Hadewijch of Brabant

You who want

knowledge,

seek the Oneness

within.

There you

will find

the clear mirror

already waiting.

Hadewijch of Brabant was a 13th century visionary, poet and mystic. I had never heard of her until she was mentioned on one of the blogs I follow, and I decided to see if I could find any of her poetry on the net. This is all I have come up with so far.

The Duchy of Brabant was a territory now divided in half between Belgium and The Netherlands; countries which did not exist at the time of Hadewijch.

A film called Hadewijch was made in 2009 but it has no relation to the historical figure.

From the Wikipedia entry:

She must have come from a wealthy family: she had a wide knowledge of literature and theological treatises in several languages, including Latin and French, in a time when studying was a luxury only exceptionally granted to women. She is considered to be a precursor to the mystic and theologian Jan van Ruusbroec, who developed many of her ideas, but in a more theologic-systematic way.