Aubertus (Poortacker) te Gent". lib.ugent.be. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
A beguinage, from the French term béguinage, is an architectural complex which was created to house beguines: lay religious women who lived in community...
established formal communities for these women that became known as beguinages. Beguinages (Begijnhoven in Dutch-speaking areas) tended to be located near...
the Ten Wijngaerde Béguinage, a beguinage built in the 13th century, is included in the World Heritage Site of "Flemish Béguinages". Bruges is known for...
daughter of Adolphe van Doeveryn. She made her profession in the Grand Beguinage of Leuven in 1575, where she worked as an embroiderer. In her free time...
church in the beguinage of Lier, Belgium, has a statue of St Begga standing above the inscription: St. Begga, our foundress. The Lier beguinage dates from...
hunger strike of undocumented migrants in Belgium, which took place at the Béguinage Church in Brussels. Odimba called on the Belgian government to align its...
history; it is not a city-museum. The city of Ghent also houses three béguinages and numerous churches including St. Jacob's Church, St. Nicholas' Church...
medieval defensive wall, several new churches and cloisters, and the beguinage. The city became one of the “bonnes villes” ("good cities") of the Prince-Bishopric...
The beguinage is one of the quaintest sites in the city. It too, was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, on the list of "Flemish Béguinages". The...
trucks that have replaced the boats. The district also includes the Great Beguinage of Brussels, with the Church of St. John the Baptist and the remarkable...
church, the old beguinage is home to a local history museum. Both institutions are now managed jointly as the Erasmus House and Beguinage Museums. The National...
Besides these churches, the city housed St. Paul's Abbey, the 15th-century beguinage of St. Nicholas, and a 14th-century chapter house of the Teutonic Knights...
disabled by war wounds in 1836. At the age of seven, she entered the Beguinage of Santo Domingo in Granada, the center where the Empress Eugénie de Montijo...
raid shelter Countess Elisabeth Thun-Fugger with Mikhail Gorbachev, 2005 Beguinage - housing complex created to house lay religious women who have not taken...
pressing issue in the 1896 conference. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Beguinage, community living for lay women The Book of the City of Ladies The Book...
Groot Begijnhof (Small and Large Beguinages), which house lay religious women, form part of the Flemish Béguinages World Heritage Site. The grounds of...
several orders because she was nearly blind. She was accepted into the Béguinage of St Elisabeth at Sint-Amandsberg, Ghent in 1941. She was musically talented...
friars were drawn to their life of prayer. Thus, in the Low Countries some beguinages adopted the Carmelite rule and thus formed communities in the second half...