Introduction:
There are many hundreds of exciting stories about women that took place in the Medieval Era – roughly the thousand or so years from 500 AD to 1500 AD. People who lived in Medieval times led very full and productive lives. Advances in all areas of culture were taking place. On this blog that is dedicated to the stories of women in history, we have touched on only a few of the many women who made great contributions to society.
So far, we have looked at the stories of women from the earliest Middle Ages such as Genovefa, Brigid of Ireland and Radegund[1] (5th and 6th centuries). Then we moved on to the 7th and 8th centuries with stories of abbesses and queens such as Gertrude, Frideswide, and Lioba. We continued with the stories of 9th and 10thcentury women such as Dhuoda (writer and Theologian), and Irene, Euphrosyne, and Theodora who were Byzantine empresses. Then we presented the story of the amazingly gifted Hrotsvitha, a poet and a playwright whose works are still influential today. We then moved into the 11th and 12th centuries with the stories of strong, passionate, and gifted women like Anna Komnene and empresses, queens and princesses including Empress Adelheid, Queen Margaret of Scotland and Queen Eleanor of England and Duchess of Aquitaine.
In the 12th and 13th centuries many women sought to grow in their faith by joining a convent or some other type of spiritual community. Before we continue with our stories of God’s female servants in the Medieval Era, let’s look at the background of religious activity in the High Middle Ages.
Christian Women of the High Middle Ages – Part 1
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (I Peter 4:8-11)
This past year we have looked at some amazing lives of the Christian women who lived during the Middle Ages. These women all sought to grow closer to God and to follow in the footsteps of the Savior by serving the poor. There were a number of ways they accomplished their goals of piety and charity.
Some women, such as Mary of Oignies and Hadewijch joined a religious community called the Beguines. The Beguines did not take vows but made their own rules that they felt would enable them to serve in their communities. They were also encouraged to read and study. They were expected to support themselves. Some came with rich inheritances that they shared with everyone. Others learned trades, especially in the cloth industry.
The independent lifestyle of the Beguines helped them to work with the poor and marginalized without having to be under the control of local bishops or noblemen. They did not want the restrictions of the nuns who were often not allowed to leave the cloisters. The Beguines wanted the freedom to choose to work among the poor in their own way. We will share the stories of some Beguines in the coming weeks.
Other women became “anchoresses”. An anchoress took vows. These women lived alone, usually in a cell attached to a church. They often had windows in their small room to use for light and business. One window faced the altar. Elizabeth of Spalbeek was an anchoress.
Many women, like Clare of Assisi (founder of the Poor Clares), wanted to attach themselves to a religious order that they admired. Clare joined the 3rd Order of the Franciscans. These “tertiaries” were not quite nuns, not quite lay people. They took vows of poverty. They had a little more independence than the nuns. They loved Christ enough to devote their whole lives to Him. They showed their love through acts of mercy. Their independence allowed them to travel while they ministered.
Other women sought the safety and protection of a cloister to serve Christ. The monastic movement had begun centuries earlier. It went through many changes. In the Middle Ages many monasteries followed the order of St. Benedict. They took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The nuns who lived in the monasteries sought to live a Gospel life. There was a loose style of democracy. The nuns often voted for their own abbess. Usually the cloister was under the authority of a priest or bishop.
Women sought a life of service in the church for various reasons. Some were widowed. Some had not found a marriage partner. Due to wars, crusades, or explorations to the New World there was a shortage of men. Devout women then turned to a life of service to the poor.
Some women were orphaned. Many just wanted to follow in Christ’s footsteps as their calling. Some joined a convent because they could get an education there. In the monastery/cloister women had access to the Scriptures and many other books. Art, drama, and music flourished in the cloisters.
‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit and they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:17,18)
During the High Middle Ages, mysticism was very popular and widespread. You may be unfamiliar with mysticism so here is some background information.
1. Though Medieval mystics were very different from twenty-first century Christians, we share the same goals – deeper spiritual life, closeness to God, and joyful service.
2. Many religious men and women during the Middle Ages claimed to have supernatural dreams as part of their religious experience. There are differing opinions about the validity of supernatural dreams and visions. No matter what our view might be, it was part of Medieval Christianity and we should at least try to understand it.
3. We must not overlook the charitable works and piety of these devout women.
The subject of dreams, visions, and other ecstatic experiences has been troublesome to me as I suppose it is for many other Christians. Before we begin to look at the stories of Medieval women saints like Hildegard, Catherine, and Birgitta and many other godly women who served Christ in amazing ways we should try to understand them. Many of these women left their marks on church history. They deserve to have their stories told in spite of what may be considered their controversial experiences by people unfamiliar with them.
In spite of the debatable experiences for women who were mystics, I hope that we can lay aside some of our squeamishness and learn something from their lives of service to Christ. These religious women truly loved the Lord and helped countless sick and poor people. I believe that I will get a chance to share stories with them in Heaven!
So, let’s deal with the subject of dreams and visions. They are real experiences. What do we make of them? Where do they come from? Are there still supernatural dreams and visions today?
Dreams, visions, and ecstatic experiences come from three places: God, our own imaginations, or the devil. Let’s see if there is Biblical support for God given dreams.
In the Bible we see the stories of many people who had dreams or visions. God gave these experiences to people to teach them something, save them from harm, or to provide a prophecy for them to give to His people. Some examples are:
a. Jacob’s Ladder – This dream was very important because God was confirming His promise of the land that He would give to Abraham and his descendants. (Genesis 28:10-22)
b. Joseph’s Interpretation of Pharaoh’s Dream – God gave Pharaoh this dream (Genesis 41:28) so that preparations could be made to save lives. Because he interpreted the dream, Joseph became the number two man in Egypt.
c. Many prophets such as Daniel had dreams. Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream made him the number two man in Babylon, an experience similar to Joseph’s.
d. Angels appeared to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph (3 times), the women at the tomb, and Philip in the New Testament.
e. Peter had a dream while at Cornelius’ house. He was shown in no uncertain terms that the Gentiles were to be included in the family of God.
f. Christ appeared to Saul on his way to Damascus. An angel appeared to Paul while he was in prison. Another vision appeared to Paul one night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called him to preach the gospel to them. (Acts 16:9, 10)
g. Stephen was arrested by the Jewish leaders for teaching about the Way. They did not like what they heard and condemned him to death by stoning. As he was nearing death, God gave Stephen a vision of the “Son of Man” at the right hand of God in heaven. (Acts 7:56).
h. John had a vision while on the island of Patmos. While imprisoned there he wrote the visions that he received from Jesus concerning the things “which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John” (Revelation 1:1, 9, 10).
The general principles that we can discern about dreams from God in the Scriptures are:
1. God gave these dreams and visions at important times.
2. God also gave the interpretation of the dreams.
3. The dreams often confirmed promises that God had made.
4. The dreams were often sent to protect His children.
5. The dreams were sent to give instructions. The dreams center on God, Christ or important acts of God. Dreams such as John’s were prophetic.
The dreams in the Bible were supernatural experiences given by God. We take them by faith and learn from them.
The question now is: Did supernatural dreams cease with the end of the Apostolic Age? Does God still speak to people through dreams and visions?
As mentioned above, there are three sources of dreams or visions: God, our imaginations, or Satan. We agree that the dreams in the Bible were given by God. What about today? Does God still give dreams and visions today?
Many Christians believe that the supernatural experiences, such as healing, tongues, and prophecy ceased at the end of the Apostolic Age. Visions and ecstatic experiences would all fit in this category. So, it will not come as a surprise that many would say that the visions experienced by Hildegard, Catherine, and Birgitta were either from themselves or from the devil.
In order to understand how we might imagine visions, we can turn to many good books on dreams. For our purposes in this writing, let us just say that some dreams are the result of what we have been thinking about or experiencing. In the context of mysticism, we could say that the saints were meditating on Scripture or Bible stories or other spiritual topics so much that they dreamed about them when they slept. Those who say that God no longer gives supernatural dreams would be comfortable with the explanation that dreams come from our own imaginations. This would be a purely natural explanation.
On the other hand, when it comes to visions, many believe that any supernatural vision comes from Satan. As a child I was told a popular story about Martin Luther. (I don’t know if it was true or not, but it illustrates the point.) Apparently, Luther had a vision of Christ and was reported as saying, “Get thee behind me Satan!” In other words, the Reformers believed that the visions that many women thought they were receiving from Jesus or Mary were actually from Satan. They did not believe that God spoke to people in this way. They believed that we must turn to the Scriptures alone for knowledge of God.
So, we are back to the question – what are we to think of the visions and dreams experienced by the women mystics during the Middle Ages?
Before we make a judgment, here are some things to consider:
1. Not everyone during the Middle Ages had a Bible to read. For many centuries the Scriptures were inaccessible to most people.
2. During the Middle Ages piety was seen more as something you do, not just what you believe. Emphasis was placed on good works as proof of your faith (James 2:24-26).
3. Women during the Middle Ages were not allowed to attend seminary or to become teachers of the Scriptures. It was thought that women were too stupid or sinful to understand the Bible. Many women sought spiritual experiences as a fulfillment of their desire to grow closer to God. The church tolerated mysticism during the Medieval Age.
4. During the Middle Ages dreams and visions were more a part of the everyday practice of religion than today.
5. In fact, there were women such as Hildegard of Bingen who lived such a pious life, full of wisdom and good works, that when they had a dream or vision it was given credibility by the people. Even the Pope honored and respected Hildegard.
6. No matter how strange it may seem to twentieth century western materialistic Christians, do the dreams fit the principles stated above? Do they confirm the Word of God? Do they result in godly characteristics or actions?
Even during the Middle Ages people had differing opinions about dreams and visions. Contemporary attitudes toward Margery Kempe (1373-1438) are a good example. Margery had many followers who believed every word she said. There were also skeptics who felt that she was just a fake. Some went so far as to say that she had a demon. We see that there has always been a question about dreams and people were trying to discern the legitimate ones from the false ones.
If God gives dreams and visions at various times in history, then we would expect to see Him doing that today. In fact, I believe that we do see this.
In his book, “Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World?”, Tom Doyle recounts the 
testimonies of Muslims who were introduced to the Christian faith through a vision or dream about Jesus which he calls “visitations”.[2] I have no doubt that these experiences are real since the Muslim converts risk their lives by converting to Christianity. No one would act on a dream to that extent unless it was real.
Rev. Doyle gives us some guidelines on how to recognize legitimate dreams/visitations from Jesus that I believe can help us as we consider the dreams of the Medieval Mystics.
1. Is there anything in the dream that goes against Scripture? Is a true picture of Jesus given in the dream? If not, then the dream is false. We must be careful because Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:14).
2. Is the person consistent about the specifics of the dream even for a long time afterward? Naturally occurring dreams are easily forgotten; details from supernatural dreams stay with a person.
3. Is there a purpose to this dream or is it just a stand-alone event? Does the dream move the person to seek to know more about God?
4. Does this dream draw the person closer to God? In the case of the Muslims, the dreams result in real repentance and committing their lives to Christ. For the Medieval Mystic, does the dream result in more piety or fruit in her life?
5. For the Muslims, the dream brings definition to their lives. It is part of them and cannot be shaken off. It becomes a part of their testimony. The same could be said for the mystic in the Middle Ages – the dream becomes part of her testimony of God’s greatness and glory!
In the coming weeks we will have the opportunity to look at the dreams and visions of the women Christian mystics of the Middle Ages. Let us keep open minds and consider the times in which they lived. Are their dreams consistent with the principles that we drew from the Scriptures? As we look at these women’s lives, let us not just write them off as frauds or fools. Let us see what we can learn from them.
[1] Radegund’s influence was felt for centuries. This amazing queen was an inspiration for Eleanor of Aquitaine.
[2] Tom Doyle. Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World? (Thomas Nelson Publisher, 2012)
2 Responses
Thank you for your input.