Hadewijch, sometimes referred to as Hadewych or Hadewig (of Brabant or of Antwerp) was a 13th-century poet and mystic, probably living in the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...

. Most of her extant writings are in a

Brabantian Brabantian or Brabantish, also Brabantic or Brabantine ( nl, Brabants, Standard Dutch pronunciation: , ), is a dialect group of the Dutch language. It is named after the historical Duchy of Brabant, which corresponded mainly to the Dutch provi ...

form of

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarch ...

. Her writings include visions, prose letters and poetry. Hadewijch was one of the most important direct influences on

John of Ruysbroeck John van Ruysbroeck, original Flemish name Jan van Ruusbroec () (1293 or 1294 – 2 December 1381) was an Augustinian canon and one of the most important of the Flemish mystics. Some of his main literary works include ''The Kingdom of the Divi ...

Life

No details of her life are known outside the sparse indications in her own writings. Her ''Letters'' suggest that she functioned as the head of a

beguine The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take forma ...

house, but that she had experienced opposition that drove her to a wandering life. This evidence, as well as her lack of reference to life in a convent, makes the nineteenth-century theory that she was a nun problematic, and it has been abandoned by modern scholars. She must have come from a wealthy family: her writing demonstrates an expansive knowledge of the literature and theological treatises of several languages, including

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, as well as French courtly poetry, in a period when studying was a luxury only exceptionally granted to women.

Works

Most of Hadewijch's extant writings, none of which survived the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

as an

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...

, are in a

form of

. Five groups of texts survive: her writings include poetry, descriptions of her

vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...

s, and prose letters. There are two groups of poetry: ''Poems in Stanzas'' (''Strophische Gedichten'') and ''Poems in Couplets'' (''Mengeldichten''). Finally there is the "Lijst der volmaakten" ("list of the perfect ones").

''Poems in Stanzas'' (''Strophische Gedichten'')

Her forty-five ''Poems in Stanzas'' (''Strophische Gedichten'', also ''Liederen'', "Songs") are lyric poems following the forms and conventions used by the

trouvère ''Trouvère'' (, ), sometimes spelled ''trouveur'' (, ), is the Northern French (''langue d'oïl'') form of the ''langue d'oc'' (Occitan) word ''trobador'', the precursor of the modern French word ''troubadour''. ''Trouvère'' refers to poet- ...

s and

minnesinger (; "love song") was a tradition of lyric- and song-writing in Germany and Austria that flourished in the Middle High German period. This period of medieval German literature began in the 12th century and continued into the 14th. People who wr ...

s of her time, but in Dutch, and with the theme of worldly courtship replaced by sublimated love to God. Many of them are

contrafacta In vocal music, contrafactum (or contrafact, pl. contrafacta) is "the substitution of one text for another without substantial change to the music". The earliest known examples of this procedure (sometimes referred to as ''adaptation''), date back ...

of Latin and vernacular songs and hymns, leading to a Dutch edition renaming them "Liederen" ("Songs") and including audio recordings of performances.

''Poems in Couplets'' (''Mengeldichten'' or ''Berijmde brieven'')

The sixteen ''Poems in Couplets'' (''Mengeldichten'', also ''Berijmde brieven'', "letters on rhyme") are simpler didactical poems in letter format, composed in rhyming couplets, on

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

topics; not all of them are considered authentic.

''Visions''

Hadewijch's ''Book of Visions'' (''Visioenenboek''), the earliest

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

collection of such revelations, appears to have been composed in the 1240s. It prominently features dialogue between Hadewijch and

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

in visionary speech, an early example of this mode of vernacular religious instruction.

''Letters''

Thirty prose letters also survive: here Hadewijch explains her views, and they give some context to her life.

''List''

The ''Lijst der volmaakten'' ("list of the perfect ones"), is joined to the ''Visions'' in some manuscripts, and to the ''Poems in Stanzas'' in a more recent one. It lists several saints, like

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...

, but some entries are more remarkable, like a

who had been condemned to death by the

inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

Influence

Hadewijch's writings influenced

Jan van Ruusbroec John van Ruysbroeck, original Flemish name Jan van Ruusbroec () (1293 or 1294 – 2 December 1381) was an Augustinian canon and one of the most important of the Flemish mystics. Some of his main literary works include ''The Kingdom of the Divi ...

both as a theologian and a mystic.

Veneration

In 2022, Hadewijch was officially added to the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day on 22 April.

Notes

References

Sources

Editions, translations, and recordings

* * *

Studies

* Swan, Laura. ''The Wisdom of the Beguines: the Forgotten Story of a Medieval Women's Movement'' (BlueBridge, 2014). * * * * * *

External links

* *
Hadewijch in the Columbia EncyclopediaHadewijch at DBNL (digitale bibliotheek voor Nederlandse letteren)
Introductions (most of them in Dutch) and various editions of Hadewijch's writings in Middle Dutch

*Nicolette, Carlos Eduardo
"Hadewijch de Amberes: a mística medieval e suas visões sobre o divino"
in ''Revista Mais Que Amélias'', 2017 (with English abstract) {{Authority control Flemish Christian mystics Dutch-language poets Middle Dutch writers 13th-century women writers Beguine movement Medieval women poets People from the Duchy of Brabant Anglican saints