The four women discussed in this book - Hadewych, Mechtild of Magdeburg, Marguerite Porete and Beatrijs of Nazareth - between them span the thirteenth century. This period, which was the time of greatest flowering of Beguine mystic literature, also saw the movement change from being hailed as the holiest way of Christian life to being condemned as heretical. Saskia Murk-Jansen describes the historical context of the Beguine movement and the changing social reality in which these women and their fellow Beguines lived.