Ambling Around Amsterdam 2018 - Second Post

Levina de Ruijter · 2 April 2025

I want to make an addendum to your blog, Rosalie, because the 'nun statue' is not a nun but a so called 'Beguine' (Dutch: Begijn). They were a member of a religious order but never took the formal vows.

The wiki says it better than I can:

The Beguines (/beɪˈɡiːnz, ˈbɛɡiːnz/) and the Beghards (/ˈbɛɡərdz, bəˈɡɑːrdz/) were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take formal religious vows. Although they promised not to marry "as long as they lived as Beguines", to quote an early Rule of Life, they were free to leave at any time. Beguines were part of a larger spiritual revival movement of the 13th century that stressed imitation of Jesus' life through voluntary poverty, care of the poor and sick, and religious devotion.

Two more quotes from the Wiki article:

The community of Begijnhof, Amsterdam, credited with having considerably influenced the development of what was the city's southern edge in the late Middle Ages, survived the Protestant Reformation staunchly Catholic. Their parish church was confiscated and given over to exiled English Puritans. The last Amsterdam Beguine died in 1971, but the Begijnhof remains one of the city's best-known landmarks.

Marcella Pattyn, the last traditional Beguine, died on 14 April 2013 in Kortrijk at the age of 92.

greatgrandma · 3 April 2025

Levina de Ruijter said:
I want to make an addendum to your blog, Rosalie, because the 'nun statue' is not a nun but a so called 'Beguine' (Dutch: Begijn). They were a member of a religious order but never took the formal vows.

The wiki says it better than I can:

The Beguines (/beɪˈɡiːnz, ˈbɛɡiːnz/) and the Beghards (/ˈbɛɡərdz, bəˈɡɑːrdz/) were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take formal religious vows. Although they promised not to marry "as long as they lived as Beguines", to quote an early Rule of Life, they were free to leave at any time. Beguines were part of a larger spiritual revival movement of the 13th century that stressed imitation of Jesus' life through voluntary poverty, care of the poor and sick, and religious devotion.

Two more quotes from the Wiki article:

The community of Begijnhof, Amsterdam, credited with having considerably influenced the development of what was the city's southern edge in the late Middle Ages, survived the Protestant Reformation staunchly Catholic. Their parish church was confiscated and given over to exiled English Puritans. The last Amsterdam Beguine died in 1971, but the Begijnhof remains one of the city's best-known landmarks.

Marcella Pattyn, the last traditional Beguine, died on 14 April 2013 in Kortrijk at the age of 92.

Thank you. Probably the guide (since he was an American) did not know that term or consider the significance of the difference.

Ambling Around Amsterdam 2018 - Second Post

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Levina de Ruijter

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