Porete, Marguerite (d. 1310)

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Porete, Marguerite (d. 1310)

French mystic. Name variations: Poiret or Porret, or Marguerite of Hainault. Died 1310.

A beguine, wrote the book, Mirror of Simple Souls, which espoused the doctrine of the pure love of God and was in tune with a conception of personal spirituality shared by many others; was forbidden to spread her ideas by the bishop of Cambrai, and the book was burned on the public square in Valenciennes (1306); despite his warnings, disseminated both her ideas and her book; was brought before the Inquisitor of Haute Lorraine (1308); imprisoned for 2 years, was again interrogated in Paris where articles from her book had been examined by 21 theologians of University of Paris and declared heretical; refusing to retract, was burned in the Place de Grève.

See also Women in World History.