Hey! This is a long one. A few tech glitches. Also reference "the church" a lot; it's the Catholic Church. I'm not Catholic so tried to simplify some of the terms as an outsider. Hope it was clear and respectful enough. These are my references: 

Brides in the Desert: The Spirituality of the Beguines by Saskia Murk-Jansen

The Wisdom of the Beguines: The Forgotten Story of a Medieval Women’s Movement by Laura Swan

Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times by Matthew Fox