The Beguines, from the twelfth century, lived lives of prayer, work and service, often in enclosed courts called beguinages. Among them were mystical writers such as Hadewijch, Mechthild of Magdeburg and Marguerite Porete, whose daring language of love and annihilation drew suspicion from authorities.
Beguines
Lay religious women of the medieval Low Countries and Rhineland who lived in community without permanent vows.