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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Greetings everyone, I'm a newcomer to the listserv, working on a Fulbright in church history in M ünster, Germany. Am relatively new to the game, having gotten my bachelor's last year at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. My major was in International studies (focusing on European political science), but I had a minor in religion and also did considerable work in history, English and continental literature, and feminist studies, thanks to the interdisciplinary nature of my program. In the last two years of my undergraduate career, I conducted a considerable amount of research (then mostly through secondary sources) into the beguine "movement", focusing on the span between the "origins" of the beguines and the papal condemnation of them at the Council of Vienne. I worked to frame them through lenses of queer theory (in the spirit of Dinshaw's "Getting Medieval") and social movement theory, and also analyzing them in general with regard to other heretical groups (real or imaginary), such as the "free spirits", tricky work because of the caveats involved when analyzing any historical event or process through contemporary, "post-Modern" lenses. My current project thus extends my earlier research in a larger comparative view to the much-contested historical underpinnings of the beguine phenomenon, as well as other lay movements of that era. I had originally planned to examine primary texts as well as more secondary sources to postulate how this movement could be seen as "uniquely subversive" in its own time; however, extensive reading has given me pause, moving me to more deeply explore the (expansive) historiography of the movement, and how feminist and post-Modern as well as Modern analyses of the movement have contributed to the formation of deterministic and oft-misleading discourses regarding medieval mulieres sanctae and their possibly long-reaching historical origins (not to mention the long-contested etymology of their partially pejorative name), in earlier Christian as well as pre-Christian cultures. In this vein, I would appreciate any or all suggestions you might have regarding this topic. However, I also have a more specific request, and that is regarding French scholarship on beguines. Alongside English and some Latin, German is my primary research language, and thus most of my secondary sources have been from German scholars (Reichstein, Wilts, Spies, Wehrli-Johns, etc.), and I am aware of some key Dutch works. Although I have had two years of university-level French, I am still quite unfamiliar with most French beguine scholars past and present, and would be very grateful if someone could give me some tips as to some solid French-language resources. Once again, many thanks for any and all information. Best, Jenny Carlson Westfalische-Wilhelms Universität Münster Norbertstr. 21 48151 Münster Germany 0251/520-9776 ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html