Everything about B Guinage totally explained
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Béguinage is a collection of small buildings used by
Beguines, which were several lay sisterhoods of the
Roman Catholic Church, founded in the 13th century in the
Low Countries, of religious women who sought to serve God without retiring from the world.
Béguinages on the Continent
A "Begijnhof" (as the
Dutch name is) or Béguinage comprises a courtyard surrounded by small dwellings. It is often encircled by a wall and secluded from the town proper by one or two gates. Poor and elderly beguines were housed here by benefactors.
Béguinages are to be found in an area roughly corresponding with present-day Northern and North-Eastern
France,
Belgium,
the Netherlands, Western and North-Western
Germany.
The beguines were a religious women's movement. Their success, according to the Belgian historian
Henri Pirenne, was due to a surplus of women occasioned by violence, war, military and semi-military operations, which took the lives of many men. Great numbers of women had no option but to unite and collectively secure the aid of rich benefactors.
Similarly, nuns' convents in the
twelfth century enjoyed substantial initial success. Stricter rules within
Cistercian and other abbeys, however, caused many women to seek less strict surroundings. Moreover, these abbeys' initial success necessitated the refusal of a great many applications for admission. As an additional obstacle, in several cases a certain degree of prosperity was required as a condition for admission to a regular nunnery.
Town orders, such as the
Dominicans, which didn't make this requirement, were more successful for that very reason.
Famous Béguinages in Belgium
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The Flemish Béguinages are a
UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998
Other Béguinages Worldwide
Begijnhof, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Breda, Netherlands
Béguinage de Saint Vaast, Cambrai, France
Elm Hill Houses, Norwich, EnglandFurther Information
Get more info on 'B Guinage'.
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