BEGUINES, bri-gene, BEGUI'N2E, or BE GUT'T.. (ME. begyne, bygyn, 11F. beguine, :Med. Lat. beguina, beghina, from Lambert le Begue). The name of the earliest of all non-monastic societies of women united for pious purposes, dating from the Twelfth Century, and in all probability founded by Lambert le Begue (died 1187), i.e. the stammerer, a priest of Liege, Belgium. The popular tradition of Brabant since the Seventeenth Century, that a Saint Begga, daughter of Pepin, and sister of Saint Ger trude, founded in 696 the first sisterhood of Beguines at Namur, has no historical basis. An account of their establishment at Vilvorde, near Brussels, is also demonstrably unauthentic. The Beguines were not restricted by vows, nor did they follow the rules of any order, but were united under a s-upc"Tieure for the exercise of piety and benevolence, and lived generally in sepa rate small cottages, which, collectively, formed the beginagium. or 'vineyard.' as it was Scripturally termed. Their establishments were often en riched by liberal donations. A church, a hospi tal, and a house of reception or common enter tainment generally belonged to every community of Beguines. The sisters were distinguished from the rest of the laity only by their diligence and devotedness, piety, modesty, and zeal for the purity of youthful education. Societies of Beguines flourished greatly during the Twelfth and Thirteenth centuries, when they spread them selves over France and Germany. Among the most important were those in llambnrg, Litbeek, fiat isbon. Magdeburg, Leipzig, Goslar, Roehlitz, and Gdrlitz. As the pietists of the Ages. the Beguines were often subjected to persecutions by the mendicant orders of friars: but, on ac count of their practical usefulness, were shel tered by the Pope and Councils, as well as by seeular authorities. In the Thirteenth and Fourteenth centuries, the Beguines became united with the persecuted spiritualists among the Franciscans, and with the sect of the 'brethren and sisters of the free spirit.' Hence arose certain heresies, which, of course, occa sioned interference on the part of the Inquisi tion; and on account of certain immoralities, a synod held at Fritzlar required that all candi dates must be forty years old before they could enter a society of Beguines. These sisterhoods maintained their position in Germany and the Netherlands longer than in other countries. in Holland, they existed at the close of the Eigh teenth Century, and in the present day we find here and there so-called Beguinen-hituser; two still exist at Amsterdam and Breda, in Germany; but they are now nothing more than almshouses for poor spinsters. In Belgium, at Ghent, there
are two extensive Beguinages, Le Grand Be guinage de Saint Elizabeth and Le Petit Begyn hovel]: ; the former dates from 1234 and was transferred from near the Porte de Bruges to its present site in the northeast of the town in 1874. It contains about 600 sisters, besides 200 locataires, or occasional inmates. Their houses form a kind of distinct little town, which, though environed by a wall and a moat, is open to the visits of strangers. Le Petit Beguinage, in a different suburb, contains about 400 mem bers and is also inclosed and has many separate houses. It is conducted similarly. Lace-making is one of the industries carried on. There are within the inclosure eighteen convents in which the younger sisters live; the older ones live in little houses containing two or four occupants. Living here a life of retirement and piety, the Beguines in their simple dark dresses go out as nurses to the hospital, and perform other acts of kindness among the poor. As above stated, they are under no monastic vow, but, having at tached themselves to the sisterhood, it is their boast that none is known to have quitted it. Each one pays an entrance fee and yearly board. There are houses of Beguines also at Antwerp and Mechlin, and in 1854 one was established in France, at Castelnaudary, in the Department of Aude. Consult Baedeker, Belgium and Holland, under "Ghent" (Leipzig. 1897).
Similar societies of laymen appeared in Ger many. the Netherlands, and the south of France in the beginning of the Thirteenth Century, and were known in Germany as Beghards (Ger. begebren, to seek with importunity), in France as Beguines, and in Italy as b-izachi and bocasoti; but they never obtained the reputation enjoyed the Beg,uine sisterhood. Toward the end of the Thirteenth Century they were eommonly stigma tized as bons garcons, Boni pueri, 'ministers' men.' 'bedesmen.' Tietists."vagabonds'—eoutemptuous titles, which expressed the low estimation in which they were held. On account of heretics of all sorts retreating into these half-spiritual com munities, they were subjected to severe persecu tions after 1367, and were gradually dispersed, or joined the orders of Dominicans and Fran ciscans. In the Netherlands, where they had preserved a better character than elsewhere, they maintained their ground longer, and were pro tected by Pope Innocent IV. (1245), in Brus sels by Cardinal Hugo (1254), and in Liege by Pope Urban IV. (1261) : but their communities disappeared in the Fourteenth Century. Con Lalt: Dc Beghardis et Begainabus (Leipzig, 1700), and E. Hallmann, Ocsehichte des Ursprungs der belgischen Deghincn (1843).