The Great Medieval Directors

Abstract

Some of the most remarkable examples of spiritual direction to survive from the high Middle Ages come from Hadewijch. Few facts are known about her life beyond the facts that she was an educated beguine who lived in the Low Countries during the thirteenth century. Contemporary sources take no notice of her, indicating her activity as spiritual director was not extraordinary or unusual. To the contrary, the historical context of Hadewijch’s own letters reveals her directees and those reading her work after her death considered a woman in such a position as unexceptional. As a spiritual director she should be considered to be representative of the many women who also practiced spiritual direction within their communities without gaining notoriety. Her spirituality, though, is anything but representative. It is in context, in expression, and in influence unique. Few authors writing in any genre have been able to communicate so creatively and convincingly their own understanding of life as Hadewijch, and modern scholarship has barely begun to do her justice. Recent attention to her has already yielded major revisions in the history of mysticism and Hadewijch’s contributions to it. When we insert the same basic facts in the history of spiritual direction, we must likewise revise the history of spiritual direction to place Hadewijch in a more prominent position.