Leuven, Belgium

Last weekend, I took the train (to be exact, four trains) to visit my friend Kathy who is renting a studio in Leuven, Belgium while writing her dissertation. Our first afternoon, she showed me around the town, which I found absolutely fascinating.

Belgium is divided into two parts: Flemish-speaking Flanders in the north, and French-speaking Wallonia in the South. There is also a small German-speaking community in western Wallonia. Leuven (or Louvain in French) is in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium. Because there is a bit of tension between the two linguistic regions, Kathy chooses to speak English rather than French when she's there. Listening to people speak Flemish, I was able to understand a bit thanks to the 15 hours of German I took at OU.



Leuven is home of the oldest functioning Catholic University in the world (it was founded in 1425) as well as the longest bar in Belgium where one can enjoy the many beers of the country. My favorite part, though, is the béguinage. When Kathy first took me there, I was mystified by the area and intrigued by something I'd never heard of before. A béguinage is collection of small buildings used by Béguines, or lay sisterhoods of the Roman Catholic Church, founded in the 13th century and which continued until the early 20th century in some places. These groups of religious women sought to serve God without retiring from the world. The women found themselves outnumbering the men of their day due to violence, war and the Crusades. In a time where it was difficult for women to live alone, great numbers of women had little option but to unite and collectively secure the aid of rich benefactors.

I should clarify that béguinages were not convents, nor were the residents nuns. The Beguine took no vows, could return to the world and wed if she would, and did not renounce her property. If she was without means she neither asked nor accepted alms, but supported herself by manual labor, or by teaching the children of burghers. The same aim in life, kindred pursuits, and community of worship were the ties which bound her to her companions.

Béguinages are located throughout the Low Countries: present-day Northern and North-Eastern France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Western and North-Western Germany. Traditionally, a béguinage is made up of a courtyard surrounded by small dwellings. It is usually encircled by a wall and secluded from the town proper by one or two gates. The béguinages have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Today, most of the béguinage is used for student housing, as Leuven has a significant student population. This particular Friday in August, it was nearly deserted, thus making it easier to imagine the daily life of its former residents. What an interesting time it must have been.