Marguerite Porete (unknown-1310) was a French mystic and writer who was burned at the stake after publishing, "The Mirror of Simple Souls."
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know -- but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Pioneers, Dreamers, Villainesses, STEMinists, Warriors & Social Justice Warriors, and many more. Encyclopedia Womannica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Encyclopedia Womannica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Cinthia Pimentel, and Grace Lynch. Special thanks to Shira Atkins and Edie Allard. Theme music by Andi Kristins.
Help us learn more about our audience by taking this survey.
Follow Wonder Media Network:
Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
In case you’re just tuning in, here’s the deal! Every weekday, we’re telling the stories of women from throughout history and around the world who you may not know about, but definitely should. Each month is themed and this month is all about Witches & Saints.
Throughout history, women have been celebrated and condemned for wielding spiritual power. This month, we're highlighting women who made incredible contributions to and through religions, as well as those who were charged and punished for alleged heresies or supernatural abilities.
Our woman of the day was a French mystic whose theological writings were seen as so dangerous to the church that she was burned at the stake. Meet Marguerite de Porete.
Marguerite was born at the tail end of the 13th century in Le Hainault, France. Little is known about her early life, but historians believe that she was a Beguine.
The Beguines were a women-only faith driven community dedicated to charity and the study of languages. They differed from nuns in that the Beguines didn’t take vows and worked in the local languages in Germany, France, and Holland, instead of sticking to Latin, the language of the Church.
The Beguine movement was initially started by upper class women and eventually spread to those with less money. The communities often supported themselves by selling lace, cloth, or serving as nurses. They typically agreed to remain chaste while living in the Beguine community but were allowed to leave and marry at any time. Some Beguine communities still exist today.
The fact that the Beguines existed outside of the typical church hierarchy made them targets for the authorities. Marguerite was likely an especially appealing target. In her writings, she suggested there was no need for mass or prayers or the like.
Around 1290, Marguerite published “The Mirror of Simple Souls.” In it, she said that when a person is in a state of contemplating love of God, there is a direct connection with the divine. She scoffed at other theologians who favored strict reason over love. She said that someone who has achieved a relationship of love with God has surpassed the regular church and ascended to a higher Church of the spirit.
In other words, she wrote that every human can have a personal relationship with God, and that people don’t need spiritual intermediaries like Priests or Bishops in order to achieve spiritual communion with the divine.
As you might imagine, the hierarchical church establishment wasn’t into it. In 1300, the bishop of Cambrai condemned “The Mirror of Simple Souls,” ordered the book be burned, and dragged Marguerite before the Inquisition.
Marguerite refused to answer the inquisitors questions. She also refused to say the church establishment should be the guide to spiritual growth. The theologians questioning her thought her beliefs were akin to a kind of heresy suggesting that humans can attain spiritual perfection in this life and can then feel free to commit any sin without consequence.
Marguerite was excommunicated from the Church and was burned at the stake in 1310.
After her death Marguerite’s book, “The Mirror of Simple Souls” was recirculated as an anonymous work. Interestingly, it was no longer seen as dangerous or outside the establishment once it no longer bore her name. This suggests that Marguerite’s identity, the time of publication, and perhaps her gender, roused more negative attention than the work itself.
As always we're taking a break for the weekend, but we'll be back on Monday with the story of another amazing woman from history.
Special thank to my favorite sister and co-creator, Liz Kaplan.
Talk to you on Monday!