Women at Work: Governance and Financial Administration at the Court Beguinages of the Southern Low Countries in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

• Sarah Joan Moran ^[1]
  1. [1] Utrecht University

     Utrecht University

     Países Bajos

     
• Localización: Journal of early modern history, ISSN 1385-3783, Vol. 22, Nº 1-2, 2018, págs. 67-95
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • From the thirteenth century through the nineteenth, the Court Beguinages, large semi-monastic communities for women called Beguines, were integral to urban life in the Catholic Low Countries. In the wake of the Dutch Revolt and reestablishment of Spanish rule in the Southern provinces from the mid-1580s, the Beguinages became increasingly aligned with the ideology of female monasticism, and particularly with the tradition of Mary and Martha: the mix of contemplative prayer and humble work that had traditionally been at the heart of tertiary convents and other active female congregations. While many Beguines did indeed make their livings from manual labor, the Beguinages also offered women of ambition unparalleled opportunities to take on leadership roles of great responsibility and authority. This essay examines the labor of Beguinage administration in the early modern period and situates the careers of Beguine leaders in their social and gendered contexts.