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Flemish Béguinages Needy Created by a Well-Meaning Patron,“ Is Also Fre- Quently Seen As a Precursor of the Workers’ Quarters of the 19Th Century

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Flemish Béguinages Needy Created by a Well-Meaning Patron,“ Is Also Fre- Quently Seen As a Precursor of the Workers’ Quarters of the 19Th Century tre, and 52 houses providing 106 residential units destined for craftsmen, journeymen, the poor, etc, all WORLD HERITAGE LIST segregated in this way from the city centre. The foun- dation, sometimes interpreted as a “ghetto for the Flemish Béguinages needy created by a well-meaning patron,“ is also fre- quently seen as a precursor of the workers’ quarters of the 19th century. No 855 Removed from the increasingly commercialized and humdrum historic centres, the béguinages preserved a respect for habitat as an essential function and have thus retained, apart from certain generally superficial modifications, the characteristic organization and simple functional architecture that gives them their particular atmosphere of a utopian setting in which a sense of community and respect for individuality are Identification finely balanced. Nomination The Flemish Béguinages Such qualities have not gone unnoticed in recent his- tory, at crucial periods in the development of archi- Location Flanders Region tecture and urban planning. In the face of burgeoning Provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, international modernism, the rediscovery of tradi- Eastern Flanders, Western tional architecture at the beginning of the 20th century Flanders, and Flemish Brabant offered an alternative, encouraging the creative inter- pretation that was to lead to a new style of architec- ture rooted in local traditions, which would be mani- State Party Belgium fested in the regionalism of the period between the two World Wars. The very organization of the Date 16 June 1997 béguinages, with all the many variations on the court- yard and city types, and all the permutations thereof, as well as their inventive approach to incorporating green spaces, gardens, and "natural" plantations, was seen as the time as a model and an inspiration for the Justification by State Party garden-cities to come, particularly in the 1920s and Béguinages: Urban development and architectural 1930s. and cultural aspects During the invasive "Golden 1960s" the utopia of the The establishment of Béguinages (Beguine convents) béguinages once again provided a frame of reference in Flemish cities and the spatial organization they and matter for reflection, not only in terms of urban reflect are related to medieval concepts of urban de- renewal, but also for the creation of the new town, velopment which were widespread internationally. organic, varied, and pedestrianized, that was to be- The "city" type adopts either the "chessboard" layout come Louvain-la-Neuve, designed as a home for a specific to new towns or a more organic development, newly created university population as well as for depending on the possibilities offered by local topog- ordinary citizens. It is interesting to note that Profes- raphy. The "courtyard" type has more in common with sor Raymond Lemaire was simultaneously in charge the rural world, offering a simple meadow or square of both the restoration of the Grand Béguinage of in the centre of the village, around which stand pub- Leuven and the Louvain-la-Neuve project. lic, religious, civic, and private buildings. In both The conservation and restoration work carried out in types enclosing walls, possibly even a moat, and gates the béguinages ever since the ground-breaking initia- stress the desire to set such small towns-within-a- tive at Leuven in 1963-64 follow in the direct line of town apart and to erect a boundary between two dif- doctrine and practice in the field and offer different ferent worlds. methods of approach and management which have The religious, socio-economic, and cultural functions implications at both regional and international level. of the béguinages and the development of these func- Criteria ii and iv tions is reflected in both the general and the specific Béguinages: Centres of spirituality, solidarity, femi- layout of the buildings, and their architectural form ninity, and modernity takes its inspiration from the traditional architecture of the region, using its materials, proportions, and In the evolution of our society, the Béguinages illus- forms as appropriate. trate the presence, from as early as the Middle Ages, of generations of "religious women" (mulieres re- Their conception as an enclosed social unit, providing ligiosæ), either unmarried or widowed, seeking to for both the spiritual and the material needs of a spe- lead a personal life of far greater independence than cific community, has led to comparisons with the that permitted to women who were often married Augsburg Fuggerei, built in 1516-25 by Jakob Fug- against their will, within a community which imposed ger, the famous banker of the reign of Charles V in certain rules but showed greater respect for the indi- the Jakobervorstadt section of the medieval German viduality of its members. Such communities existed city. The ensemble is surrounded by a wall with three alongside but separate from the traditional religious gates and adopts a standard geometric city plan, in- orders with their vows of perpetual enclosure and cluding church, infirmary, school, administrative cen- 5 poverty. The status of Beguines gave these much re- spected women a cultural and social role to play History and Description within their community, combining self-government with a form of democracy: the Beguines elected their History superior, the Grande Dame, who was supported by a council which managed the general affairs of the The spontaneous emergence of the Beguine movement community, which consisted of the superiors of the around 1200 reflects the current of religious renewal convent and the infirmary, each of whom managed her which swept western Europe at the beginning of the own organization and economy. Omnipresent is the 13th century and in which women played an impor- desire to harmonize daily life, a sometimes extreme tant role. In addition to the many women who entered spirituality, and a solidarity that extended beyond the religious life by way of the convents, others de- their own "city of peace" into "good works" and "good veloped an original "semi-religious" way of life in citizenship" in that period of the history of the city, of which they could dedicate themselves to God without which their own community was, after all, an integral withdrawing entirely from the world. part. That ambivalence has never ceased to intrigue Among these mulieres religiosæ, neither nuns nor lay commentators, feminists, and specialists such as simple laity, of Northern Europe, the Beguines began Julia Kristeva, who have all sought to understand, to lead an individual or community life devoted to identify, and relate their attitude and "desire for hap- prayer, caring for the sick, and manual labour. Estab- piness" with the very essence of femininity. lished for the most part in urban communities, they On a religious level, the Beguine movement shows a occupied houses near the hospitals and leper hospi- certain evolution away from the mystical tendencies tals. Unmarried or widowed, they took no vows and of the Middle Ages towards a spiritual life which, were free to come and go in society and to withdraw although remaining individual, was more organized from the community at will. (communal religious services at set times, regula- Although they enjoyed the protection of prelates such tions) and controlled by the Church after the Counter- as Bishop Jacques of Vitry, and despite their close Reformation. The béguinages themselves, in their links to their confessors or spiritual directors (Cister- 17th-18th century forms, can be seen to become in- cians, Franciscans, and Dominicans), they were never creasingly bourgeois. The regrouping that followed recognized as a conventual order or as a regular con- the French Revolution and the new impetus derived gregation. Their precise canonical status remained a from the Catholic Revival of the latter half of the 19th matter of some debate throughout the 13th century. century added a certain amalgam of popular piety and bigotry where, occasionally, both Beguines and bigots In such a climate of suspicion, from 1230 onwards the were involved and which was peculiar to the period. Beguines began setting up their own institutions. The religious and secular authorities of the Flemish region Although the Beguines themselves produced little art, favoured the establishment of enclosed béguinages, apart from some poetry showing a sometimes naïve inside or outside cities, which were placed under mysticism and certain typical artefacts (gesloten surveillance. Each béguinage adopted its own rules in hofjes), small enclosed reliquary cases containing the matter of prayer, behaviour, work, housing, man- effigies of saints, objects of devotion, flowers ,and agement of the infirmary, or the Table of the Holy embroideries, touching in their spontaneity and inno- Spirit (the Table of the Poor). cent taste, they nonetheless stimulated the artistic output of their time as well informed commissioners The béguinage was supervised by a Beguine, com- of works of art and remarkable organs destined for monly known as the Grande Dame, who was elected their churches. Their choices in that respect reflect a for a limited term and was in many béguinages as- level of culture open to the movements and events of sisted by a council. Whilst the life of the béguinages their times. was characterized by simplicity and humility, it by no means ruled out personal possessions: wealthier Be- The movement today is all but extinct, but most of the guines built or rented their own houses, others lived béguinages continue to be sought after as havens of in community houses, and the poorest lived in the peace and settings appropriate to a lifestyle that is a infirmary. In all cases, each had to provide for her blend of community and private. The Béguinage of own keep, and many worked in the textile industry. Brugge is the only community to have retained its After a time, most of the béguinages were elevated to religious vocation, having been run since 1927 by parish status and were assigned their own priest.
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