The Life of Douceline de Digne introduces to an English-speaking audience a 13th-century woman mystic (d.1274) of great significance in the study of female spirituality in the middle ages. Douceline combined an active life of community service (as Mother of the beguine community the Ladies of Roubaud) with vigorous mysticism, and was the focus of an intense cult in Provence after her death. The Life, probably written by Philippa de Porcellet, a member of Douceline's community in Marseilles, is complemented by a study of Douceline's importance in terms of her own spiritual experience, and also...