The Ladies of Roubaud (c. 1245–1414): Vision, Faith and Identity in a Provençal Beguine Community

The 'beguine ladies' of Roubaud (c. 1245–1414) were a community of religious laywomen in Provence allied to the local Franciscans. The thesis argues that they resisted institutional Church pressure on religious women to enter cloistered convents, instead offering women inspired by the example of Francis of Assisi an open, less restrictive religious life. The thesis reconstructs their history from the saint’s Life of their foundress, Douceline of Digne (1215–1274), and from documents left by the women.