Like Marguerite Porete (see yesterday’s DM), Hadewijch of Brabant was a beguine, a learned woman, and wrote in the language of the people — in her case, Middle Dutch. Like Marguerite, she also remained quite unknown for centuries, and her writings have been edited, translated, and published only in the last few decades. Like Marguerite, Hadewijch suffered persecution, though the nature of it and her fate are unknown.
Unlike Marguerite, her contemporary Hadewijch did not write a theological treatise but theological poetry, as well as letters to other beguines, among whom she was — like Marguerite — a recognized authority. Exactly like Marguerite, the whole meaning and the center of her writings is Love, or rather fiery Love which burns her in ecstasy when reached, yet more often is sought by her without respite.
Stunning in Hadewijch’s inner experience, reflected in her poetry, is not just that she adopts the language of courtly and chivalric love to talk about God, but that she represents herself as a male knight endlessly pursuing Dame Love. The following stanza by Hadewijch reports on a fleeting moment of union with God, that is, Dame Love:
Love’s soft stillness is unheard of,
However loud the noise she makes,
Except by him who has experienced it,
And whom she has wholly allured to herself,
And has so stirred with her deep touch
That he feels himself wholly in Love.
When she also fills him with the wondrous taste of Love,
The great noise ceases for a time;
Alas! Soon awakens Desire, who wakes
With heavy storm the mind that has turned inward.
Marieke van Baest — who translated the above poem — says that Hadewijch’s language precludes the possibility of abstract reasoning and persuades her readers/hearers to allow love-that-is-God to come next to their skin and into their heart.
Dominican friar Edward Schillebeecks underlines not only the properly prideful femininity of Hadewijch, who impersonates the pursuing partner in the relationship, but also observes that in her verses, both partners call each other “Minne” — that is, Love. The intimacy of God and humans cannot be described more fully. And then he writes: The whole of Hadewijch’s interest is focused on the groundless abyss of both mankind and God. But what is at stake is God’s Minne within the very minne of humanity.
My own interest in medieval women mystics who talk about God as love and love as God is guided by the awareness that all is at stake at the present time. The resurgence of cruelty is blatant. Love is mistreated and vilified, or reduced to sentimentalism. But when I read and hear Francesca Albanese’s words (see the Nov. 5 DM), these strong and loving medieval women come immediately to my mind. Our world needs this kind of women, now more than ever.
Quotes from M Van Baest , Poetry of Hadewijch (Peeters, 1998), p. 7, p. 10.
Banner Image: “Fire Heart.” Image by Gloria Williams from Pixabay.
Queries for Contemplation
What does love mean in your spirituality?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Warrior for Our Time
Passion for Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister Eckhart
Meditations with Meister Eckhart: A Centering Book
Meditations with Julian of Norwich
3 thoughts on “Hadewijch and Love”
‘What does love mean in my spirituality’ is like asking me what does GOD mean in my spirituality or spiritual journey. It’s too profound or general a spiritual question about the mystery of Divine Love. But briefly, I associate Divine Love with the Divine Feminine, Compassion, Truth, Mercy, Justice, Healing, Creativity, Freedom, Beauty, Eroticism, Joy, Meaning, Transformation, Evolution, Divine Will… the Spirit/Divine Flow of LOVING DIVERSE ONENESS in the Sacred Process of the ETERNAL PRESENT MOMENT… COMPASSIONATE CHRIST~BUDDHA CONSCIOUSNESS….
Love is all there is.
The tragic fate of Marguerite Porete was shared by many mystics, especially women, whose contact with the divine threatened the self-appointed male depositories of the divine truth. Dostoevsky sums it up in the scene of the Grand Inquisitor: “Why, then, art Thou come to hinder us? [. . .] to-morrow I shall condemn Thee and burn Thee at the stake as the worst of heretics.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om6HcUUa8DI
At the “spiritual” level, Marguerite’s “soul annihilation” is a twin of Meister Eckhart’s “poverty.” Christopher Malcolm Knauf brilliantly analyzes the overlap of their respective mysticisms at https://lifeisthismoment.com/2017/02/13/meister-eckhart-marguerite-porete-and-the-soul-who-wants-nothing/
When all is said and done, “annihilation” and “poverty” leave no room for models, not even for gods. Hence Eckhart’s advice to “pray to God that we may be free of God” and Linji Yixuan’s famous advice: “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” Thank you for this inspiring DM.