ABSTRACT
The life of Beatrice of Ornacieux (d.1303 or 1309) provides an instructive illustration of a fairly typical pattern of an onset of heroic ascetic behaviors in adolescence coinciding with an early blooming of religious fervor, and the subsequent abandonment of harsh asceticism as her meditative practices and spiritual development matured.1 Little is known of Beatrice’s early life, other than that she was born at the castle of Ornacieu in the Dauphine. Since women were expected to bring dowries with them upon entering a Carthusian charterhouse, Beatrice’s family must have been of at least comfortable financial status. Beatrice’s biographer was Margaret of Oingt (c.1240-1310), a Carthusian nun and a mystic who composed mystical treatises in both Latin and Francoprovencal, her native dialect.
