BEGHARDS and BEGUINES. The nature and history of the Beghards is one of the obscurest problems in mediaeval times, and nothing very certain has been ascertained. During the Middle Ages there were formed, alongside of the regular orders, companies of men and women who devoted themselves to a religious life, but did not bind themselves by strict vows. The design was to enable men and women, who did not mean to separate themselves entirely from the world, to lead, nevertheless, what, in the Middle Ages, was esteemed the religious life. Such companies were the Tertiarii of the Dominican and Franciscan orders, and at first the Beghards and Beguines were similarly constituted. The first notices we have of them tell us that, in the end of the 12th century, in several of the towns of the Netherlands, companies of women formed themselves together, under a simple rule, for the purpose of taking care of the sick and for other charitable objects. They were generally widows and maidens of high rank, and were called Beghinae, or Beguinae, or Beguttae. The origin of the word is very obscure. Some time later, companies of men were formed in a similar way, and under the same rule. They took no vows, and were at liberty to leave the company when they liked. The men were called Beghards. In the 14th century these Beghards seem to have attached themselves to the Franciscans, and to have been instrumental in exciting to revolt that portion of the order which rebelled against the Pope. For some period, indeed, the terms Fratricelli or Spirituales (the two names for the rebel Franciscans) are used synonymously with Beghards. It is believed that the Arabian pantheism of Averroes had became diffused among many of the mystical sects, and that societies, originally purely religious, had become ...