Marguerite Porete

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Marguerite Porete (d. 1310) was a French mystic and the author of The Mirror of Simple Souls, also known as The Mirror of Simple Annihilated Souls. She was burnt at the stake for heresy in 1310, after refusing to remove her book from circulation.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Porete's life is recorded only in accounts of her trial for heresy, at which she was condemned to be burnt at the stake. Her biography is probably biased and certainly incomplete. She is associated with the Beguine movement, and was therefore able to travel fairly freely. Some also associated her with the Free Spirit movement, a group which was considered heretical because of their antinomian views. The connection between Porete and the Free Spirits is somewhat tenuous, though, as further scholarship has determined that they were less closely related than Church authorities believed.[1]

Unlike other religious figures such as Joan of Arc and Meister Eckhart, who were condemned and later rehabilitated by the Roman Catholic Church, it is unlikely that Porete will be so favored. This is partly due to her relative obscurity. Until 1946, it was not even known that she was the writer of the Mirror, which had been published anonymously since her death.

[edit] The Mirror of Simple Souls

The title of Porete's book refers to the simple soul which is united with God and has no will other than His. The book was originally written in Old French, but was translated into Latin and other languages and circulated widely. Some of the language, as well as the format of a dialogue between characters such as Love, Virtue and the Soul, reflects a familiarity with the style of courtly love which was popular at the time, and attests to Porete's high level of education and sophistication.

Although much of her book resembles a rational, scholarly argument between several parties, Marguerite ultimately says that the soul must give up even reason. The "annihilated soul" is the one that has given up everything but God.

[edit] Trial

Porete's trial was unusual: there were numerous mystics during the Middle Ages period who all (by definition) claimed direct mystical contact with God, bypassing the clergy; and yet most — such as Hildegard of Bingen, Catherine of Siena, Brigitta Birgirsdottir, etc — were not viewed as suspect.

Medieval manuals on "discretio spirituum" — the clerical judgement of mystical visions — called for the clergy to serve in an advisory role but nevertheless cautioned them about their own ultimate inability to make a definitive judgement on such matters (see late-medieval manuals such as Gerson's "De probatione spirituum" and "De distinctione verarum visionum a falsis"). Such manuals tell the clergy to provide learned guidance, not ultimate judgement, warning them that they might make a mistake and end up opposing the Divine will.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Ellen Babinsky, Introduction in Porete, The Mirror of Simple Souls, p. 13

[edit] References

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