Margaret Prioress and Mystic

Margaret of Oingt was one of the many women living during the Middle Ages who turned to mysticism to become closer to God. Mysticism, unlike scholasticism, takes a direct approach to God using sensory perception, not reason. For this purpose, it allowed women to identify with God on a very personal and spiritual level. This is significant to Margaret's rationalism for writing her visions in a time when women had such a trivial amount of …

…the authority given to them by the church to advance their own assertions? By analyzing Margaret's writing, it seems almost clear that she believed God communicated with her. Her persuasive declarations of love for Christ are expressed with sincere devotion, as well as inner conflict, and her words depict a women of great power and courage, who by expressing her visions made it possible for female mystics gain authority and prominence in the Middle Ages.