Now She Is Martha then She Is Mary”: the Influence of Beguinages on Attitudes Toward Women
(2017) , 67 pages
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- Abstract
- When 12th-century young women in Belgium decided to live together and care for themselves in communities without male intervention, they triggered a change in attitudes toward women. They led a religious life of contemplation and prayer while earning a living as labourers or teachers. Contrary to nuns, they never took formal vows nor lived cloistered. This paper follows the legacy of these “feminist” forerunners, called beguines, during the 19th century and shows the long-lasting effects they had on gender-related outcomes, in particular, gender equality, even in places where they had disappeared a long time ago. Using novel data featuring the precise location of each beguine community in Belgium combined with 19th century census data, we show that wage and literacy differentials between men and women reduced in municipalities exposed to the presence of a beguinage in the past. Using changes in the political organisation through which some villages became more attractive to beguines, we establish that the variation in gender literacy and wages is indeed related to the presence of beguinages. Our results are in line with the extensive empirical evidence documenting the persistence of gender norms and institutions.
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Frigo, A., & Roca Fernandez, E. (2017). Now She Is Martha then She Is Mary”: the Influence of Beguinages on Attitudes Toward Women (UniCredit Working Papers Series 95). https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/171849