Academisch proefschrift--Amsterdam. / Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. [xiii]-xxiii).

This thesis focuses on the communities of medieval Beguines who lived in the cities of the French Flanders region. In the context of the individual cities and communities of Beguines, the thesis deals with selected written and material sources, whose language of testimony and symbolism is subjected to critical reading and analysis from the point of view of the semiology of medieval culture, gender relations and social ties. The result is the synthesis of these contextual, methodological, and narrative perspectives into a comprehensive idea of Beguines of the French Flanders.