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Christian : Catholic

13th Century

Belgium
(Europe)

Hadewijch

Timeline (13th Century)

Poems by Hadewijch
Books

Hadewijch, Hadewijch poetry, Christian, Christian poetry, Catholic poetry, poetry, poetry

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Hadewijch -- often called Hadewijch of Brabant or sometimes Hadewijch of Antwerp -- lived in the 13th century in what is now Belgium. She is rightly called one of the greatest names in medieval Flemish and Dutch literature.

Little can be said for certain about the life of Hadewijch. Unlike many other women mystics of the time, no biography was written about her, so all we know is what scholars have been able to deduce from her writings themselves.

Hadewijch was probably the head of a Beguine community. The Beguines were a sect of devout women in Belgium, Holland, Germany and northern France. Beguines did not take vows, but they gathered together to live in simplicity and service. Many Beguines were mystics and poets of the highest order.

Hadewijch's poetry has a rich love mysticism. Like her contemporary, St. Francis of Assisi, Hadewijch was clearly inspired by the courtly love poetry of the Troubadours and Minnensingers. The fact that she was familiar with this courtly art form suggests that Hadewijch was probably born to a noble family.

The writings of Hadewijch were gathered and studied by the Flemish Christian mystic John Ruusbroec in the 1300s, but later fell into obscurity until rediscovered in the 1800s by scholars.

Poems by Hadewijch

	All things
	Love Has Seven Names
	Love has subjugated me:
	Love's constancy
	The madness of love
	The Queen of Sheba
	Tighten
	You who want
	How she first made me beautiful promises (from Defense of Love)
	What I sang so often of Love (from Defense of Love)
	Dew (from Love's Seven Names)
	God must give us a renewed mind (from Vale Millies)

Recommended Books

	Christian Mystics: Their Lives and Legacies throughout the Ages, by Ursula King Amazon.com
	Hadewijch: The Complete Works (Classics of Western Spirituality) , by Mother Columba Hart Amazon.com
	Meister Eckhart and the Beguine Mystics: Hadewijch of Brabant, Mechthild of Magdeburg, and Marguerite Porete, by Bernard Mcginn Amazon.com
	Sacred Voices: Essential Women's Voices Through the Ages, Edited by Mary Ford-Grabowsky Amazon.com
	The Shambhala Anthology of Women's Spiritual Poetry, Edited by Aliki Barnstone Amazon.com
	Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women, Edited by Jane Hirshfield Amazon.com

Please support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you!

Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Hadewijch

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Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

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