It’s missing the fifth B, Beguines. The Beguines were a movement among Catholic lay women in Europe from 1200-1500. Women would live chaste lives in small comm

It’s missing the fifth B, Beguines. The Beguines were a movement among Catholic lay women in Europe from 1200-1500. Women would live chaste lives in small communities among themselves (towns within towns) supporting themselves with lacemaking and the like. They could leave and marry if they chose but remained chaste while in the community. The difference between the Beguines and the 4Bs is the Beguines were moving towards something better (religious enlightenment), as compared to the 4Bs running away from something they perceive as worse (real or imagined risk of sexual and emotional abuse). The Beguine mystics became quite famous for the intensity of their religious beliefs and practices, with their martyr being Marguerite Porete, burned at the stake for her heretical views (“The Mirror of Simple Souls” is still a pleasant and powerful read). Eventually the Beguines became tolerated and eventually absorbed into existing Catholic religious orders. Movements based on bliss and transcendence tend to outlast those based on fear. Might get some nice furniture out of it in any respect, though, see the Shaker movement.