About the Beguines: The Influence of Catholicism
Source: The Wisdom of the Beguines
The Beguines pre-dated Christianity and though they lived together, worked together, dressed alike, and prayed together, their mission was not to spread any kind of dogma. Their mission was to rescue women from poverty and give them independence and property (wealth). They were very good at it.
They were so good at it that during different times through-out their history, they were persecuted by different religious and political groups – mainly because the products they made were of such consistently high quality, and because their work had garnered them such loyal followings. The attacks on them were for jealousy of their success, and (we can suppose) because the Beguine mission was to empower women. Our research indicates that in medieval times in Europe, many towns had Beguine enclaves within their castle walls and many travelers came from far and wide to purchase their products.
Eschewing Christianity is not because we are ‘anti-Christian’ – we are not. It is simply that our practices identify with our pre-Christian mothers, those early enclaves, whose stories and practices were largely lost to history because they existed before books and written records. Much of the history was deliberately destroyed, as well, because these were the writings and teachings of independent, scholarly women. Because of this lack of information, we must use our own imagination and intuition to build something akin to what their lives would have been.
The first Catholic nun didn’t come about until the late 800’s, and we are interested in the enclaves of our Beguine mothers before that, because it is pretty evident that conversions to Catholicism were required to stay alive. The movement from independence to Catholicism accelerated the extinction of the Bougienages.
Because Christianity (widespread) happened when the first books became distributable, one might falsely conclude that our Beguine mothers were Christians. That would be un-true. The Beguines were around long before Christianity became mainstream. The Beguines thrived during the middle ages when daily life was not so well documented. However, just because it is not written, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
It’s not a surprise that the first book mass produced was the Bible, because the man who developed the printing press was Catholic. I have to say I’m a bit surprised and pleased with the blunt entry on the history of the Bible (and the added apology to Catholics).
By 500 A.D. the Bible had been translated into over 500 languages. Just one century later, by 600 A.D., it has been restricted to only one language: the Latin Vulgate! The only organized and recognized church at that time in history was the Catholic Church of Rome, and they refused to allow the scripture to be available in any language other than Latin. Those in possession of non-Latin scriptures would be executed! This was because only the priests were educated to understand Latin, and this gave the church ultimate power… a power to rule without question… a power to deceive… a power to extort money from the masses. Nobody could question their “Biblical” teachings, because few people other than priests could read Latin. The church capitalized on this forced-ignorance through the 1,000-year period from 400 AD to 1,400 AD knows as the “Dark and Middle Ages”.
Pope Leo the Tenth established a practice called the “selling of indulgences” as a way to extort money from the people. He offered forgiveness of sins for a fairly small amount of money. For a little bit more money, you would be allowed to indulge in a continuous lifestyle of sin, such as keeping a mistress. Also, through the invention of “Purgatory”, you could purchase the salvation of your loved-one’s souls. The church taught the ignorant masses . . . Pope Leo the Tenth showed his true feelings when he said, “The fable of Christ has been quite profitable to us!”
Editorial Note: Let us state at this point, that it is not our intent to offend or “bash” Roman Catholics. It is unavoidable that every historical account has its “good guys” and its “bad guys”. Just as it is impossible to accurately tell the story of World War Two without offending the Germans and the Italians who were undeniably the enemies of world peace at that time… it is equally impossible to accurately tell the story of the English Bible without unintentionally offending those who continue to revere the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches.
The Beguines thrived during the dark and middle ages. They were focused on helping the women. Their methods and order and spirituality drew women of all classes. They built housing and many devoted their lives to the enclaves and when they died, left their wealth to the enclave so more unfortunates could be brought in, taught a trade, put to work, given honorable lives. They didn’t live in the same house but clustered their homes. They owned businesses and houses, grew their own food and hemp and made clothing for themselves and to sell. They made medicines for themselves and to sell. They made jobs. That was their mission. That is ours.
Right now, this planet has a lot in common with the dark and middle ages. Just like back then, women and children suffer the brunt of the poverty stick. Just like back then, there is a certain hopelessness that sickens the spirit, when people cannot have gainful employment. There is a malaise that happens when the deck is stacked against you – born poor, die poor. We are re-living that again. I call it the castle syndrome. But we, the descendants of the Beguines, intend to occupy the castle, as our ancient mothers once did.