Once again the opportunity to blog for
America puts me in the position of commenting on topics beyond my expertise, but I cannot let pass without mention the 700th anniversary of the death of
Marguerite Porete, the medieval Christian mystic who was condemned for heresy and burnt at the stake on June 1, 1310. (This sad anniversary was called my attention by Professor Emily Holmes of Christian Brothers University, during this week’s colloquium on Theologies of Religious Pluralism and Comparative Theology, sponsored by the American Academy of Religion with funding from the Luce Foundation. Professor Holmes noted the anniversary in the course of a presentation she gave, and this morning read to us from Marguerite Porete’s (in)famous book,
The Mirror of Simple Souls.)
Marguerite Porete’s treatise — which I have not studied* — involves a dialogue among Lady Love and and Lady Reason and other voices, and explores the advance of the soul along the path of spiritual development, beyond conventional virtues and religious practice, into a life entirely permeated by love and deep within the mystery of God. It seems, at first glance, a subtle and profound exploration of the spiritual life and the unitive path toward God. However, it was found suspect by the Bishop of Cambrai in Valenciennes, and later in Paris she was condemned by a group of theologians on the basis of theses drawn from the
Mirror and presented at her trial (where she remained silent, refusing to involve herself in the proceedings against her). Professor Holmes recommends to us that we read the record of the trial in sources available on the web, as
here.
What has caught my attention today, on the 700th anniversary of her execution, is not primarily the awful fact of the burning. We know today that such burnings are abominable now, however they may have been justified in the path. We know today, or should know, that force, psychological or physical, is not an appropriate means of response to ideas. We know that today there is no mature alternative to taking seriously the thought of others and arguing with them in a context of mutual respect, and without threats. All of this is obvious.
But what strikes me is that despite her execution, and despite the burning of
The Mirror of Simple Souls, the book nonetheless continued to circulate after her death, though without her name on it, and became an influential work in the centuries to follow, rather more often honored as a work of Christian mysticism, subject to praise rather than condemnation. It stood up well next to the works of other medieval mystics such as Mechthild of Magdeburg (c. 1207 – c. 1282/1294) and Hadewijch (13th c.) and prefigured, possibly influencing, later authors such as Meister Eckhart and St John of the Cross. When rediscovered in the 20th century as
her work, and translated and published as such, the
Mirror has been gaining increasing attention in academic and contemplative circles.
700 Years Later: Marguerite Porete, Burnt at the Stake, but Unforgotten | America Magazine
Your book is beautiful and good. You wrote about God and divine love. You never did anything wrong. 
