Replacing the family? Beguinages in early modern western European cities: an analysis of the family networks of beguines living in Mechelen (1532–1591)

Abstract

In many early modern towns of the southern Low Countries, beguinages gave adult single women of all ages the possibility to lead a religious life of contemplation in a secure setting, retaining rights to their property and not having to take permanent vows. This paper re-examines the family networks of these women by means of a micro-study of the wills left by beguines who lived in the Great Beguinage of St Catherine in sixteenth-century Mechelen, a middle-sized city in the Low Countries. By doing so, this research seeks to add nuance to a historiography that has tended to consider beguinages as artificial families, presumably during a period associated with the increasing dominance of the nuclear family and the unravelling ties of extended family.

Collective Leadership Practices: Creating Responsive, Inclusive, Participatory and Representative Decision‐Making

“…History is replete with stories of leaders as great warriors leaving a legacy of violence, corruption, discrimination, human rights violations and ongoing grievances between communities (United Nations [UN], ). Forgotten are the stories of collective leadership that emerged in communities such as the Grand Béguinage at Leuven, which was designed by 13th century women living outside the protection of males without taking religious vows and that thrived until the end of the 18th century (Overlaet, ). Not surprisingly, modern leadership literature has primarily focused on what facets distinguish individual leaders from their followers in areas such as expertise, referent power, personality, and emotional intelligence (Sekhar Bhattacharyya & Jha, ).…”