I have been reading some books on Christian mysticism lately, and among other books, 'The Mirror of Simple Souls' is sitting on my shelf. I'm trying to figure out what I want to read next, and I was doing some research about this book, and I came across this:
Written originally in Old French at a time when Latin was the prescribed language for religious literature it explores in poetry and prose the seven stages of 'annihilation' the Soul goes through on its path to Oneness with God through Love. Enormously popular when written, it fell foul of the Church authorities, who, detecting elements of the antinomian Heresy of the Free Spirit in its vision, denounced it as 'full of errors and heresies', burnt existing copies, banned its circulation, tried and executed Porete herself. In spite of this the work was translated into several different languages around Europe, including English, albeit not with Porete's name attached. In fact it was not identified as being by Porete at all until 1946. Since then it has been seen increasingly as one of the seminal works of Medieval spiritual literature and Porete, alongside Mechthild of Magdeburg and Hadewijch, can be seen as an exemplar of the love mysticism of the Beguine movement.
