Author Description

In 'St Begga' Leen Kelchtermans examines strong, religious women and their devotion, and Catholic and dynastic displays of power. She whisks the reader away to between the seventh and seventeenth centuries and elaborates on the way Begga, daughter of Itta of Metz (c.592-652) and Pepin the Elder (c.580-639), was officially appointed as the foundress of the flourishing beguine movement in 1630. Around 1635 the Flemish Baroque master Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678) portrayed St Begga, a painting that abounds with captivating stories. This edition of 'Phoebus Focus' restores both St Begga and Jacob Jordaens to flesh and blood human beings.