Title:
Alternate names/spellings: Hadewijch of Antwerp
Dates: 1230 - 1270 (Dates are approximate. )
Apart from her own writings, little is known about Hadewijch’s life. She lived around the mid-thirteenth century and her frequent references to chivalry and to courtly love suggest that the belonged to the upper class. The admittedly sparse autobiographical information within her works suggest that Hadewijch was a Beguine, and, indeed, the head of her own Beguine community.Hadewijch was accused of quietism, a charge that likely led to her expulsion from her Beguine community. Her writings are considered a prime example of love mysticism.