The Mirror of Simple Souls

Product Information

When Dr. Romana Guarnieri, in a letter to Osservatore Romano (16 June 1946), announced her discovery that Margaret Porette (d. 1 June 1310) was the author of The Mirror of Simple Souls, certainly a major French document of pre-Reformation spirituality, a sensation was created in the academic world. Although The Mirror is one of the few heretical documents to have survived the Middle Ages in its entirety, both its title and its authorship were among the most persistent and troublesome problems of scholarly research in the field of medieval vernacular languages. The Mirror, in its original French, survives only in the fifteenth-century manuscript which the great Condé (Louis II de Bourbon) had acquired for his palace at Chantilly. And, so far as can be known, all that remains with which to compare the readings of this manuscript text are those translations of The Mirror which, also in manuscript, are to be found in Latin, Italian, and Middle English. Porete's vision of the Soul in ecstatic union with God, moving in a state of perpetual joy and peace, is a repetition of the Catholic doctrine of the Beatific Vision, albeit experienced in this life and not in the next. Where Porete ran into trouble with some authorities was in her description of the Soul in this state being above the worldly dialectic of conventional morality and the teachings and control of the earthly church. Porete argues that the Soul in such a sublime state is above the demands of ordinary virtue, not because virtue is not needed but because in its state of union with God virtue becomes automatic. As God can do no evil and cannot sin, the exalted/Annihilated soul, in perfect union with Him, no longer is capable of evil or sin. Church authorities viewed the concept that someone was above the demands of ordinary virtue as amoral.

Après bien des retards et des atermoiements – attitude qui aura marqué toute la carrière de ce souverain pontife souffreteux -, Clément V a finalement publié les décrets du concile de Vienne contre les béguines le 21 mars 1314. Kiner’s novel is actually named after the early writings of Marguerite Porete who was a French speaking mystic. Porete’s ideas of God and divine love had her put on trial and executed in 1310. What is remarkable about Porete is that aside from being a medieval author, she showed a strong will and fortitude during her lengthy interrogation. She refused to speak or recant her ideology. Firm she was in her beliefs.Michael Frassetto, "Marguerite Porete: Mysticism, Beguines and Heretics of the Free Spirit," in idem, Heretic Lives: Medieval Heresy from Bogomil and the Cathars to Wyclif and Hus (London, Profile Books, 2007), 135–150. French journalist and novelist Aline Kiner has crafted an insightful historical novel set in 14th century Paris. It shines the spotlight on the great beguinage, an exclusive community under royal protection, where single women - widowed or unmarried, rich or poor - could live apart from men and in which they could study, work or trade in freedom. I have no joy of the one nor misease of the other, since my Beloved in this neither loseth nor winneth. All is one to me concerning him that is one; and this point maketh me one or else I should anon be twain. If my will were set on the one more than the other, whether of mercy or of righteousness, then were I ‘with’ myself, and so should I be twain. The Son of God is my mirror in this, for God the Father gave his Son our Saviour to be an ensample to us. Cependant, se dit-elle encore, il est plus facile d’équilibrer les humeurs du corps que celles de l’esprit. En hiver, un poisson ou une viande rôtie pour maintenir l’organisme chaud et sec ; en été ; de la chair bouillie, du vin dilué, des pissenlits pour le rendre frais : même les plus frustes des paysan savent cela. Mais réchauffer un cœur glacé, ou tempérer un esprit bouillant…

Romana Guarnieri, 'Il movimiento del Libero Spirito: II, Il Miroir des simples ames di Margherita Porete', Archivio italiano per la storia della pieta 4, (1965), 501–708. This was reprinted, along with an edition of the Latin text, in Paul Verdeyen, Marguerete Porete: Le Mirouer des Simples Ames, CCCM 69, (Turnhout: Brepols, 1986). On ne va pas se mentir, je suis une sacrée fainéante, et j’ai beaucoup de mal en général avec l’Histoire et ses dates et ses noms que j’ai oubliés depuis que j’ai passé le bac. A travers de nombreux détails, l’autrice partage la vie non seulement de ces béguines mais aussi de ce Paris médiéval, sous la coupe d’un roi rigide, avec les finances d’un royaume totalement appauvri. Porete had been arrested with a Beghard, Guiard de Cressonessart, who was also put on trial for heresy. Guiard declared himself to be Porete's defender. After being held in prison in Paris for a year and a half, their trial began.The Inquisitor spoke of her as a pseudo-mulier, "fake woman", and described the Mirror as 'filled with errors and heresies.' [16] A record of the trial was appended to the chronicle begun by Guillaume de Nangis. Despite the negative view taken towards Marguerite by Nangis, the chronicle reports that the crowd was moved to tears by the calmness with which she faced her death. [17] In spite of this, the work was translated into Latin, Middle English, Middle French and Italian and circulated in France, Italy, Germany, England and Bohemia, [2] albeit not with Porete's name attached. In fact Porete was not identified as the author until 1946. Since then it has been seen increasingly as one of the seminal works of Medieval spiritual literature and Porete, alongside Mechthild of Magdeburg and Hadewijch, can be seen as an exemplar of the love mysticism of the Beguine movement.

Swan, Laura, The Wisdom of the Beguines: the Forgotten Story of a Medieval Women's Movement, BlueBridge, 2014Tra un rogo dell’Inquisizione e una pubblica gogna, mentre la Storia scorre e l’ordine dei Templari viene sciolto, incontriamo Ysabel, vecchia beghina, vedova, responsabile dell’ospedale e della produzione di medicamenti a base di erbe, Agnes, che la aiuta e alterna ammirazione e invidia, e Ade, anch'essa vedova, che fa scuola alle più giovani. Le loro abitudini vengono sconvolte dall’arrivo di Maheut la rossa, una ragazzina in fuga dal marito violento, prostrata, spaventata, inseguita da un inquietante frate francescano. Marguerite refused to speak to William of Paris or any of her inquisitors during her imprisonment and trial. In 1310 a commission of twenty-one theologians investigated a series of fifteen propositions drawn from the book (only three of which are securely identifiable today), and judged them to be heretical. [15] Among those who condemned the book were the ecclesiastical textual scholar Nicholas of Lyra. [8] After her death extracts from the book were cited in the decree Ad Nostrum, issued by the Council of Vienne in 1311 to condemn the Free Spirit movement as heretical. Field, Sean L. "The Master and Marguerite: Godfrey of Fontaines' praise of The Mirror of Simple Souls," Journal of Medieval History, 35,2 (2009), 136–149.

There has been some speculation as to why Porete was considered controversial. Growing hostility to the Beguine movement among Franciscans and Dominicans, the political machinations of Philip IV of France, who was also busy suppressing the Knights Templar, and ecclesiastical fear at the spread of the anti-hierarchical Free Spirit movement have all been suggested. [ citation needed] When Dr. Romana Guarnieri, in a letter to Osservatore Romano (16 June 1946), announced her discovery that Margaret Porette (d. 1 June 1310) was the author of The Mirror of Simple Souls , certainly a major French document of pre-Reformation spirituality, a sensation was created in the academic world. Although The Mirror is one of the few heretical documents to have survived the Middle Ages in its entirety, both its title and its authorship were among the most persistent and troublesome problems of scholarly research in the field of medieval vernacular languages. The Mirror , in its original French, survives only in the fifteenth-century manuscript which the great Conde (Louis II de Bourbon) had acquired for his palace at Chantilly. And, so far as can be known, all that remains with which to compare the readings of this manuscript text are those translations of The Mirror which, also in manuscript, are to be found in Latin, Italian, and Middle English. This edition of The Mirror of Simple Souls is a translation from the French original with interpretive essays by Edmund Colledge, O.S.A., Judith Grant, and J.C. Marler, and a foreword by Kent Emery, Jr. The translators of this Modern English version rely primarily on the French, yet take other medieval translations into account. As a result, this edition offers a reading of The Mirror which solves a number of difficulties found in the French, and the introductions contributed by the translators narrate the archival history of the book, for which Margaret Porette was burned alive in Paris in 1310. The Mirror of Simple Souls (Notre Dame Texts in Medieval Culture) by Marguerite Porete – eBook DetailsSometimes, being a dangerous woman means doing what men do freely but being punished for it as a woman. In the fourteenth century, Marguerite Porete learnt this the hard way, by writing a mystical text that pushed the boundaries of the human, challenged ecclesiastical authorities, and would eventually cost her her life. By unknown French copyist – Manuscript Chantilly, Musée Condé, F XIV 26, fol. 38, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15074187 Piron, Sylvain (2017). "Marguerite in Champagne" (PDF). Journal of Medieval Religious Cultures. 47 (2): 135–156. doi: 10.5325/jmedirelicult.43.2.0135. S2CID 56011330.