Little is known about her outside of the records from her trial. Some believe she was a Beguine — part of a 13th century lay religious order that stressed the imitation of Jesus’ life through lives of poverty, care for the poor and sick, and religious devotion.
Her book was deemed heretical by the Inquisitor of France who ordered her to remove it from circulation. She did not obey this order, and was imprisoned in Paris for a year and a half. When she refused, at her trial, to recant her views or to take the oath the Inquisitor required, she was pronounced guilty and burned at the stake.
Despite this, The Mirror of Simple Souls survived and was translated into Latin, Italian and Middle English — though for many years she was not known to be the author.
The following poem was translated by Ellen L. Babinsky.
You Who Would Read This Book
You who would read this book,
If you indeed wish to grasp it,
Think about what you say,
For it is very difficult to comprehend;
Humility, who is keeper of the treasury of
Knowledge
And the mother of the other Virtues,
Must overtake you.
Theologians and other clerks,
You will not have the intellect for it,
No matter how brilliant your abilities,
If you do not proceed humbly.
And may Love and Faith, together
Cause you to rise above Reason,
Since they are the ladies of this house.
Humble, then, your wisdom
Which is based on Reason,
And place all your fidelity
In those things which are given
By Love, illuminated through Faith.
And thus you will understand this book
Which makes the Soul live by love.
Entry written by D.S. Martin. He is the author of six poetry collections including Angelicus (2021, Poiema/Cascade), plus three anthologies — available through Wipf & Stock. His new book The Role of the Moon, inspired by the Metaphysical Poets, is now available from Paraclete Press.
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