ABSTRACT
The popular preachers of the twelfth century, such as Norbert of Xanten and Robert of Arbrissel, gathered followings of women from a wide range of backgrounds and established them in monastic foundations. The movements attracted girls, married couples and widows, and extended over much of Europe, the beatas of Spain and the bizzoche of Italy being very similar to the beguines in northern Europe. Although the movements provided religious opportunities for women from lower social groups, many beguines came from a similar background to the nuns and could have become nuns had they so wished. Women attracted by the ideal of poverty and renunciation made use of the skills learned during their upbringing as part of their religious life. The religious life laid down by the author of the Ancrene Riwle focused on the control of the senses and on penance. Laywomen wishing to lead a religious life had a number of options in the later Middle Ages.
