Meister Eckhart Research Centre on the trail of the Beguines

Beguines in the Middle Ages were religious communities of women who did not form an order but determined their own rules, contributed their assets to the community, elected a magistra/mistress, traded independently, taught young women and supported the poor. One famous Beguine was Marguerite Porète, who around 1300 wrote a religious textbook, a literary bestseller, published in four languages (‘The Mirror of Simple Souls’). She was burned as a heretic in Paris in 1310. The naming of a square in the centre of Paris after Marguerite Porète on 10 June 2025 was a well-deserved public tribute to her.

Members of the Meister Eckhart Research Centre, which also deals with religious movements of the Middle Ages, spent their lecture-free period following in the footsteps of Marguerite Porète, whose writings show similarities to the positions of Meister Eckhart. In Valenciennes in northern France, professors Markus Vinzent and Dietmar Mieth gained exciting insights from the cultural director, Mr. Daniel Capelle, in the archives.